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A Game to Teach Catholic Social Teaching
Catholic social teaching can
be child's play
They melt in your mouth, not in your hand and
they're one of the best ways to teach sixth graders about social justice.
Colorful M&M candies are one of Tom Turner's many props when he takes his
"That's Not Fair" program into classrooms.
Here's how the M&M game goes: Turner distributes playing cards to each of the 25
students in the class. Ten receive a face card, while the remaining 15 get a
numbered card. To each student who has a numbered card, Turner gives two M&Ms.
The face-card kids, whom he terms "royalty," get a whole bag of the candies.
Then he tantalizes the group with 10 envelopes that contain gift certificates at
fast food chains, video rental stores, and music stores. The deal: each envelope
"costs" 18 M&Ms. When the kids with only two start to grumble, he explains that
they can try to get the "royalty" to share their M&Ms, but they must get down on
their knees to ask. The M&M rich are free to do as they like.
"Typically, nine out of 10 kids with the bag of M&Ms get prizes, and that's the
end of the game," says Turner, executive director of the Bishop Sullivan Center
in Kansas City, Missouri, a Catholic social service agency.
When Turner asks if the students think the rules are fair, they respond with a
resounding, "No!" He then explains that our church teaches about two ways to
help the "M&M poor"—"We can either share our M&Ms, or we can work to change
rules that are unfair."
With kid-friendly language and similarly creative games, the "That's Not Fair"
program is designed to help middle-school students learn about church social
justice teaching. "We teach them that charity is when you give someone
assistance, but that justice is changing unfair rules," says Turner. "I think a
lot of adults don't understand the difference either."
Turner created the program two years ago after urging Catholic educators at an
in-service day to spend more time on Catholic social teaching. "I held up the
U.S. bishops' document [Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and
Direction] and said, 'See, it's not just me. The bishops want you to teach
about this.'"
The principal of St. Patrick's School requested his help, and with the
assistance of sixth-grade teacher Patty Haney, the program was born. "We just
made it up as we went along," says Turner, who visited Haney's sixth-grade
classroom once a week with creative games and exercises designed to convey the
main principles of Catholic social teaching.
But there's more to the program than just classroom instruction. The students
visit social service agencies and actually meet the recipients of the agency's
aid. At the Bishop Sullivan Center, they rubbed elbows with people who rely on
the center's food pantry, emergency assistance, job placement services, and
after-school tutoring.
The students also get hands-on advocacy experience. "We want them to put what
they've learned into practice," Turner says. That first year he organized a trip
to the Missouri state capitol in Jefferson City, where the students gave a group
of legislators a "poor man's Power Point presentation" with 10 handmade posters
explaining their support of a proposed earned income tax credit for working
families. They also delivered over 500 cards signed by voters that they had
acquired while practicing their presentation at their home parishes.
This year students involved in the program—which has spread to 18 schools in the
diocese—are lobbying for funding of an educational program to promote adoption
of special-needs children. "The touchiest part is picking the issue," explains
Turner, who suggests choosing something from the state Catholic Conference
agenda. "The idea isn't to pick what's hot or what's winnable, but what will
best educate the kids."
Although Turner followed that initial class of sixth graders into seventh grade,
he now spends most of his time teaching others how to replicate the program. He
and Haney co-authored a 130-page teacher's manual, which can be purchased for
$35. He also has done workshops around the country and is planning a conference
for teachers June 6 - 7 in Palm Beach, Florida. For more information, he can be
contacted by email at tturner@carn.org or by calling the Sullivan Center at
(816) 231-0984.—Heidi Schlumpf
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