Students also participated in an activity where they wrote down the emotions prompted by different words. The words became more loaded as the activity progressed, starting with terms like “family” and “friendship” and moving on to concepts like “prejudice” or “racism.” Sarah noted that students who associated safety and security with the word “police” were intrigued to hear other students express an alternate view. “It’s important for middle school students to have safe spaces for open, non- confrontational dialogue that builds understanding,” she says, noting that the ability to move beyond one’s own world view and see other perspectives is a developmental challenge common to all adolescents and young teens.