My body belongs to me
Since the 2000/2001 school year, we have been inviting the "Theaterpädagogoische Werkstatt Osnabrück"(www.theaterpaed-werkstatt.de) with their play "Mein Körper gehört mir" (My body belongs to me) to our fourth (for financial and organizational reasons sometimes also to the third) classes.
The play deals with the topic of sexual abuse of children.
The two actors "Lilly and Peter" succeed in making excellent contact with the children.
The "body song" (see below), which is sung at the beginning and end of each performance and extended by one verse, also contributes to this.
The individual scenes are performed on different days over the course of three weeks. They contain suitable occasions to talk about the problems depicted in the scenes and to transfer them to the pupils' situation.
Thanks to their acting skills and their ability to empathize with children of this age, the two actors manage to convey fears, worries, doubts... well and encourage the children to talk openly.
In a final round of discussions, the children are given a large class poster with the following three important questions that they have learned about in order to make the right decision about how to behave in a given situation:
1) Do I have a yes or no feeling?
2) Does a trusted person know where I am?
3) Can I get help if I need it?
Secondly, each child is given a small card with a so-called "Nummer gegen Kummer" (number against grief), which provides free, anonymous child and youth counseling by phone(www.nummergegenkummer.de).
The survey of the children reveals a fairly consistent picture in each school year. All the children like the play very much. They praise "Lena and Peter" because they "...were nice", "...explained everything well" and "...are good actors". They like the fact that the play is educational and funny at the same time.
As this measure is quite expensive, it can only be carried out if the parents pay their own contribution and thanks to the support of the Förderkreis.
You can download the "body song" here:
(Source: theaterpädagogischewerkstatt)