Fun with Character: The Angel and The Devil
This exercise will look like cartoon decision making with an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other giving you conflicting advice. You will need 4 playing cards (no face cards) and a blindfold for this exercise. (My blindfold of choice is to wind toilet paper around their head just covering their eyes. Be sure not to re-use on another student.) Choose one student to be blindfolded, one student to be an angel, and one to be the devil. Do not choose students who would easily be identified in either role. Assign the roles of angel and devil so that the blindfolded student does not know which one is which. Now place the 4 playing cards face up in any order. They do not have to be 4 cards in sequence, any 4 numbered cards will do. The object of the game is for the angel to give instructions to the blindfolded student on how to put the cards in numerical order. The job of the devil is to give false instructions. The blindfolded student must decide who to listen to when ordering the cards. When the blindfolded student believes to be done, allow the blindfold to be removed.
To process the activity, ask these or similar questions:
To the blindfolded student:
How difficult was it to tell if they were getting good advice or bad advice?
Did you use the reaction of the class to the instructions as to any indication if it was good or bad?
Did the devil make any slip-ups and at one time say a card was higher then say that it was lower? (Liars have to have great memories to avoid contradicting previous lies.)
To the Angel:
How did it feel when the Devil contradicted you?
How did it feel when the blindfolded student did not listen to you?
How did it feel when the blindfolded student did listen to you?
To the Devil:
How hard was it to lie to a classmate?
How did it feel when the blindfolded student did not listen to you?
How did it feel when the blindfolded student did listen to you?
To the class:
How hard do you think it was to be the blindfolded person?
Did you hear any inconsistencies from the Devil that the blindfolded person did recognize?
Was it hard to watch a classmate straight out lie to another classmate? Did you want to offer advice?
Peer pressure can be difficult to ignore. The next time you are pressured, will you remember the angel and the devil and use your gut to choose wisely?