The James Team spent eight weeks teaching music and anger management to children at Beyond Social Services.

But how? Brainstorming at a food court, the seven members of the team thought about what children love to do. “Suddenly we thought of the movie High School Musical,” says Jonathan Koh from Raffles Institution. Once they hit on the idea of motivating the kids through music, they drew further inspiration from the performers of Stomp and others like them.

Making their own instruments and music

Calling their project Beyond Words, the students started teaching the kids to make and play simple percussion instruments. They visited the care centre once a week for eight weeks, and each team member was assigned to personally take care of one or two children.

“The children had to make their own instruments, create their own beats, compose lyrics and come together to make everything gel,” explains Ren Jean. “For example, one lesson was set aside for creating the instruments, and by the end of the session, they had learnt about the importance of recycling and sharing resources.”

“The children especially like music and singing,” recalls Kwan Zi Xin from Nanyang Girls’ High School. “By incorporating stuff they like with moral values, we get the children to learn while having fun.”

It was not all smooth sailing. As the James Team discovered, there were tantrums and even disputes over the allocation of tasks. As the children had short attention spans, she found it “quite chaotic trying to get their attention as they got bored easily and would start running off halfway during the lessons.”

To manage such moments, some of the students assumed the role of a “bad guy”. Jonathan recalls, “Usually, if a kid misbehaves, I would pull him aside and talk to him. We adopted this ‘bad guy’ strategy so that the rest of the group can carry on with their activities without being disrupted.”

Breaking through to help children

By the end of the sessions, the James Team had built up a solid rapport with the kids. “The children were mainly from poor or troubled families who could not take care of them during the day,” explains Zi Xin. “Many had anger issues and frequently used physical means or swear words to get their way.”

But after spending some time with the children, the James Team came to see their strengths. “Some of the children were actually quite smart,” remarks Zi Xin, “they have their own opinions but did not know how to express their emotions properly.”

The James Team spent eight weeks teaching music and anger management to children at Beyond Social Services.

“You could tell that they really did learn to better manage their anger by the end of the programme through their actions and mannerisms,” says Ren Jean. Zi Xin adds, “Creating the songs and instruments gave the children a sense of ownership that helped them to defuse their anger and channel their energy productively.”

As they put together a performance for donors from the Alpha Society, the children rose to the occasion with their very own ‘Anger Management Song’. With less than a week to prepare, the group had to create the song and beats in just one session. “The performance was flawless,” says Ren Jean, “and proved that the children were capable of creating their own song, lyrics and beats all on their own with little assistance.”

As for the James Team, the vital lesson gained was that leadership isn’t just about leading. Some of them saw similar leadership qualities in their charges. “A few individuals found their ‘inner leader’ and rose to become the leader of the group,” notes Ren Jean. Zi Xin concludes, “When leading, we may neglect the opinions of others, but sometimes all people need is a listening ear.”

Look out for Schoolbag coverage of more Leadership Development Programme projects in the next few months.