A new activity called 'The Baggage Activity' tried by an English Language Arts teacher at a middle school in Oklahoma made a profound impact on her as well as her students who were moved to tears.

The teacher Karen Wunderlich asked the kids what it meant to have baggage. The students responded that baggage is something that you carry on your shoulders and it is hurtful. Then she told the students to write down on a piece of paper all the baggage that they were carrying – whatever was bothering them, hurting them or what was heavy on their heart. She insisted that no names should be mentioned and then asked them to crumple the paper up and throw it across the room.

She then asked each student to pick up any paper and read out its contents aloud. After each paper was read, the student who wrote it could disclose his/her identity if s/he wishes to do so.

The teacher wrote on Facebook that the experience made the most impact on her in 22 years of her teaching experience. Not only was she moved to tears, but the kids opened up and shared their innermost secrets.

The content of the papers included suicide, parents in prison, drugs in their family, being left by their parents, death, cancer, losing pets and so on. The kids reading the papers would cry and the tears welled up in the eyes of those who had written it.

Though it was an emotionally draining day, the teacher is certain that henceforth her students will judge a little less, love a little more, and forgive a little faster.

The teacher decided to hang the bag of papers on the door to remind the baggage that all carry, to remind them that they are not alone, that they are loved and that they have each other’s back.

This extraordinary teacher, through the ‘baggage activity’, taught her students an important lesson in empathy which they might otherwise not have learned from any of their textbooks. 

Image Source: WGHP