What is a society?
The need for rules within any society |
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It should not be assumed that the group has given the idea of society much thought. We are here trying to establish the context in which they have heard the word used before.
There are many groups in this country that use the word 'society' in their name.
Can you think of any groups with society in their name?
(E.g.. RSPCA -- Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
CWS -- Co-operative Wholesale Society (or any local co-op)
Quakers -- Religious Society of Friends)
[Suggestion: Take along a newspaper that mentions the work of a society such as RSPCA]
Having established the use of the word develop the concept as illuminated by the groups mentioned.
Thinking about the names you have thought of
What is a society?
A possible answer would be:
A society is any group who come together to achieve something that they could not achieve alone.
[Suggestion: Get the group to say what the societies they have thought of try to do and whether they do it better as a group than as individuals. Draw up a chart]
Now try to establish the idea of society itself firstly by testing to see if they already have any idea of what it is.
We often hear of something called 'society' to which we all belong. A famous politician is often quoted as saying that 'there is no such thing as society'.
Do you feel that you are part of something called society?
[Suggestion: Get them to explain their answers]
Try to develop the idea of society by getting the group to think of their own relationships
We are all members of groups of people on whom we depend
Can you name some of the groups you are part of?
Some groups which people are members:
Family
School
Church
BB
Scouts
Youth Group
RAC/AA
Football Team
Town
Country
[Suggestion: Get them to make a list of the groups of which they are a part and then grade them according to how important they are to them on a scale of 1 to 10. Note that they will probably not rate country very highly, as they will not be very aware of what it does for them. This could be discussed now or later.]
Test again if they have a better vision of the idea of society, and if it is now more meaningful to them.
These mixtures of groups to which we belong go to make up what we call society. Some groups we chose to belong to (e.g. BB) and some we are born into (e.g.. family and country).
Having thought about it do you feel more a part of society?
[Suggestion: Discuss of which country they would want to be a citizen if they had a free choice and why]
Having established an idea of society we establish the existence of rules within it.
Whenever people try to work together they need rules to tell them how to behave and relate with one another. This is because as individuals we would often put our own needs before those of the group, or we would disagree on a course of action which would lead to conflict.
Can you think of any rules you have at
a) School
b) Home
c) BB
d) Country
What are rules for a country usually called?
[Suggestion: If you have boys who are interested in computers you could also remind them of the following:
Groups of machines also need rules when they work together. When we connect one computer to another and ask them to communicate we have to give them the rules by which they can do it otherwise it would not work. (E.g. they need to know the speed at which to talk call BAUD rate and the codes to use for letters (ASCII)) etc.]
Now establish the nature and effect of rules by looking at football.
People often group together to play a game for which they need rules. Consider how the rules of football affect the game.
What would happen if the offside rule were removed from football?
What would happen if there were not a rule concerning penalties?
Are all the rules equally important?
[Suggestion: You have a hall divided into four using two diagonal chalk lines, two teams, and four footballs. Get the group to make up the rules for a new game. Try playing it for a short while. See if they want to revise them afterwards]
Finally establish the role and effect of rules within our society.
What does the group think is the most important law of our country?
What would happen if it were not there?
Are there any unimportant laws?
If there are any that think there are laws that are not important remind them that all rules have a purpose and it would be dangerous if people started to ignore some, as soon they would start ignoring others.
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