“That’s not fair!”
During my first year of teaching, I quickly learned that making accommodations for certain students also meant trying to explain to curious students why their classmate wasn’t held to the same expectation that they were- Why their peer didn’t have to write as much. Or why their peer got to sit in a special chair and the rest of the class didn’t. Or why so-and-so could write with a pen, while the rest of the class was expected to write with a pencil.
I needed a way to teach students that things weren’t always going to be equal, but that it was still fair. That’s when I did some research. And it turns out, the solution was Band-Aids. Yep. Those sticky pieces of… whatever Band-Aids are made out of… can be used to promote diversity and inclusion AND eliminate students from saying, “That’s not fair!” When I first learned about this lesson, the Band-Aid part was just a hypothetical discussion, but I wanted to make the lesson more interactive and hands-on. I wanted it to stick… literally and figuratively, haha. So that’s when I tweaked the lesson and made it my own!
What is the fair vs. equal band-aid lesson?
The fair vs. equal band-aid lesson is a lesson that uses Band-Aids to teach students that even though their peer might be doing something different, it doesn’t mean it’s unfair. That in your class, things are not always going to be equal. What one student is allowed to do, might not be the same for the rest of the class. What the whole class is expected to do, might not be the expectation for a few other students. However, this does not mean that you are being unfair. Things might not be equal, but they are fair.
The fair vs. equal Band-Aid lesson teaches the difference between equal and fair. Equal means everyone gets the same thing. Fair means that everyone is getting what they need.
This lesson helps eliminate students from saying, “That’s not fair!” when they see someone else doing something different. This lesson promotes diversity and inclusion.
How do you teach the Fair. vs. Equal Band-aid Lesson?
The entire fair vs. equal band-aid lesson can be taught by just discussing. Or, it can be taught in a way that is more interactive and memorable. You do this by incorporating ailment cards, story-telling, and actual Band-Aids. It is my favorite way to teach it. Below is how I have taught it for many years, and each time I do, it has stuck with the students and eliminated so many issues throughout the year.
Beforehand
- Gather enough Band-Aids so that each student will get one. Take the band-aids out of their wrappers so you won’t need to during your lesson.
- Type, or write, ailments onto cards-one ailment per card. Each ailment should be different if possible. You can use index cards or just type them into a table and print them.
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Lesson Instructions
1. Describe an unequal situation with your students. This situation should still be fair, just not equal. For example, “Our class has just earned a party. To celebrate, I give everyone a donut except for one person.” (The reason it is fair, is that the student who didn’t get a donut has celiac disease, so they would have had an allergic reaction. They would get a different treat instead. But I don’t tell the students this yet.)
2. Ask them if they think that’s fair. Have them discuss with an elbow buddy or in groups. While they are discussing, walk around and listen to their conversations.
3. After students have had a couple minutes to discuss, call on a few students to share with the whole class what they decided. After you hear their thoughts, tell them that it was definitely not equal. Everyone did not get the same thing. Then ask them, “Do things need to be equal to be fair?”
After giving them a moment to think about it, tell them that to answer this question, they are going to do a fun activity.
4. Explain to your students that each of them is going to receive a card. On that card will be some sort of sickness or injury. When they get their card, they should not turn it over. They should wait until everyone has a card. When you say, “Go,” they will all turn over their card and see what ailment they got. Then they will discuss with their neighbor(s) and each person will come up with a story for how they got that ailment. *You might want to set some rules for these stories. For example, you might want to tell them that they can be creative and silly, but their story can’t be longer than 30 seconds and it can’t involve any violence or weapons of any kind. Explain to them that when time is up, each of them will get to share their story with the class if they want to.
5. Pass out the cards and say, “Go!”
6. Students should begin creating stories. Walk around and listen to their conversations. Talk to a student whose injury WOULD benefit from a Band-Aid and ask them if they are okay going first. If not, it’s okay. They don’t have to go first for this lesson to work (Anyone can go first). Give the whole class about 3 minutes to discuss.
7. Get their attention and have the student you talked to (or any student) come up and share their story. After they have shared their story, say the following, “Oh man! That sounds really painful. Don’t worry. I have just the thing that will fix it!” Then pull out a band-aid and place it on their “injury.”
8. Ask for another volunteer. After they share their story, say something again about how awful that must be and that you know just what to do to fix it! Place the Band-Aid on their arm, nose, forehead, knee, ear, or wherever their ailment was. (You’ll definitely get some giggles, especially if their ailment is on the face!) Tell them they’re all better and then ask them to sit down. Repeat until every single student has had the opportunity to share their story.
9. After your students look as though they’ve all been in the battlefield and back, have a discussion with them about equality and fairness. Below are some questions you can ask:
- When everyone got a Band-Aid, was it equal?
- Fair means that everyone gets what they need. Was it fair?
- Do things need to be equal to be fair? (This is a great time to remind them of the unequal situation at the beginning of the lesson and explain why it WAS fair).
After discussing that fair and equal are not always the same thing, you can show them the following picture:
This will allow for further discussion. More questions you can ask include:
- Is it okay to have a class full of differences?
- What are some differences we might see?
- What can we do if we see someone doing something different than us?
Finish the lesson by saying something along the lines of, “In my class, I might not give everyone the same treatment. I might not have everyone do the same thing. However, I will always try my best to make sure that each and every one of you gets what you need. Remember, fair is not everyone getting the same thing. Fair is everyone getting what they need so that they can be successful.”
