The "Outsider"/"Insider" Experiences

For our final project for The Outsiders, I wanted my students to think deeply about what it feels like to be an "insider" (accepted, feeling of belonging, a part of a group, etc.) and an "outsider" (unwanted, awkward, alone, etc.)  I had them write about a time when they felt like an "insider" and think about why they felt that way and how others saw them. Then (the fun part) I told them that they had to go be an "outsider" some time during that next week. I gave them ideas about how they could break social norms and then analyze how people reacted towards them and how they felt.

Well, the project isn't over yet, but I have already had some interesting stories come from this. On Friday one of my students came to class wearing his clothes backwards (both shirt and pants) and walking backwards to class. He told me that he had already been called a "freak" 3 times in the school hallways. Another kid told me that he had gotten flipped off when he had done his outsider activity (woops, I wasn't really expecting that to happen).

Today I was very touched when a young woman in my class shared with me what she did. She started out by saying that her dad helped her think of her outsider experience. She is a very danty and pretty girl, and her father had her put on a very large shirt and stuff it with pillows so that she looked very much overweight. He then had her return movies to the Walmart Redbox and do some other errands. She seemed very somber as she told the class about how people stared at her or she heard some of them laugh or say mean things. She told us about how she felt embarrassed. I was so impressed with her story, and I could tell that the experience had made an impression on her.

After school I called her dad to personally thank him for his help in this assingment. He said to me, "well, I wanted her to really feel it. My daughter has had a blessed life. She is blessed with beauty and she knows it. She always has had good friends and family. When she was originally coming up with ideas for your assignment, I told her, 'Those ideas are too fun. You can't do something with your friends because the point is to feel alone and awkward. You have always had that support. You need to actually do something that allows you to feel what the other side feels.' " Needless to say, I was very impressed with dad. I thanked him again for his support.

So hopefully this assignment is able to make a difference in at least a few students' lives. I know that not everyone will let the lesson sink in, but I think it will touch the hearts or a few students. Hopefully they will be able to remember their experience when they are faced with a choice of how to treat someone whom they see as different and as an "outsider".