"I know some things are bad for me, but what's really the harm?"
I'd like to have student groups make a video--here's the sketchy skeleton of the idea for kids to flesh out and create:
Start with a clip of a student lying to his friend. Look straight at the camera, shrug, and say "where's the harm?"
A clip of a student gossiping about another kid. "Where's the harm?"
Bullying, pushing, harassing. "It doesn't do any real harm."
Middle school romance. ""It won't hurt me."
Adding a little mercury to your drinking water.
Drinking pond water. Eating chewing gum from under a desk. Spraying chocolate with bugspray. Etc.
"At some point during this movie, you "drew the line." You said to yourself "Hey, no matter how much they like it . . . that's not good for them!"
Add music and classy transitions--I think this could be a powerful teaching tool and a point of reference for later discussions about WHY all these old-fogy adults keep telling kids not to smoke, drink, get sexually involved, etc. The question about those topics is all-to-often "What's the harm--what's the big deal?"
