POWER TO THE PEOPLE

PROGRAMME 4: P TO T

ACTIVITIES

Guidance

Teachers should be familiar with relevant guidance on how to deal with controversial issues (see Links) before using the programme. They should also decide in advance whether to view it in its entirety or in parts.

The activities below support a mix of individual, paired and group work. You may wish to revisit the outcomes of the 'before viewing' activities once learners have seen the programme.

Before viewing

List a) the reasons why people protest and b) the methods that they use. Review your lists and identify the top three items in each. Justify your choices. What would you be prepared to protest about and which methods would you use?

Discuss one or more of the following:

• People protest because they think that they can change the world
• A democracy cannot survive without protests
• Punk represents the voice of youth protest
• Riots are protests that have gone wrong
• Protestors should always use more than one protest method
• Stunts are better for publicising a cause than traditional methods like demonstrations
• New technology is better for publicising a cause than the traditional media – radio, TV and the papers
• Protestors should not break the law
• Protestors should not put lives at risk
• Young people are more likely to take part in protests than older people.

After viewing

To view 4Learning video clips you will need Windows XP/2000 and Windows Media Player 9, 10 or 11. Unfortunately, the clips are not supported on Macintosh computers.

The video clips may contain a few seconds of extra material at the beginning and end. We have therefore included opening and closing descriptions to help identify the intended scene.

Clip one: Punk 04:00 – 05:15

• Opens with Jake Sims-Fielding saying, 'You know, big bands like Green Day inspired a lot of young people to realise the importance of politics.'
• Closes with Jake Sims-Fielding saying, 'I think punk these days is still an effective and valuable form of protest.'

Create a big picture, map or diagram representing your view of punks and the punk movement. Share, review and discuss your ideas. Prepare and present a statement saying whether you think that the punk movement is a protest movement. Would you join the punk movement just to make a protest?

Clip two: Queer 06:31 – 08:15

• Opens with Peter Tatchell saying, 'I think the battle for gay and lesbian human rights has been a model of how you need to work inside the system and outside it.'
• Closes with Peter Tatchell saying, 'You know, we made protest fun.'

Describe the protest methods used by the Gay Rights Movement. Is Peter Tatchell right when he says that if protestors want to change things, they need to work inside the system and outside it? What, if anything, could other protest movements learn from the Gay Rights Movement?

Clip three: Riots 12:38 – 15:07

• Opens with Dr Papadopolous saying, 'One of the things that often tips the balance over from a protest to a riot is a friendly, even a funny, remark.'
• Closes with Dr Papadopolous saying, 'So I think it's vital for any young protestors out there to try to do them as peacefully as possible.'

Explain why protests can turn into riots. Use the internet and other resources to research three examples of riots. Use your findings to write an article on riots and how they affect protest causes. Include some tips on how people can stop their protests from turning into riots.

Clip four: Stunts 15:07 – 16:11

• Opens with Matt Freestone saying, 'Well, I think since the 1960s the stunt, the crazy radical act, has become a very effective means of demonstration.'
• Closes with Matt O'Connor saying, 'The traditional form of protest, as far as I'm concerned, is dead.'

Discuss why stunts are an effective form of protest. What, if any, are the problems with stunts? Devise a list of dos and don'ts for young protestors who are thinking about staging their own stunt.

Clip five: Technology 22:17 – 23:53

• Opens with Mark Thomas saying, 'Technology – in terms of the internet, web, texting, and all that kind of stuff – is really, really important'.
• Closes with Jamie Woolley saying, 'I think we're just kind of scratching the surface of what we can do.'

Choose a protest cause that interests you. Produce a visual representation – perhaps a poster or a PowerPoint presentation – showing how technology could be used to raise awareness of your cause and encourage people to take part in protest action.