Quizzes and hypotheticals

Q1 You are a student at a school that has students from many different cultural backgrounds. One day, you hear laughter coming from behind one of the buildings and when you go and look you find a group of Year 10 students writing anti-Aboriginal and anti-Asian slogans on the wall. There are some younger students from various backgrounds watching but not laughing. What do you do? a. Tell the students they’re being racist and run away. b. Tell the students they’re being racist and report it to the teacher on playground duty. c. Are embarrassed, but don’t want to feel left out so you laugh along with the other students. d. Add some more slogans to the wall.

Q2 A group of Year 3 students are discussing friends in the playground. One of the student says, “I wouldn’t be friends with Tina, she’s black.” What do you do? a. Say, “I think she is nice and I’d like to be her friend.” b. Ignore the comment and say nothing. c. Agree with the group because you don’t want to start an argument. d. Say, “That’s not a thing to say” and explain that all students look different.

Q3 A group of boys regularly pick on a newly arrived Chinese Australian boy. They make fun of the way he speaks, his name and his family. You notice that the boy is becoming very unhappy and withdrawn. What do you do? a. Encourage the boy to talk to a teacher or student representative. b. Say or do nothing. You don’t want to be a dobber. c. Make friends with the boy and threaten to bash up the other boys if they tease him again. d. Feel relieved that the boys aren’t picking on you too.

Q4 A group of your friends are making fun of a girl at sport because she is not wearing the usual sports uniform. She participates in all sporting activities but is the only girl in class who wears a track suit and uses the toilets for changing. You know that her religion is Muslim. What do you do? a. Agree with your friends and join in making fun of her. b. Tell your friends they’re being cruel and explain to them why she does this. c. Think your friends are being mean but say nothing. d. Storm off in a huff.

Q5 Two boys have been put on detention for fighting in the playground. You know that the fight occurred because one of the boys was calling the other racist names. What do you do? a. Talk to a teacher or encourage the boy to explain what really happened. b. Do nothing. You think the boys deserve what they got. c. Tease the boys for being on detention and call them both racist names. d. Tell all your friends the real story.

Q6 You have a number of friends from a variety of backgrounds including Aboriginal, Chilean, Chinese and Maltese. A group of students in your school regularly pick on you because of your friends’ backgrounds. They pick on your friends too. What do you do? a. Do nothing. You are scared of the bullies and don’t want them to pick on you even more. b. Get rid of your friends. You’re sick of getting picked on because of them anyway. c. Take up kick boxing lessons and plan your revenge. d. Report the harassment to a teacher or an adult you trust or form an anti-racism group.

Q7 Your friend is a Torres Strait Islander girl who is teased and bullied every day because of her background. She gets into many fights with the kids at school when she tries to stand up for herself. The teachers don’t seem to care and your friend is thinking of leaving school. What do you do? a. Try to reason with your friend and tell her to ignore the other students. b. Go to the principal without your friend’s consent and explain what is happening. c. Go together to report what is happening to a teacher or adult you trust. d. Do nothing. It’s not your business anyway.

Q8 Your teacher has asked the class to organise a mock election to coincide with the state election. Some of your classmates want to put up an anti-immigration candidate. What do you do? a. Refuse to participate in the election while “that candidate” is running. b. Tell the class that you don’t think such a candidate should be allowed to participate. c. Put up your own candidate and invite the anti-immigration candidate to debate you. d. Mutter under your breath about how unfair it is and sulk throughout the mock election process.

Q9 Your class is discussing the contribution of migration. One girl says that migrants don’t want to become Australians and don’t try to learn English. What do you do? a. Are not sure what to think, so you say nothing. b. Point out that most migrants are proud to make Australia their home and are fluent in English. c. Glare at her and tell her she’s being racist. d. Agree with her.

Q10 Your teacher is angry because a student has forgotten to bring his homework to class. One of the students says, “All Aboriginals are lazy, Miss. What do you expect?” What do you do? a. Confront the student, tell him that he is being racist and storm out of the classroom. b. Talk to the teacher and others about what your class can do to challenge racist attitudes. c. Agree and tell the student he should bring his homework to class next time. d. Do nothing. You don’t care anyway.