Skit: Tempted by Tobacco? Kick It!

Focus:

Role playing to understand peer pressure and decision making.

Purpose:

To help youth learn and use refusal skills through role playing.

Materials:

Skit clips provided as part of this activity or those made up by the leader or young people.

Time:

20 minutes

Procedures:

Have the youth get into groups of three or four. Each group will get a situation skit clip (use the ones provided below or make up your own) to act out for the whole group. Each group will read its situation skit clip, come up with a way to resist the pressure and act it out. Have each group share its skit with the whole group. Ask the other groups or the audience if they can think of some other options or decisions that they would use for this situation.

What would you do in the following skit settings?

Facilitator tips:

• It is very important to allow the group to come up with their own scenarios.
• Wait seven seconds before giving your ideas for a possible answer to the skits.

Skit setting A: Waiting for cheerleading practice to begin

Carrie: "Shayla, would you go to the restroom with me?"

Shayla: "Sure." (They go into the restroom.)

Carrie: "Guess what I found?" (She shows the cigarettes.) "Let's light up."

Shayla: "Not! Carrie, I don't like the idea of smoking."

Carrie: "You're so chicken!" (She walks away in a huff.)

Skit setting B: On the way to baseball practice

Sean: (Pulls out a pack of chewing tobacco.) "My big brother uses this stuff when he plays baseball. I see a lot of ballplayers on TV use it. Try some."

Joe: (Just looks at him)

Skit setting C: At the park

John: "Hey, Don, I took my dad's cigarettes this morning. Why don't we go over there and try them out?" (John moves toward a tree in the park.)

Don: (As he goes toward the baseball diamond) "No, John, cigarettes are bad for you." (He starts to run to the baseball diamond.)

Reflection:

Facilitator: Have the group process the outcome of the situation. Here are some suggested questions to use:

• Do you think the resisters made the easiest response or the hardest? Why?
• What do you think the future relationship of these two people will be? Is that good or bad?
• What else might they have said to the person offering tobacco that might have helped that person also refuse to use?
• Are the experiences of Don, Joe and Carrie realistic? If yes, why? If no, why not?
• What did you like about doing the skits? What didn't you like? Could one of these episodes happen to you?
• Have you ever been in a situation where you had to make a difficult decision?

Copyright © 1999 - 2009 Michigan State University
Last Updated: October 31, 2009
Last Reviewed: