Introduction
Throughout mid April, the Northport High School’s LEAD social studies class has been doing 4 different performances for high school students that involve social issues that students may face. LEAD doesn’t stand for anything or have an acronym, but it is speculated to be related to something about leadership. LEAD also performs a show about safe trick- or-treating for elementary school students, and they also perform a show about the Bill of Rights for middle schoolers in seventh grade. I was only able to watch 2 out of the 4 different shows that LEAD performs for high school students, so if you haven’t seen these 2 performances in particular, then this article is for you.
Toxic Relationships
The first LEAD performance that I watched spoke about toxic relationships between friends and how to fix them or move on from the people who are being toxic towards you. During the performance, there was a scene where 2 people were randomly assigned to a group together. They would then be asked about different scenarios about toxic relationships and character traits and they would have to answer with what they would do in these situations. These scenarios that the contestants were being asked about helped them understand what the difference is between a toxic relationship and a healthy one. It helped them decide who their true friends are and who they should continue to be friends with, as well as the people they should let go of and step away from. This performance is good for people who are in a difficult situation with their friends at the moment and it helps them decide on what to do during the situation or conflict.
Gender Stereotypes and Inequality
The second performance I watched by LEAD dealt with gender inequality and stereotypes. The main plot was about 2 groups of friends, one group being girls and the other being boys. The 2 groups would always pick on each other and make stereotypes about the opposite gender. For example, the boys would always say that girls should work in a kitchen all day and the girls would say that boys do mechanical work on their cars all day. The 2 groups would always argue like this back and forth. One day, the lights go out and they have to put their arguing aside for once and work together. It is hard at first, but eventually they all get along with each other and manage to restore the power and lights. This experience helped them realize that it doesn’t matter what your gender is, you can get along with each other either way and you can accomplish just as much as the opposite gender can.
Over all, the experience
