Advice from Mom and Dad: Treasure Hunt, Small Group Work, and Discussion

Objectives: Practice cooperating in a small group. Practice finding information, listening, and taking notes. Stimulate thinking about what makes a healthy relationship. Practice for reading and listening parts of Regents exams.

Activity: Divide the group into smaller ones. Put at least one boy or girl in each group. Give each student a copy of New Youth Connections. Tell them:

“Read the short conversations between teens and parents about dating and relationships. Each group will have 10 minutes to read the page. I will then quickly read 11 statements. Each statement will identify a parent on the page. For example, I may read ‘This parent said she would be glad if her daughter’s heart got broken.’ It’s your group’s job to produce a list that matches the parents’ names with the statements.

Note: At this point you can advise them that they might want to figure out how to divide up the work: reading, listening, taking notes, writing down the answers, etc. so they can have enough time to complete the assignment as a group.

Read these statements after the ten-minute reading period is up. Count to five in between questions.

a) He said he would console his daughter if her heart got broken.
b) She is worried about her daughter giving into pressure.
c) She wants her daughter to move slowly when it comes to relationships.
d) He predicted his daughter’s heart would be broken more than once.
e) She said that teens are not ready to handle relationships.
f) She wants her daughter to get married in her thirties.
g) Her husband was smart and industrious.
h) She doesn’t want her daughter to marry a dull guy.
i) He’s worried about people getting married before they are in good financial shape.
j) His mom was a single parent.
k) He stresses the importance of having a considerate partner.

Call time after you read the last statement. Ask the groups how they divided up the work. Did each person in the group read one or two of the conversations because one person would have a hard time reading the whole page on their own? Did someone write down the statements as they were read? Did someone write down the answers?

Say, “Now I am going to repeat the statements. Each group will announce their answer.” Repeat each statement and ask the groups for their answers. As you hear their answers for statements b, c, e, f, h, i, and k, ask them if they think the parental advice or concerns in these statements are useful or important.

One last discussion point: Did any of the parents mention good looks when they talked about their spouses or when they expressed their wishes for what kind of person they want their children to marry?

Answer key for treasure hunt:
a) Jose
b) Christina
c) Michelle
d) Jose
e) Christina
f) Michelle
g) Cristina
h) Michelle
i) Hugo
j) Jose
k) Hugo