Students identify the different communities with which they engage. They explore what it means to develop reciprocal trust within different communities.

The learner will:

• identify different communities with which he or she is engaged.
• read a scenario and discuss how businesses can earn and lose trust.
• brainstorm ways to earn trust in communities and identify trustworthy behavior.

Anticipatory Set:

Review student definitions of trustworthy and the list of actions that communicate trust from the previous lesson.

• Define community as a group with common interests and likes, or a group of people living in the same area with shared resources. Brainstorm different communities with which students come in contact in their world. This may include examples of school, classroom, family, faith-based organization, clubs, teams, city, state, and friend groups. Write specific examples on the board or chart paper.
• Ask students to look over the list of familiar communities and think about whether they trust each of the individuals to the same degree in each community and whether they are trusted in each community. They may also compare the level of trust they have. For example, there may be a higher level of trust in a family community than in a state community.
• Ask the students why trust is a valuable trait in a community. Discuss possible inconveniences to the community if the community  members did not trust one another.
• Read (or have a student read) the following scenario:
• Dante went to a sale at a big sport store in his town. He needed a tennis racquet because he was going to take beginner tennis lessons. He wasn't sure which racquet to buy from all the different sizes and weights and grips. He looked around for someone to help him, but there wasn't anybody available. Dante picked out a racquet that was on sale and bought it. At his first tennis lesson, the instructor said that the racquet was a little small for Dante. Dante played hard and on one swing, he cracked the racquet. The next day, he returned to the store. He asked if he could return the racquet, but the customer service representative said, "We can't take it back because it is broken. You were probably playing roughly with it." Dante felt angry, and he left the store with his broken racquet. He didn't have enough money to buy a new one, and he didn't want to spend any more money at that store.
• Discuss the scenario. Ask, "Why do you think Dante does not want to shop at this store any more? How did the store loose Dante's trust? What could they have done differently to gain Dante's trust?" Allow students to share similar stories of buying items that weren't worth the money or of feeling cheated by a store. Discuss local stores and businesses that have earned the trust of their customers. Discuss what they do that builds trust with customers.
• Say, "All of the communities you engage with are affected by trust in similar ways--members gain and lose trust through their actions and attitudes. What do you do to build trust with your parents or guardians so they want to trust you with responsibility, choices, and freedom? How about your teachers? Neighbors? Brainstorm a chart with two headings: What can I do to earn their trust? What does a trustworthy community look like? Are the columns the same?
• Have students write a reflection on the following question: How does trust affect your daily decisions?