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"The fourth grade writing prompt from Bradley Elementary School (in Columbia, South Carolina) instructed children to “choose to be a slave or slave owner” and to “write a journal entry that describes your daily activities before the Civil War.”
"The fourth grade writing prompt from Bradley Elementary School (in Columbia, South Carolina) instructed children to “choose to be a slave or slave owner” and to “write a journal entry that describes your daily activities before the Civil War.”
Designed completely to continue dividing groups against each other for political gain and sensationalism.
I can't rep you again, unfortunately.
Quote:
Originally Posted by furmanpals
Idiots and racists are still alive and well.
Anecdotal experience: my circle of friends during my college years, consisted of people from all over the world. I have seen, firsthand, how relationships can get skewed, when propaganda is absorbed by the masses.
Thankfully, the relationships within my circle of friends, was stronger than the propaganda that was bandied about in academia.
Why stir the pot? For at the end of the day, everyone puts their pants on, one leg at a time. And if the divisive rhetoric is set aside, people soon realize that they have a lot more in common, than they have differences.
Brilliant men like Dr King appealed to the consciences of Americans; he took the higher road; he highlighted the intrinsic dignity that each and every human being possesses.
But a silly assignment that makes students pretend that they are slave holders? Where's that gonna go? It's imbecilic.
Sounds like a perfectly reasonable assignment to think about and better understand an important part of history.
We ought not ignore uncomfortable parts of history.
Steve I tend to agree. I think I would have structured this a bit differently. Perhaps "choose" was not a good word, as no one would ever choose to be a slave, and I doubt anyone, especially a kid would choose to be a slave owner today; perhaps "imagine you were either a slave or slave owner before the civil war". I probably would have changed "daily activities" to something like "what would life have been like, how would you have felt about your situation, etc", and I would have made this an in classroom activity so that a teacher could be present for perspective, questions, and comments. However, I think the purpose of the activity is very valid. We always talk about wanting to teach kids empathy and an appreciation for the struggles of others. This a very common teaching tool; "imagine you were a soldier in a war" for example. It challenges a student to put themselves in another time and place and try to relate to their struggles.
Maybe the reaction to this is sort of a symptom of a society that has come to look for ways to feel victimized first, rather than a culture that truly wants to learn and challenge and reach common ground. For the most part, we choose to be offended by things, and our culture has it backwards. We've learned that being offended helps us change things. In reality, I think, choosing (or allowing) ourselves to be offended dis-empowers us. While we may be able to get what we want from some by getting offended or playing the victim card, internally we relinquish our ability to cope and adjust to our emotions in situations and therefore, become "victims." I think we would be helping our culture better by learning how not be offended by everything, by taking control of our emotions and reactions, and by understanding that we have more control when we determine how we react instead of letting others or a situation determine that. Now we have lots of people choosing to be offended and a school district apologizing for what could have been a very meaningful and valuable teaching lesson.
Give the kids an assignment to watch "12 Years a Slave", or "Harriet", or "Free State of Jones", or "The Birth of a Nation" if they want to learn about the evils of slavery. After watching the movies, have them write an essay on what they saw and how it applies to present day America. Our children need to know the truth about this great evil thrust upon many of God's children. They also need to know the Civil War was fought over the issue of slavery. They need to know racism still exists today.
"The fourth grade writing prompt from Bradley Elementary School (in Columbia, South Carolina) instructed children to “choose to be a slave or slave owner” and to “write a journal entry that describes your daily activities before the Civil War.”
Who sets the curriculum for these wacky assignments? And why does society continually pit one group against another? How is this helpful?
I think it maybe OK to teach children about it but this assignment may not be appropriate. They also teach religion in all subjects in Greenville and want to teach the students that the bible is the answer. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with religion whatsoever. I do believe that it belongs in church and not in school unless it's a class specifically about religion. I believe in scientific theory. I know there maybe people who don't agree but this is my opinion.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by beckycat
I think it maybe OK to teach children about it but this assignment may not be appropriate. They also teach religion in all subjects there and want to convince the students that the bible is the answer. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with religion whatsoever. I do believe that it belongs in church and not in school unless it's a class specifically about religion. I believe in scientific theory. I know there maybe people who don't agree but this is my opinion.
I agree that it was inappropriate. The teacher didn't need to be a rocket scientist to assign two essays, one as a slave and one as the slave owner. Each child should look at both sides. Better yet assign an essay, "You've just inherited a slave. Will you free the slave or keep the slave? Why?"
"The fourth grade writing prompt from Bradley Elementary School (in Columbia, South Carolina) instructed children to “choose to be a slave or slave owner” and to “write a journal entry that describes your daily activities before the Civil War.”
Who sets the curriculum for these wacky assignments? And why does society continually pit one group against another? How is this helpful?
If it helps, the majority of kids that go to Bradley live in Forest Acres, not Columbia. Though it still doesn’t explain it, it does explain the lack of empathy as most who live there are not black. But I do agree the teacher could have worded it better. What’s even more startling to me is that the lesson plan itself was approved. I’ve been a teachers aid in college, administration approved all lesson plans in Richland 1 and 2, so how did this skate by? It’s not just the educator to blame.
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I think it maybe OK to teach children about it but this assignment may not be appropriate. They also teach religion in all subjects in Greenville and want to teach the students that the bible is the answer. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with religion whatsoever. I do believe that it belongs in church and not in school unless it's a class specifically about religion. I believe in scientific theory. I know there maybe people who don't agree but this is my opinion.
