Interest badges
Protesting
Take action
Protest to make change happen.
Discover different ways to protest, find out what you care about and make your own protest.
Getting a Rangers interest badge
There are 36 interest badges for you to earn at Rangers, and 3 fun challenges to do for each badge.
You can do these badges at any time, anywhere and in any way you’d like. You can do them on your own or with units, during unit meetings, at home or even on holiday.
How to complete this badge
1. To buy or not to buy
Boycotting is a peaceful way of protesting. You choose not to buy, use or give money to a person, organisation or country to show you don’t agree with something they’ve done. It’s about getting your message across by hitting them in the pocket. Importantly, it’s got to be something you’d ordinarily happily purchase.
Think about something you want to boycott and boycott it for a week– it could be a type of product, unethical corporation, place or media outlet. Explain the impact you think you made. If more people joined you, what influence would you have?
2. How to protest safely
As well as being exciting and uplifting, protests can be tense and involve lots of people, so it’s vital to know how to stay safe.
Make a guide for young people on how to protest safely. You can decide who this guide is aimed at. When making your guide, think about relationships with people at the protest:
- The other protesters - peaceful and non-peaceful.
- The people you’re protesting against.
- The police and protest marshals.
- The media.
- General public.
How should you treat them? How should they treat you? Look at organisations like Green & Black Cross for ideas.
3. Make your own protest
When you think of a typical protest, it probably involves marching, placard waving and chanting. However, there are many other ways you can show your support for a cause – some without even leaving your own home.
Pick an issue that’s important to you and use alternative protesting methods to protest in as many creative ways as you can. For example, letter writing, going on strike, through social media, wearing symbols or making displays. You can protest inside or outside - including from your house, unit, an outside space in your local area or school.
Look at historical protests for ideas:
- Ban the bomb
- Civil rights movements
- Black Lives Matter
- Women’s suffrage movements
- Refugees Welcome
- Girlguiding’s campaign to end sexual harassment in schools
- Birth of guiding at Crystal Palace in 1909
- Boy band break-up protests
Including others
- Make sure your parent/carer knows you are talking to other people and who they are.
- Never talk to strangers on your own.
- If you feel worried or confused by any of the answers given, talk to an adult you trust straight away.
Internet safety
To keep safe online, I'll…
- Not share any personal information on the internet (my full name, my home or school address, my phone number or my email address).
- Only download files on to my devices with permission from my parent or carer.
- Always ask permission before uploading photos or videos online. If I send pictures, I'm aware that these can be forwarded onto others.
- Tell my parent or carer, teacher or leader if something online worries or upsets me.
- Only add people online that I know in the real world.
- Be wary of emails that contain unknown links. I know clicking links can download viruses or other harmful files onto my devices.
- Treat people online with the same respect as I would in the real world. I'll never write anything that might hurt or upset someone.
- Not meet up with someone that I've met online and if someone asks me to do so, I'll tell a parent or carer.
- Think carefully about what I read, hear and see online, and not trust information unless I've checked it on other websites or in books, or have asked an adult about it.
Out and about safety
- Plan your route before you go.
- Make sure someone knows where you're going and when you’ll be back.
- Pay attention to what’s happening around you. Only do your activity when you are somewhere safe.
- Always keep to the Green Cross Code and remember to wear reflective or bright clothes and accessories. When you’re out at night, wear reflective clothing or accessories like reflective armbands.
- Have a way of contacting someone if you get stuck (for example, having a charged phone).
Wellbeing
Sometimes activities that look after our wellbeing can cause us to have feelings that we can’t explain or make us feel sad. It’s important you speak to an adult you trust or a professional service about how you feel if this happens.
