School kids tackle homeless spikes
Supported by Change.Org, a new school literacy project for 7–11 year olds – Change It – invites the next generation to take action on real issues that matter to them, by writing and directing their own campaign video in the classroom. Teacher Dan Burden recently completed the project with his Year 6 class, in support of the #homesnotspikes petition. He explains the impact the project had on his pupils:
“Mr B… I really don’t see how placing spikes where homeless people sleep is a very helpful thing to do… I mean… how is that solving the situation of homelessness?”
It is statements like that which make you realise the absolute privilege of being able to teach such wonderful minds. It is statements like that which also give you that fuzzy feeling of optimism that if the 10 year olds in our classrooms are as intuitive and empathetic as this then the future is brighter than I thought.
When first considering the suggestion of a whole class campaign video to raise awareness of homeless spikes that local councils are adopting to tackle the rising issue of rough sleepers in the UK, I was met with a feeling of bafflement; homeless spikes? Seems a bit harsh- like something out of an Orwell novel.
Initially the kids were baffled too. The first class discussion, fronted with the question ‘What is homelessness?’ ended with me trying to convince them that not all homeless people have long beards and dogs.
Yet we persisted. They researched. Trawled through government data and homeless charity websites. Statistics seemed to shock them as they researched the breadth of the situation of homelessness in the UK. The children had the most awe-inspiring empathy for the circumstances that some people find themselves in.
The project went from their teacher asking them some annoying questions about homeless people to an imperative mission to do something about the growing number of unkind spikes and dividers being cemented into places where the homeless rest or sleep.
As part of the Change It project, the kids wrote campaign messages and drafted tweets, they analysed campaign videos and explored how social media can be a force for good, they interviewed local homeless charities and talked to an owner of a social media business about how to maximize their social media output.
As the project gained momentum within the class, I had kids tap me on the shoulder during lunch time: ‘Are we going to be doing more stuff for the #homesnotspikes project this afternoon?’… always followed by a fist pump and a sigh of joy if I replied with a nod!
“Mr B, I saw a homeless person outside Tesco the other day. I told my mum about our campaign and we bought him a coffee.”
The children would come back after the weekend with thoughts, ideas and dispatches from what they observed around their local area.
“Mr B, I noticed that the bench near the post office had metal dividers so that people cannot sleep on it… I thought it was really out of order. It’s bad enough being homeless let alone not being allowed to rest on a bench!”
I was wary of not wanting to make the lessons too political. It was important not to preach. However, the kids made their minds up for themselves… their young minds just inherently believed that there must be better ways of going about solving the issue of rough sleeping than making it hard for people to sit or lay down. They learnt that some view homelessness through cynical eyes, however they seemed to always bring it back to its core: that some people fall on hard times and should be helped out and not rejected from our towns and cities through the use of ‘anti-homeless devices’!
One of the many duties of somebody working in education is to somehow (among the grammar, times tables and watercolour painting) create opportunities for these growing minds to form moral beliefs and an understanding of the world outside the classroom walls. We all know of the inquisitiveness and curiosity that our children possess and seeing it applied to such a raw and relevant topic made for moving and rousing classroom moments.
For all its ills, it was refreshing to watch the kids learn about how social media can be used in a positive way. Watching a tweet get liked or retweeted by a charity or seeing the view count rise seemed to give them the profound lesson that the internet can be used to spread a positive message for change and not just to watch the latest prank videos.
This all culminated in the students having the opportunity to write rehearse and record a short video to engage and inform people about the rising amounts of anti-homeless devices in our towns and cities. When, months later, we sat down as a class and watched the final edit which had been uploaded onto YouTube, the class were filled with pride in what they had created. Moreover, they seemed teeming with excitement that their message was now ‘out there’ ready to inspire and evoke people to change how we view and treat those less fortunate.
Never has a topic seemed to capture the children’s hearts as much as this one. I hope that #homesnotspikes is a constant reminder to them that if you believe in something strongly enough then go about and do something to change it!
You can support Dan and his class in the petition here. If you’re a primary teacher interested in tackling a social or environmental issue with your own class, download the 10-lesson Change It project for free here.
Find out more about LitFilmFest on our Twitter feeds or over on Facebook.
