TrainersWe spend millions on trainers – but are we super fit or just fashion victims? Youth Topicstakes a look at the real winners and losers in the trainers’ trade.

Shoe storyHand a different kind of shoe to eachperson or group, such as a sandal, a trainer,a wellington boot, a high-heeled shoe, etc.Then ask them to make up a story aboutthe person who might wear the shoe theyhave got. Going round the circle – askeach person or group to introduce thecharacter of the person they have chosen,what they would say and what happensnext. After all the characters have beenintroduced, the floor is open for the storyto continue! Each person or group just

AIM To discuss peer pressure,advertising pressure andattitudes to trainers

Underpressure

Draw an imaginary line on the floorand explain to the group that one endrepresents ‘totally agree’ and the other‘totally disagree’. Ask everyone to takea position on the line to show how theyfeel about each of the following.

‘I wear £110 trainers because theymake people think you’re reallyexclusive!’ young person

‘Aggressive advertising pushes youngpeople into buying expensive brands tokeep up with their mates.’ youth worker

‘No trainers are worth what the shopscharge, but we still buy them. We mustbe mugs!’ young person

‘We’ve banned trainers because pupilswhose parents couldn’t afford to buythe ‘right’ sort were made to feel reallybad.’ head teacher

‘If they were £10 or £20 no one wouldbuy them.’ young person

DISCUSS What sort of trainers do you own? What’s the most you’d payfor a pair? Where does the pressure to wear the ‘right’ trainers come from? How are the sports shoecompanies involved?

AIM To discuss sportswear advertising

On your marksHow do magazine and TV adverts sell sports shoes? Split everyone up into small groupsand give each group a sports shoe ad.

DISCUSS What image isthe ad trying to create?What pictures, colours orslogans are used to createthis image? What are theads not telling us about? (iethe cost, where the shoesare made, how much theworkers are paid formaking them.) Wouldknowing about these thingsaffect your choice of whichtrainer you buy?

has to hold up their shoe to signal thatthey want to add the next bit to the tale! Itcould be a love story, a thriller or just plainbizarre. Eg Farmer Giles was trudging across a fieldin his wellies when he spotted someonelying in a puddle. It was a woman wearing aball gown and high heels. ‘Why am I lyingin a field?’ she said…

DISCUSS What do shoes tell us about theperson wearing them?

A football match, Kachingwe, Malawi

AIM To have fun and introduce the theme

Chr

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Trainers AW 17/3/09 14:56 Page 1

CAFOD, Christian Aid and SCIAF believe that Third World workers should be paid a fair wageand have safe and healthy working environments. We believe that the major sports shoecompanies should adopt independently monitored codes of conduct to guarantee decentworking conditions in factories making their shoes.

CAFOD, Romero Close, Stockwell Road, London SW9 9TY • Christian Aid, PO Box 100, London SE1 7RTSCIAF, 19 Park Circus, Glasgow G3 6BE

AIM To uncover the realities behind the trainers business

The trainers race

100 metresHow many pairs of trainers does Nikeproduce each year?a) 900,000b) 9 million c) 90 millionAnswer: c) – that’s one pair of Niketrainers for every 66 people on the planet!

200 metresMost big brand trainers are made in: a) USAb) UKc) Asian countries such as China, Thailand

and the Philippines Answer: c) – ninety per cent of Nike’strainers are currently produced in Thailand

300 metresDo companies like Nike, Reebok and Adidas:a) run their own shoe factories?b) pay other factories to make their shoes?c) employ skilled shoemakers to make

each pair?Answer: b) – Nike does not own a singlefactory

400 metresHow much from your average £100 pairof trainers goes to the Indonesian factoryworkers who stitched them? a) 40pb) £2.50c) £7.50Answer: a) – that’s less than one per cent

500 metresHow much did Michael Jordan get paidfor endorsing Nike in 1998?a) $4 millionb) $45 millionc) $450 million Answer: b) – enough to buy almost amillion pairs of £50 trainers

AIM To look at theexperiences of workers in

trainer factories

Stitch up?

Ask someone to read out the following.

Laura used to work in a shoe factory inthe Philippines making Puma, Nike andReebok trainers. It was OK but the hourswere long and the pay was low. So theworkers decided to form a union to getbetter wages and decent holidays. Thenthe owners announced the factory was toclose. The workers suspected the ownerswanted to get rid of them because of theirnew rights. They called a strike to protest.‘We were truncheoned by the police,threatened with guns and water hosed byfiremen,’ says Laura. The factory did close– but another quickly opened on the samepremises with the same president. Only afew of the old workers were re-employed.Laura now survives selling sweets on thestreet. ‘I made trainers for 11 years,’ shesays. ‘But look at what I wear on my feet– a cheap pair of sandals.’

DISCUSS How do you think Laura felt?How would you feel about wearingtrainers if you knew they had beenmade in a factory with bad workingconditions? If everyone knew howworkers were treated, would trainersstill be so cool? What can we do to helppeople like Laura?

This article first appeared in The Christian Science M

onitoron June 18, 1996 and is reproduced with

permission. C

opyright 1996 The Christian Science M

onitor. All rights reserved. O

nline at csmonitor.com

600 metres A hearing of the EuropeanParliament recently talked aboutAdidas. What did they discuss?a) Which Adidas trainers are the

coolest. b) Workers who make Adidas

trainers being forced to work longhours for less than 70p a day.

c) Sexual harassment and physicalabuse of workers who make Adidas trainers.

Answer: b) and c) – Adidas refusedto attend the hearing

FINISHWhat proportion of UK consumers think there should beminimum standards of workingconditions for workers in the Third World?a) 2.9%b) 29%c) 92%Answer: c) – are you one of them?

DISCUSS Which facts struck youmost? Who gets most and who getsleast from the trainers business?

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Danziger/©

1996 The Christian Science M

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There’s a race to get you to buy the right trainers. So why not sprint through this quizand see who crosses the finish line first with the most answers correct? GO…!

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