John Terry - Taking on the Law

AGE: Secondary

COLLECTIVE WORSHIP            SPRING TERM 2010-02-03

KEY STAGES      KS ¾

TITLE         John Terry - Taking on the Law

AIM   To raise awareness in students of the responsibility that public office and public figures have towards the general public and to identify advice on this from the Christian tradition.

RESOURCES

• Six key character readers
• Five additional readers
• A willing teacher to take the part of the Form Tutor.

Characters

Gavin       (a year 10 student)

Rashid    (a friend of Gavin's)

Tracey    (Gavin's sometime girlfriend)

Penny       (Tracey's best friend)

Tyrone    (a friend in the group)

Form teacher

PRESENTATION

Leader   In the last few days there have been pages and pages written in the newspapers about the captaincy of the England Football team and the behaviour of certain players. In the following imaginary scenario, we introduce the subject via a group of students having a discussion in their classroom during their lunch break. Our characters are Gavin and Tracey, Rashid and Tyrone, Penny and, of course, the Form Teacher.

Gavin is sitting alone in the class at lunchtime reading a newspaper. Form teacher is quietly marking a large pile of exercise books and munching on a sandwich. Gavin sighs....

Form Tutor    A problem Gavin? Tracey again?

Gavin       No miss, nuthin' like that - Tracey and me are fine - it's this John Terry stuff - what next?

Form Tutor     Hmmmm

Rashid enters loudly with Tyrone

Rashid   What ho Gavallah?? What's occurring matey? Tracey left you alone for a minute or two?? I never see you without her my old mate? What you reading? Not like you to be on your own? And reading? Hey, what's going on?

Tyrone    Yeh?

Gavin       Oh I do wish you'd drop that Gavin and Stacey stuff. Old hat, know what I mean? Finito, and she is called Tracey, not Stacey. You know that.

Rashid    Ok, ok, didn't mean to upset you. So what're reading then? Not John Terry again?

Gavin       ‘Fraid so Rash - my step-dad reckons he's a stupid thug with too much money. Thinks he can buy off anyone, including the law, to save his reputation. His reputation's gone now, mate.

Rashid    Well I think he's getting everything he deserves. I'm no Chelsea fan like you as you know, but the captain of England has got to be a credit to his country and an example for players and people like you and me.

Tyrone    Yeh, and what about Tiger Woods?

Gavin       Yeah, yeah, thank you Tyrone..... My dad also thinks footballers get way too much money. But when you think about it, the only way people like you and me will get to be successful and famous is to go into pop music or go into football.

Rashid   But that's not the point is it! What would you say - yeah - what would you do - if I chatted up Tracey?

Tracey (enters with Penny)    Some one mention my name? Oh hi Rashid. Hi Tyrone. What you saying about me?

(Tracey sits down next to Gavin)

Rashid    Just saying that a mate doesn't steal his best mate's girlfriend, like John Terry. There's got to be some standard between friends. And then, if I got off with you, and then went around bribing people like Tyrone not to tell Gav, what sort of person would I be? Bit off I think.

Tracey    Ughhh I wouldn't let you get off with me - get a life Rashid! But yeah, did you read what they said about him in the papers - not just what he did, but how he's vile and gutless. Just because he earns half a million pounds a month, he thinks he can get away with anything. My Mum was livid. Won't say what she really said in front of Miss (nods her head toward Form Teacher) but she reckons that anyone who did that to a friend and to his wife is completely without any sense of morals and is no example to young people today. She says there's more to life than just chasing money and the more you have, the more you want, and these footballers have just become greedier and greedier, and she said they're like a child left alone in a sweetshop. They steal and feed their faces until they're sick. And then they get caught out. Serves him right.

Penny    Yeah. My Mum.....

Form Tutor    Shhhhh - keep the discussion down a bit Tracey?

Tracey Sorry Miss - but Miss... well what do you think Miss? Do you think John Terry deserves what he gets?

Form Tutor    Well Tracey, not for me to say really.....

Tracey    Oh go on Miss.

