Discussion Guide:

1. ACTIVITY: Design a Wisp
   Caregiver Note: This is an activity to keep hands busy while talking about the game. Children often struggle with having face to face discussions and prefer side-to-side conversation while busy with an activity. This takes the pressure off the conversation so it’s more fun and less like an interrogation. For this activity you can either use crayons and paper or go as far as to get some modeling clay and create your own Wisps. Come up with your own designs (that means you too, caregiver!) and come up with the ability to go with it. Share these designs and ideas together after as a nice way to bond.
2. What was your favorite character? Why is that?
   Caregiver Note: While this question will appear to be “fluff”, this is a good way to start discussing hard topics. Just jumping into hard questions is often difficult for most adults, let alone youth that struggle with interpersonal relationships and trusting adults. Allow your youth to discuss characters they appreciate and why to gain insight into where your youth may be emotionally and mentally with associating with such characters. I don’t advise this as clinical advice, but if you talk more about the game this may help you make other connections later as a caregiver.
3. Dr. Eggman pretends to be nice on camera but how does he act when he’s alone with Cubot and Orbot?
   Caregiver Note: When Dr. Eggman is alone with his robots and things aren’t going his way Dr. Eggman can lash out viciously towards Cubot and Orbot. He insults them, bosses them around, slaps them, and threatens them constantly. Dr. Eggman does not seem like a nice guy to be around, does he? While this may seem obvious to caregivers, this may not be an obvious red flag to a child with trauma. This can especially be true if such behavior was common in the family home. For this reason children with trauma may need help identifying red flags, first practicing with things like games and movies and then moving into applying these clues in real life to identify who is a friend and who is more of a bully or frenemy.
4. Does Dr. Eggman seem to think he is the same as Cubot and Orbot or better than them?
   Caregiver Note: It’s again pretty clear to adults that Dr. Eggman sees himself as superior to his henchman as he built them and they do everything he tells them to do. As a result this is not a give-and-take relationship that we would see in a friendship. The presence of this power dynamic can also be a sign that this relationship needs to be watched carefully. However, kids who have been through trauma may not identify these differences as easily due to boundaries being crossed and normalized treatment. This is again more practice for your child.
5. Is there someone that talks to you like Dr. Eggman? How does that make you feel?
   Caregiver Note: This is our chance to help our child connect to how their mind and body responds to being treated unfairly or in a bully situation. Children who have endured trauma often become disconnected to how their body responds to something happening to them. So a child may scream, “I’m not angry!!!” while red faced, body is rigid, and tone is very angry and truly not realize that is what they are experiencing. This is why caregivers should take care to evaluate their child’s body language before leaping into a response when a child is coming apart. A child may need help identifying what is happening before coming to a place of calm and being able to talk things through.
6. What can I do to help you when someone is treating you like Dr. Eggman?
   Caregiver Note: This question needs to be led by the child and not forced by the caregiver. It’s okay if this isn’t a question that can be answered right away and it’s good to check in on this periodically as your child grows and adjusts under your care. The more opportunities you give your child to learn to develop and use their voice the better their outcomes will be as they grow older.
7. Do the Wisps like Dr. Eggman? Why or why not?
   Caregiver Note: Much like with Cubot and Orbot Dr. Eggman is very cruel towards the Wisps. The Wisps want nothing more than to live in peace but Dr. Eggman is only interested in selfish gains and using their power resources. Between the enslavement, bullying, and stealing of power it’s no wonder the Wisps don’t like Dr. Eggman. However, this is good practice for your child to not only identify if someone is safe or unsafe but to identify reasons why they are unsafe.
8. Do the Wisps like Sonic and Tails? Why or why not?
   Caregiver Note: The Wisps seem to very much like Sonic. Tails too! Even though Sonic does tease others a lot he does make a point to not be unkind and make sure everyone is in on the joke when it comes to Tails and the Wisps. He also has consent from the Wisps to use their power to take out Dr. Eggman instead of forcing them to do what he wants. Sonic and Tails are great examples of how to treat others as we want to be treated. We can have fun and joke, but not at others expense as Dr. Eggman does.
9. How can we be like Sonic or Tails with our friends?
   Caregiver Note: Allow your child to consider the various traits that Sonic and Tails show in the game. Tails is kind and considerate and tries very hard to understand the Wisps even though they have language barriers. Sonic is protective and likes to play and joke good-naturedly. There may be other traits as well that you may or may not have noticed as well. Help your child connect to areas in which they are strong to build a strength based perspective in reinforcing positive traits and behaviors.
10. How can I help you to remember in times where it’s hard to remember to act like Sonic when playing with other kids?
    Caregiver Note: This is another question that may need to be re-evaluated later after some time and thought is given as well. Sometimes we get in the middle of having fun and lose track of how we are making others feel, especially when we are young. Just like how sometimes Tails reminds Sonic to focus or pull back when things are getting too intense, this is a chance for you and your child to establish a game plan for action later when emotions are high. Come up with calm-down strategies you can signal to use as well as behaviors to practice for future encounters to better show good friendship towards others.

About the Reviewer: Rachael Rathe

Rachael B. Rathe is an East Tennessee native with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology with a Minor in Child & Family Studies from The University of Tennessee Knoxville. She has worked in mental health since 2013 and in foster care/adoptions for a private provider agency since 2014. Rachael was inspired to work in the field after working with children and teens on a volunteer basis 2008 – 2013. Rachael’s ideal self-care day involves snuggling on a couch with her kitties (Tabitha, Fergus, and Rufus) while enjoying a good movie or book. She also enjoys galavanting around conventions concerning all things nerd and geekery.