Riddle Scale

Lesson #6

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Riddle Scale
Developed by Gloria Ferguson

Grade Level:
9-12

Objectives:

Use the Riddle Scale in noting the various ways people deal with difference.
Examine their own attitudes and beliefs about sexual orientation in the context of social justice.

Materials:

Prepare 7 sheets of paper, each with one of the following written in large computer type, so they are easily readable from the back of the classroom. Make the first word bold. Put each into a clear document protector.

Repulsion: This is wrong. Gay people are bad, sick, immoral.

Pity: Gay people need our help to become more normal (like us).

Tolerance: I’ll leave them alone as long as they leave me alone.

Minimizing differences: I don’t think of you as gay. To me you’re just a person.

Support: Everyone deserves equal rights, no matter how I may feel about them.

Admiration: I admire the strength it takes to deal with this. I’m willing to work on my negative attitudes.

Nurturance: This is an important part of our diversity. I’m open to good relationships with gay people and willing to speak up for fair treatment.

Student Activities:

Mix up the order of the prepared sheets and hand them out to any 7 students in the room. Have them stand in front of the room holding the papers in front of their chests, so all students in the room can see them.
Explain that the bold words are feelings that people may have about anyone different from themselves-these differences might include race, religion, country of origin, etc. For today’s discussion, the differences focus on a range of possible reactions to gay people. The job of the people in the class is to arrange those with papers so they form a continuum from what they would least like others to feel about them to what they would most want others to feel about them.

Read the sheets aloud in random order. Start by asking students what the worst reaction would be and proceed from there.

Once the continuum has been completed, ask the class which point best represents what they see as the climate in their school. (Many classes say, “I’ll leave them alone, as long as they leave me alone.”) Ask what they see and hear that makes them feel that way.

Ask: What helps people move along this continuum, to become more respectful of gay people? (Education and understanding are often part of the answer.)