Ya Fang and I have been organizing the NanZiHan (roughly translates to manliness) project here at Dandelion. Basically we're trying to help them build character, and we're especially emphasizing the importance of helping others, not complaining, and teamwork. We've been holding a NanZiHan activity in the evenings with all the 7th grade boys (protip: when managing 200 adolescent boys in an outdoor space, get a megaphone). We also have a separate activity for improving their character and morals (aka the aspects of "being a man" that aren't directly related to physical strength).
Also Note: We shaped all the NanZiHan activities with Chinese culture in mind. China is still much more traditional and conservative than America. Those reading this post and any others related to NanZiHan in America don't judge us too hard please, haha.
Also Note: We shaped all the NanZiHan activities with Chinese culture in mind. China is still much more traditional and conservative than America. Those reading this post and any others related to NanZiHan in America don't judge us too hard please, haha.
Class 4 Representin'
One of the activities we did involved having them split into small groups and giving each group a series of exercises they needed to complete in 10 minutes. The first time we did the activity, each group of 5 had to do a total of 150 pushups, 250 squats, 100 candle dips for each side and 300 jumping jacks in 10 minutes. They were allowed to split the tasks between themselves any way they wanted. For example, each person in a group could do 30 pushups or one person could do 110 and the rest could do 10 each.
We paired groups together from different classes, so that one group could count while the other did the exercises. We figured since the classes are fairly competitive, no one would let any sloppy pushups or whatnot slide by.
Any groups that didn't finish had to run 30 laps around the basketball court. One of the stipulations was though, that they had to run as together in their group; the faster runners weren't allowed to sprint in front of the slower ones. We instilled this small punishment to encourage the groups to work hard at the exercises, because most of the groups were able to easily finish.
Most of the non-finishing groups did really well when they ran. Some of the boys even carried slower ones to make sure the groups stayed together. Some even ran holding onto each other's hands and shirts to ensure they stayed together.
We paired groups together from different classes, so that one group could count while the other did the exercises. We figured since the classes are fairly competitive, no one would let any sloppy pushups or whatnot slide by.
Any groups that didn't finish had to run 30 laps around the basketball court. One of the stipulations was though, that they had to run as together in their group; the faster runners weren't allowed to sprint in front of the slower ones. We instilled this small punishment to encourage the groups to work hard at the exercises, because most of the groups were able to easily finish.
Most of the non-finishing groups did really well when they ran. Some of the boys even carried slower ones to make sure the groups stayed together. Some even ran holding onto each other's hands and shirts to ensure they stayed together.
I realize manliness isn't all about physical strength, but a significant portion is about mental and physical toughness. Also, something my homeroom teacher emphasizes is that boys should help girls carry heavy objects (for example the large pots of food the students need to bring to the classrooms for each meal). Some of the boys though lack the strength to really help others in this sort of sense, so these sorts of exercises can help them be able to help others. It's like they always say, you can't help others if you can't help yourself.