juggling my life

One of my favorite GRS activities recently added to Skillz Street is called 'Juggling My Life'. 'Juggling My Life' begins simply; participants form a circle and are asked what things they have to do in life (school, eat, sleep, etc) and what things they choose to do in life (sports, spend time with friends, watch TV, etc). As participants answer, a GRS coach pulls a tennis ball from their bag and writes the task on it. 

Eating and dancing - some of the things we must do and some of the things
we choose to do.

After 6 or so things have been added to our "life" (the circle represents our life), participants are told that they have to keep all of these things in the air by juggling them as a team. One person starts by throwing the ball underhand to someone across the circle. That person then throws the ball to someone else. Players throw the ball to the same person every time. If a ball is dropped, you simply pick it up and keep going. 

After the passing order has been established, participants and coaches then begin to juggle all the different things they have to do, as well as the things they choose to do. After a few rounds the coach stops the game and asks players to discuss whether the game was easy or hard, and what happened when they dropped a ball. The purpose of this round is to demonstrate to participants that we all drop the ball (make mistakes) now and then, but that it is important to pick ourselves (and the ball) back up and get back into the swing of things. 

Then the GRS coach adds a new ball to the mix: sex. 

This is Mikaela. She is 12. She is holding the 'Sex'
ball. And she knows a girl her age who has already
had sex.

First the coach leads a discussion about why the 'Sex' ball is so much bigger (because sex is a big deal, because sex can complicate things, etc) and then the group begins juggling with the 'Sex' ball thrown into the mix.

As participants play the GRS coach sneakily adds a few balls to the mix. Before you know it, balls are flying everywhere and the game is spiraling out of control. At this point, the GRS coach stops the game and asks participants to look at the balls they are holding. Some participants are still holding tennis balls labeled 'Sleep,' 'Eat,' and 'School,' but there are also participants holding tennis balls labelled:

HIV,

pregnancy,

and STI.

Woah! Where did these new balls come from?!?! At this point, all fingers point towards the 'Sex' ball and, alas, the culprit is found! Coaches then lead girls in a discussion, asking them to think about whether or not sex complicated their life (it did because there were more balls being juggled) and whether or not the consequences of sex were easy to fix.

I like this activity because I think girls really get it. They get that sex is not something we have to do. They get that sex might complicate things. And they get that the consequences of sex might force them to give up other things such as school, friends and even their health.