The group of boys sat around a very large dining room table. When I show up at detention facilities, I am usually
"Fuck movies!" responded a sixteen-year-old sitting in the back of the room. Clever as always.
"The plot of the movie," I continued to explain, "Involves a group of evil aliens who attack and destroy all the major cities on planet Earth. The movie follows Earth's surviving residents, who are outmatched and whose prospects seem bleak, but who band together and use desire, heart, and a little bit of luck to defeat the aliens." I paused and looked around the classroom.
"You guys are going to pretend that you are the survivors and that you have to deal with the aliens."
The goal of this exercise was to present the boys with the possibility of confronting an insurmountable, evil threat and to see how they respond. You might argue that using Hollywood to convey any sort message to a group of young, urban felons is ridiculous. Well, the young, urban felons would agree with you.
"I never seen that stupid movie...so I can't do whatever stupid shit you got planned," shouted the same sixteen-year-old. At least he was consistent.
"That's alright," I responded. "This exercise is really about war and strategy." I looked around the classroom again and noticed that the boys seemed to be paying a little more attention. Some of them even started to smile. "Most importantly, I'm eager to hear how you guys can use your 'street smarts' to beat up a bunch of bad guys and to come out on top."
"Aww hell yea, I can do that shit," said a fourteen-year-old in the front of the room as he cracked his knuckles.
"We can beat up the aliens
First, I explained to them that menacing aliens from outer space were coming to New York City. Then I told them, in no uncertain terms, that aliens declared war on New York City. (I did not present a description of these aliens, nor did anyone ask me to provide one.) Finally, I asked the residents to write a few things about this . I did so with a list of questions/directions:
- Which NYC borough would aliens attack first?
- First, draw a picture of an alien. Then, draw a picture of yourself standing next to the alien.
- If the aliens came to your house and threatened your family, how would you respond/fight back?
- Where is the safest place in NYC to hide from the aliens?
- Pretend the aliens retreat back to outer space. If you are one of the few survivors in NYC, how would you eat?
- Again, if you are one of the few survivors in NYC and all of the threatening aliens have left, how would you choose to occupy your time?
The following is their answers and my subsequent analysis. If your response is different than mine or feel as if I have neglected something, please feel free to post comments and share.
1. The first question was asked to "lighten the mood" and to .
