Being Loyal to Those Not Present

PEACEFUL WARRIORS GOOD ATTITUDE (SECTION #1) – Week 4

Start the lesson by gathering your students into a tight huddle and ask these three questions:

• What does it mean to have a good attitude?
• Why is it important to have a good attitude?
• Can you give me an example of having a good attitude?

Then share the following story and lesson and ask the questions listed.

This week we are going to talk about being loyal to those who are not around us.
Loyalty is one of the most important qualities we can have. It means being true to your family, friends and others, even when they are not present. Loyalty means to never speak badly about someone, because it is the wrong thing to do and it will certainly get back to the person you are talking about.

Once there were two kids. The first one always talked about what she didn’t like about other people when they were not around. Her name was Beth. Let’s pretend that one day, you and Beth were talking and she was telling you everything wrong about her friend, Janet. When Janet saw the two of you talking she came up to you. Immediately, Beth started talking bad about Billy.
 

Is Beth loyal to those not around her?
When you are not around Beth – do you think she talks good or bad about you?
Why? Can she be trusted in other areas of life? Why?

Why is loyalty important?
You can demonstrate loyalty by only talking good about people behind their back. You can also demonstrate loyalty by not letting others speak badly about others around you.

For example, let’s pretend that someone told you that they think, “Matthew wears goofy clothes.” Or that “He is a real nerd.”

You could say:

“I’m sure he has a good reason for wearing that outfit and I think he is O.K.” or,
“Maybe he is just a little different from you and I – I’ll bet you he’s smart” or
“I would appreciate it if you would stop bad mouthing him. He doesn’t deserve it”.

Know that if one of your friends talks bad about another friend to you, that he also probably talks bad about you when you’re not around. Which gives you a choice – either help your friend to develop positive character skills like loyalty or choose different friends.

This week make a real effort to practice loyalty.