Lesson Presentation Idea

Catechism 1.4

The What Ya Gonna Do? Game (Fourth Commandment)

FIRST: Get volunteers. You'll need 3 youth, 2 parents, and a pastor.

The idea here is that as each scenario is presented, contestants purposely answer wrong; that is, they give a response that would obviously contradict decency and propriety. Of course, you will have to tip your volunteers to answer in this way. OR: the other way to play it is to let contestants answer the questions straight and see how close they come to the "right" answer prescribed at the end of each question.

Host: Hi, boys and girls, it's me again, your host Bob Eubob. And it's time to play your favorite Game Show: "What Ya Gonna Do?" As you know, we present contestants with an everyday situation or dilemma, and ask them to tell us how they would react. Points are awarded with how closely answers match with the recommended response as determined by the 4th Commandment. So let's meet our contestants, shall we? (Introduce Contestants.)

Question #1 (for a student): You are at home one evening watching your favorite show, (place name of show here)--which you never miss. Your mother enters the room, tells you the garbage in the kitchen is starting to stink real bad, and is overflowing besides, and then asks you to take it out "right away." What Ya Gonna Do?

Right Answer: You tape the show to watch later and empty the trash immediately.

Question #2 (for parent): You are one of the assistant coaches on your child's soccer team. Your child is a great goalie--you think so, and you know the rest of the team thinks so. The problem is, the head coach thinks her child is the best goalie, and so she starts her child ahead of yours. Your record is now 0 and 3, in large part because the head coach's child employs the "swiss cheese" method of goal tending, and the team is starting to get antsy. A parent comes to you and suggests that you talk to the head coach about letting your child start. What Ya Gonna Do?

Right Answer: You ask the head coach if she would consider letting your child start a game at goalie.

Question #3 (for student): You are sitting in English class at school. All of a sudden you are hit in the side of the head with a spit-wad. You look over and you see one of your classmates grinning from ear to ear, holding a straw that he has obviously just used to fire the spit-wad your way. You peel the spit-wad off of your face, and throw it back at him. Your teacher sees you throw the object at your classmate and asks you to go to the principal's office. However, your teacher didn't see your classmate shoot it at you first, so it looks like he's going to get away with it. What Ya Gonna Do?

Right Answer: You go to the principal's office; later you ask your classmate to not do that again

Question #4 (for pastor): You suspect that one of your confirmation students is brilliant--a certifiable genius. She not only has the 10 Commandments, the Apostle's Creed and the Lord's Prayer all memorized, she has also managed to memorize the entire New Testament, as well as the Psalms. Unfortunately, she drools. And for this reason, her parents and her teachers think she must not be very bright, and so they have kept her back in school. As for the student, she kind of likes the easy work, doesn't really want to be put in honor classes, and so she keeps playing dumb. But you know that a mind is a terrible thing to waste and that she is not being true to her God given talents. What Ya Gonna Do?

Right Answer: You tell the parents and you encourage the child to use her gifts

Question #5 (for parent): Your 13 year-old child comes to you and asks if it's all right to go to a movie (a matinee) with some other friends. You ask what movie? Your child says: "It's the latest Arnold Schwarzenegger move; it's called "Terminator Too Much." You ask "What's it rated?" Your child says, "PG-13." And that's your problem. You usually don't let your child go to PG-13 movies without you. And you want to work in the garden. But you know the local theater doesn't check to see if kids are 13 or not. You know if you object, your child will say, "But the other kids' parents are letting them go!" And you know that's true. And you also know that it's only an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, so how bad can it be really? What Ya Gonna Do?

Right Answer: You postpone your gardening plans and accompany your child and friends to the movie.

Question #6 (for student): You are on your computer at home, surfing the net. You see that some e-mail is waiting. So you download it, and see that it is addressed to your mom and that it's from someone named "Boris Yutzikov." Curious, you decide to open it, even though you know this is an invasion of your mom's privacy. What you read totally blows you away. Your mom is actually a Russian spy, and has been for the last 20 years. She's just using your family as a front to hide her real identity. Anyway, further on in the letter, you read top secret information about a coming earth invasion by aliens from outer space. What Ya Gonna Do?

Right Answer: You send an e-mail to president@whitehouse.gov telling everything you know.

Host: Well, that's it for our show today. The winner is, as always, you!...when you honor your Father And Your Mother.