As the fire burned, the pot tilted and water poured onto the fire. The boy understands the problem and now discovers ways to avoid it. This approach helps the boy learn a practical skill and feel good about himself. Cooperation One of the ways to help young people learn more helpful ways of behaving is to put more emphasis on cooperative activities in your program. In the process, some people come to see themselves as winners, and others as losers.
Activities lose much of their fun if some boys are being pressured by others.
This is not to say that there should never be competitive activities, but rather that a balance between competition and cooperation needs to be maintained. Emphasis should be on the fun of learning and doing things together. You can be a winner without coming first. Have plenty of activities where the reward comes from doing and achieving together, where time is not a heavy pressure and we are not looking for the best or the first. When time is up, each group visits each other's construction, and finds one or two things about it that are interesting, useful, beautiful, exciting, new, imaginative, etc.