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Activity 3: 45-60 minutes
Aim
To consider some of the reasons for football violence and especially the part the media might play in it.
Objectives
| • | Discuss the possible reasons for football violence , expressing and justifying an opinion. |
| • | Consider the role the media might play in this. |
| • | Discuss the diagram of the Amplification Spiral and how the spiral relates to other moral panics in the media. |
Resources
| • | Core Activity Sheet 3.1: Reasons for Football Violence cards. |
| • | Core Activity Sheet 3.2: How the Media Reports Football Violence, football reports from 1899 and 1977. |
| • | Core Activity Sheet 3.3: How the Media Amplifies the Problem of Football Violence, diagram of the Amplification Spiral. |
Tasks
| 1. Students should work in pairs/groups. Each has a set of the cards from Core Activity Sheet 3.1 , which they must discuss and rank in order of importance as a cause of violence. Remind the class of their work on media stereotyping from previous lessons and ask them to write out a card for this and include it in the ranking. |
| 2. Compare the 'ranking' between the different groups, asking for explanations. Use this as the basis for a class discussion. Prompt students to think about the arguments for and against each card. The following may be useful points to raise to stimulate discussion: |
| Alcohol: in Denmark there is a tradition of gangs getting drunk and then partying! | |
| Youth: plenty of young people do not get involved in violence and some adults do. | |
| Macho behaviour: most men do not get involved in this kind of violence. They do not feel their masculinity is at risk through not fighting. | |
| Racism: violence often occurs between rival teams and is not limited to issues of race. | |
| Identities: many supporters have strong links with their team and identify with them without becoming violent towards others. | |
| History: is it good enough to explain violence by saying that it has always existed - what are the reasons why some young men have always been involved in such violence? |
| 3. Explain that the media can influence our opinion about a subject such as football violence not only by promoting stereotypes of football fans but also by the way in which they choose to write about the subject. |
| 4. Show students the examples of the two reports on football violence on Core Activity Sheet 3.2 and discuss the questions on the sheet. |
| 5. Show students the diagram of the Amplification Spiral on Core Activity Sheet 3.3 . It may be helpful to use the example of being labelled a 'bad' school to illustrate the spiral. Discuss what other issues the spiral could relate to, e.g. young people's behaviour, the availability and effect of drugs, etc. |
Discussion Points
| • | What are the major causes of football violence? |
| • | What can we do to control / prevent it? |
| • | How far does the media contribute to the problem? |
Extension
Adapt the diagram of the Amplification Spiral to show how it could relate to another moral panic.
Differentiation
Invent a headline for each of the two articles you have read.
Make a list of words which are used to describe football fans negatively, e.g. thugs, yobs.
Homework
Find headlines/articles/photos from the press on other moral panics in the media. Explain how these might be amplifying the problem.
National Curriculum Focus
| 1(b) Diversity and mutual understanding | |
| 1(h) The significance of the media in society | |
| 2(a) Think about social and cultural issues | |
| 2(c) Contribute to group and exploratory class discussions | |
| 3(a) Use their imagination to consider other people's experiences |
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