Trade-Offs — Season 1, Episode 14: Innocent Bystanders
Family, Kids • 30 min • 1 season, 15 episodes
Episode synopsis
A neighborhood conflict erupts when Jerry’s rock band lands a steady gig and must practice at home, disrupting his sister’s plans and a neighbor’s weekly chamber‑music recital. As frustrations rise, each person argues for their own idea of fairness, leading to a lively exploration of trade‑offs, rights, and competing interests. The episode highlights how everyday conflicts create “innocent bystanders” and why choosing a solution depends on the values people prioritize.
About Trade-Offs
Trade-offs was an AIT program designed to improve economics instruction in the United States and Canadian schools. The series of fifteen lessons, for children from 9-13, helped students think their way through economic problems and increased their understanding of economics. On a broader scale, it helped them become more effective decision makers and ultimately more responsible citizens. Each lesson consists of a 20-minute color television/film program plus teacher's guide material to facilitate classroom follow-up. Each program begins with a short segment that identifies key points that students and teachers should watch for. This is followed by the dramatization of a fundamental economic problem relevant to the daily life of the student. Special visuals emphasize the economic principles and reasoning processes involved. The last portion of the program introduces, but does not resolve, another problem, and ends by posing a question to the viewers.