Introduction

Trust is a fundamental component of any healthy relationship, and it’s crucial for students to understand the value of keeping secrets when someone confides in them. When a person shares a secret, they are demonstrating trust in the listener to respect their privacy and not share the information. In this blog post, we will explore a no-prep activity for educators to teach middle school students the importance of keeping secrets and building trust in relationships.

No-Prep Activity

This activity is called “The Trust Circle” and requires no materials or preparation from the educator. Here’s how it works:

1. Ask the students to form a circle and stand in a way that they can easily see and hear each other.
2. Explain to the students that they will be sharing a fictional secret with the person on their right. Remind them that this is a pretend exercise and they should not share real secrets.
3. Give the students a minute or two to think of a fictional secret that they will share.
4. Once everyone has thought of a secret, instruct the students to share their secret with the person on their right, making sure to emphasize that the secret should not be shared with anyone else.
5. After everyone has shared their secret, ask the students to discuss how it felt to trust someone with their secret and how they would feel if the secret was shared with others.

This activity helps students understand the importance of trust and the responsibility that comes with keeping someone’s secret.

Discussion Questions

• How would you feel if someone you trusted shared your secret with others? How would it affect your relationship?
• Why is it important to keep someone’s secret when they confide in you?
• Can you think of a situation where it might be necessary to share someone’s secret? What factors would you consider before making that decision?
• How can we show someone that we are trustworthy and will keep their secrets?
• What are some ways to handle a situation where you accidentally shared someone’s secret? How can you make amends and rebuild trust?

Related Skills

Besides keeping secrets, there are other important skills that students can learn to foster trust and healthy relationships. These include:

• Active listening: Paying attention, making eye contact, and showing empathy when someone is speaking.
• Respecting boundaries: Acknowledging and respecting the personal boundaries and limits set by others.
• Apologizing sincerely: Recognizing when we’ve made a mistake and offering a genuine apology to make amends.
• Being reliable: Following through on commitments and demonstrating consistency in our actions.

Next Steps

Teaching students about trust and the importance of keeping secrets is just one aspect of Social-Emotional Learning. To further explore this topic and other essential skills, sign up for free samples of skill-building materials at Everyday Speech. These resources can help educators provide engaging and effective lessons to support students’ social and emotional growth.