This is one of a series of lesson ideas provided by Gill Chesney-Green from Derbyshire in the UK. (Thanks a plenty Gill! - Kim Flintoff - Webmaster)
LESSON: Personal Safety
AIMS:
STRATEGIES:
Read out the true story:
About twelve years ago three men who worked for British Rail and whose job involved checking the line, were walking along the railway tracks towards Beeston Station in Nottingham. One of them noticed three young boys who seemed to be playing on the tracks and shouted to them to clear off. Two of the boys scurried away up the embankment but the third stayed where he was, lying by the tracks.
The three men hurried over to see why he hadn’t moved ;they were quite anxious as a high speed train was expected to come through very shortly.
When they got to the boy they saw immediately that he was in some difficulties as he had his arm trapped in an awkward position under one of the sleepers and his arm was swelling badly. The men tried to pull the boy out but his arm was swelling further and they couldn’t shift it.
One of the men decided to run to the signal box almost a mile away, to see if he could stop the train before it arrived on the scene. The other two men continued to try and free the boy. After a few minutes one of the men heard the sound that he had been dreading .... a singing noise on the tracks which signalled the approach of the train. Hurriedly they told the boy that the train was coming and that they would stay with him but that if he lay still he was going to lose his arm .... if he moved he would be killed.
The train came and the boy panicked and moved and was killed outright. The two men were devastated ..... they had been asked to help but they could do very little. The image was to stay with them and their sleep was filled with nightmares for many months afterwards.
Discuss
Who would have been affected by the boy’s death? (Parents, family, friends, neighbours, teachers, ambulance men, police and wider public through the newspapers etc). Talk about any young person who has been in the newspapers through a tragic accident (eg Leah Betts’ death through Ecstacy)
Discuss the ways in which people can have accidents and the dangers that are all around us ....Electricity, water etc.
Small groups
Ask the class to devise scenes leading up to an accident. They are not to show the accident itself but to “freeze” the drama at the point just before the accident happens.
After showing these, they are to decide on two people who would be affected by the accident that they showed in their group. For example, the teacher of PSE who took the class for a lesson on Safety just a couple of days before the accident and maybe one of the person’s close friends.
In pairs devise a scene to show some of the thoughts and feelings that each of these people would have about the dead person and their accident. Ideas for this may be needed and discussed with the group first.
Reflection
Discuss what they have done in their drama work. Have any of them been close to having a fatal accident? Who would be affected if they did?
Small groups
In small groups of about 3-5 people, devise a short film for use on T.V. or in PSE work which shows what we have learned. Use a narrator for part of the presentation. How could we best get the message across?
Discussion
What areas of our lives can present us with dangers? In what areas are we told to take special care? (School, home, roads etc)
RELATED ACTIVITIES: Devise a safety poster which applies to ONE area of our lives.
ASSESSMENT POSSIBILITIES: Write a diary entry (ies) which show what someone who was close to the victim is feeling now that they no longer have this person in their lives.
CROSS-CURRICULAR LINKS: PSE
RESOURCES: None