Form Tutor    Well, if you want my honest opinion, anyone who confuses his private life with his public life deserves to be pulled up. If you earn a lot of money and become famous, you need to think what the result would be if you lead a private life that is not acceptable to the majority of people. Most people are sensible in what they do and we all get pulled up if we act stupidly - in school, when you're out, by friends, parents, teachers, even the public. What would you do if you saw me drunk in the street?

Tracey    Yeah, but you're a teacher Miss, you don't do that sort of thing.....

Form Tutor    Maybe not, but you expect a certain standard from me. And then we have freedom of speech in this country that allows people to say things within an acceptable range of things and this freedom means that we have got responsibilities to lead a life within that range of things. The courts ruled that newspapers had a right to report on John Terry's private life. He knew this would have an impact on his public life and image. He wasn't above the law. The court felt he tried to manipulate the law to his own advantage. So the big questions are, does he think what he did to his friends and his wife is right and correct, and do you think what he did to them, is right and just?

Gavin       That's true Miss, you never heard of Bobby Moore or Stanley Matthews doing this sort of thing. Bobby Charlton - great player, great man, example to anyone my step-dad says.

Rashid    Yeah well whatever - my dad reckons this is just another example of a person who has been brought up without any guidance in life, to know what is right or what is wrong and no guidance now which is wise enough to make him realise what a plonker he is.

(Bell for registration goes)

Penny    Miss, can we continue this discussion after the bell?

(Pause)

Leader    You have probably heard echoes of this light-hearted discussion in other places recently.  Our characters here seem to want our heroes to provide an example for us - not only on the football field but in their private lives as well. In the Old Testament the prophets were justifiably critical of people who abused power and other people and said they would receive a judgement. Jesus, too, was highly critical of those who had money and used it badly - and warned of the sort of judgement that could result. He told for instance, the story of the Poor Rich Farmer to illustrate his point.

Reader 1    One year a rich farmer had a wonderful harvest. The harvest was so good that he didn't have room enough to store it. So he told himself, "I will pull down the small barns I have and build some really big ones. Then I'll be able to store all my grain and I'll have enough to live on for years to come. I'll just take it easy and live in comfort".

Reader 2     That night however, God spoke to the man and said...

Reader 3    "What a fool you are! This very night you are going to die. Then what will become of your money? What good will it do you then?"

Reader 4    And Jesus said, "That's what happens to everyone who spends his life getting rich materially but never gives a thought to being rich in God's sight".

Reader 5    In the lovely little book in the New Testament called the Book of James, this thought is found, "If two people turn up one day at your house, one wearing expensive clothes, the other worn-out old things, don't politely say to the rich one, sit on your special seat, and then to the poor person, sit on the floor. If you behave like that you are saying that the rich people matter more than poor ones. God doesn't think like that, he has a special place for the poor in his kingdom".

Leader    So, in a moment of quiet reflection, let us consider what it is to be rich in God's sight. Jesus supplies the answer of course - quite simply to love God and to love any other person as you would love yourself. We can always find guidance about what makes a good and upright character but of course we don't always follow it. And if footballers behaving badly lead us to think they are bad role models, we're probably right, because perhaps it is easier to be selfish than unselfish, perhaps it is easier to be greedy than provide help for those who are without. But perhaps there is another test of good character: being able to do something good or worthwhile, especially for others, that takes time and effort, with no reward or pats on the back. If we can do that, we are probably on the right track.

PRAYER   

Heavenly Father, have mercy on all those people who live in the pursuit of selfishness, on all who forget your work amid their worldly business, and on all who are hardened in heart by deceit towards others; transform them to your service so that in the end they may turn and become a beacon of light to others.

Amen

DISCUSSION POINTS

1. Do you agree with Gavin's statement that ‘the only way people like you and me will get to be successful and famous is to go into pop music or go into football.'? Are we too obsessed with celebrity and all that is attached to it? Does celebrity, success and fame really bring happiness?
2. To what extent do you agree with the idea that making the best of yourself means doing everything to the best of your ability, treating others with respect, and showing concern for those in need?
3. In what ways is it possible to create a better ME? Is what we say important? Is the way we act important? Is the way we make decisions important? Who to? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, why don't we give more thought to making a better ME?
4. What are the pros and cons of giving another person's needs a higher priority than our own needs?
5. Read I Corinthians 13:4-7 but remove the word ‘love' and replace it with your own name.