Making up the rules
Aim:
To appreciate how it feels to have no control over the rules.
You will need:
A ball, a group of people.
Duration:
15 minutes
Most of the group will play a game of catch, throwing a ball around between members of a circle. Three people will form a panel who are making up the rules. They can add new rules and change rules as the game goes on. They should call out the new rules, and everyone should obey them.
Here are some suggestions:
- Everyone must sit down
- Put one hand behind back
- Sing
- Throw with left hand
- Throw to person on their right
- Call out a country when they throw
End the game, and ask the group how it felt for other people to keep making up new rules? How did it feel to not be in control? Why should those 3 people be allowed to change the rules?
Explain the point of the game was to understand how it feels when you do not get a say in the rules, but you have to obey them. This is how it can feel for poor countries who have to obey rules made up by rich countries. For example at WTO (World Trade Organisation) meetings the rich countries have a lot of power, and they manage to influence the decisions that are made. Poorer countries can often not even afford to send a representative to the WTO meetings, so they do not have a voice. They still have to obey WTO rules, even if the rules are likely to have a negative effect on the poor countries.