OU is an acronym of opportunity unlocked. OU strategy is a process to make children
responsible, sensible and develop in them the urge to do good willingly. This strategy is child-
centric, as the rules, duration, number of opportunity earned and the reward would be spelled out
by them under the guidance of elder. Elder can be Mother, Father, Grandmother, Grandfather or
any other close family member at home.

Aim of OU Strategy (The Game of Goodness)
 Aim of the OU strategy is to modify children’s behavior in absence of force, anger and
any physical punishment.
 Increase healthy family interaction with children
Objective of OU Strategy (The Game of Goodness)
 Make child responsible enough willingly
 Keeping children engaged in act of goodness
 Quality engagement with parents/ elder
 Game to shape children’s personality
 Create healthy and conducive environment of growth
Rule of OU Strategy (The Game of Goodness)
 One act of goodness = one OU
 One act of disappointment = one OL
 One unsuccessful attempt towards act of goodness = OF
 One unsuccessful attempt towards act of goodness not completed, even after given a
chance= OD
 Unlocked opportunities in numbers are called opportunity earned=OE
 One unsuccessful attempt towards act of goodness completed, after given a chance= OU
 To get maximum OE each day, participant will add new and unique set of good behavior.

Opportunity
Disappeared
Opportunity
Earned

 Any good act/ behavior learnt should be continued, it should not be a day specific task to
get opportunity unlocked and just to earn the opportunity.
 For same good act/ behavior new opportunity will be unlocked for 7 days, so every 8 th
day the participants will add new good act/behavior.
Steps of OU Strategy (The Game of Goodness)
 Sit with your child/children.
 Tell them we are going to play a game, and to make the game interesting, involve them in
drafting the rules of the game together under the guidance of an elder.
 As it is a live game, it can go anywhere the child visits, it can be at his/her visit to an
extended family member’s house, outing, family dinners etc. based on the discussion of
the rules of the game, Opportunity earned can be decided to maximum and minimum
number. For example, twenty opportunities for demonstrating exceptionally good
behavior and zero for demonstrating disappointing behavior or in worst and others cases
loss of earned opportunities.
 Make a list of good behavior (children will make the list with the help of parent or any
adult (grandparent), for e.g. helping and respecting elders at home, sit to study on his/her
own, compete each day’s study to the following day (like yesterday I leaned two lessons
today I will complete three lessons, yesterday I have done two sums in math today I will
complete three sums), attend all learning classes on time, it is important to make them
clear that one has to compete with one own-self in good deeds.

 Make a list of disappointing behavior (for example getting up late in the morning, don’t
brush, scatter your bookshelf, or bag, wardrobe, throw worn dress on bed, keep used
towel on bed, don’t keep your toilet clean after use, mishandle ones’ belongings, fight
with siblings, keep complaining about each other all day long, yelling unnecessarily,
disrespect elder at home (including maid), use abusive language while with
friends/siblings, use of gadgets without parents or elder’s permission/ consent, calling out
bad names for each other(siblings), don’t read any book, watch cartoons, spend more
time watching TV, or any other gadget (Tablet, laptop, mobile phones etc.), leaving mess
bed, leaving bedroom untidy, tearing books and text-books apart.
 Enquire children about the duration of the game (whether they want to play it for a three
days, week, month or maximum of 40 days). In the beginning, it is preferable to play the
game for shorter period of time.

 It is important for the child to take very active participation in listing rules (which are
nothing but two list, one list of good behavior required to live successful, peaceful day,
another list is a list of bad behavior from which children are expected to abstain
themselves)
 Each night post dinner, there will be HOT SEAT TIME (get together with elder with
whom they are playing game).
 During HOT SEAT Time, elder will first spell out the list of good behavior the child has
performed, for each good behavior he tells the total number of opportunity he has
unlocked and in return opportunity earned.

 Then, an elder encourages the child to think of any other good behavior, which he must
have performed but went unnoticed by that elder (for e.g. when he was playing in the
garden he helped any child, or any child who slipped and she/he instead of laughing,
picked him/her up, etc.
 Now time to unlock the opportunity, the elder list the bad behavior throughout the day,
which was as listed by him/her followed by encouraging child to think of mistakes which
was done by him/her. Depend on the severity and how genuine confession was listed by
the child, decision of locking the opportunity will be on an elder. (preferably forgive and
celebrate that the child bravely admitted, accepted knowing the consequence of
opportunity being locked). Before sending the child off to bed, wish luck for the next day
and do appreciate and congratulate on getting number of opportunities earned and to
complete the day successfully.

 Avoid threatening child repeatedly about locking his/her earned opportunity (means
locking his/her unlocked opportunity). Make sure that you don’t discuss and keep
reminding the child about rules again and again throughout the day (as doing this, will
make the child obstinate and withdrawal from the game). Make the child feel that he is
playing a live game.
 After every two days, introduce twist and turn in the game; for example, during Hot Seat,
each participant was asked to narrate one good act which they observed in other
participant, as it was sudden, and researcher saw hesitation among participants to narrate
act of goodness among other participant, researcher added another twist, by mentioning
that if you narrate act of goodness of other participant in the entire day you will receive
one OU, and if you are unable to recollect then your opportunity will be freeze for
another 24 hour. If unable to complete then opportunity will be disappeared.

 One of the important rule of the game is to continue the good act, for example, if
participant has learnt to give foot massage to parent before they sleep, they should
continue each day, it’s a different thing that a parent denies but you should continue to
serve parents.
It is observed that the kind of interaction and communication between parent/ responsible
elders, care-takers, guardians and children at home are either informative, declarative,
commanding or authoritarian in nature, whereas it should be interactive, engaging and
communicative where both the parties feel heard and understood. OU strategy was designed
keeping child’s best interest, quality interaction-nurturing environment, positive attitude in mind,
the strategy helps in imbibing moral values and paves the way towards self-discipline amongst
children.
I have experienced playing this game for more than one year with 6-year-old, 10-year-old
and 13-year-old child and the result is remarkable. Children responds well to game played with
them at home and specially if the game is played with close family members. Their willingness
to win the game provides intrinsic motivation to stay consistent and focused. It is important to
discuss the rules of the game clearly and make sure they agree to all the rules stated, if necessary,
they can recapitulate the rules orally before beginning. The game leaves long lasting impact on
children’s behavior, and they show continuous excitement to be in the game hence increases
family quality interaction-nurturing environment, shapes child’s personality and assists in good
parenting.