Upset Parents

[AshleytheGreat]

So i was watchinng the News tonight and there was a story about how parents were getting mad becuase of a Holocaust assignment middle schoolers had to do. Kids with last names L-Z had to wear yellow starts and couldnt use certain bathrooms and so so. Well i guess some kids started getting picked on and parents got mad so the principle had to stop the assignment.

Thats totally messed up. You CANT mask history and these kids can't have things sugar coated for them. The last thing people in the holocaust worried about was being called a dirty name. They had to worry if at any moment a gaurd would snipe them off in the consentration camp "because they felt like it" or wondering if they were going to be used as a human experiment. That erks me!!!!!

[flamingo]

THe reason people are probably getitng mad is because this was done before and it didn't turn out too good. Supposedly the teacher went nuts adn all the people in that class were to attend an assembily and I guess he tried to actually truly recreate it. My teacher told me this last year and I just remembered lol.

[mrmoby]

That's too bad because it sounds like it was a valuable lesson on many different levels. Unfortunately Ashley, parents don't seem able to handle having their children shown the way life is. They want them shielded from every possible ugliness and harm. The fail to realize that it may be the best time and situation to learn what lies outside the home and school.

This experiment, on a small scope seems to illustrate what happens when groups ofpeople are segregated and villified. It also shows what kids do to each other on a day to day basis in each and every school across the nation. No one wants to hear it, but kids can be savages to each other, and then people sit and scratch their heads when a Colombine type episode occurs. They instead blame the guns.

There are three great lessons here that they should be discussing.

1) Point of the experiment. Talk about the absolute horrors the Jews were put through during the Holocaust, as well as other episodes of genocide throughout the world, and how they had to live with it, there was no one to call off the experiment.

2) Discuss groups that have been segregated and mistreated for no other reason than being what they are. This applies to race, religion, ethnicity, and sexual preference. Look at what has been done to people past and present. These kids now have first hand expereinces of being in the minority group.

3) Talk about treating each other like people. These kids treat each other like animals on a daily basis, and this experimnet backs that up. I know it seems idealistic, but it is the only way that kids are going to stop from killing each other. You can ban all the weapons you want, but somewhere there is a kid made to feel so bad by his peers he will find a way to seek his revenge.

Sorry if I hijacked your thread a bit Ashley. I think the story pisses me off as much as you, and sometimes that makes my thoughts wander a bit.

[Baby_Baby]

That makes me mad. Kids in school are already picked on enough without an assignment which makes them get picked on even more. But on the other hand some of them should get an assignment like that, cuz some kids these days are brats. There are better ways to learn about it than that, as Mrmboy said

I've done many many reports on the Holocaust and presentations and all kinds of stuff on it. People only know maybe 10% of what really happened to the Jews and it is sad. Theres stuff those kids need to hear, their parents too, but teachers more and more are just trying to skim over it and hide it, it is stupid. Kids need to just learn to deal with stuff these days. Ok they can watch shows like south park, family guy, etc (this is nothing against the shows, but we are talking about middle schoolers) watch all kinds of movies with cussing, sex, drugs whatever, but they cant hear about stuff that really happened and a group of 6 million people who were tortured and much more, and things these kids dont even hear or see in their "awesome" movies. Sure, it may be more graphic, but they need to truly know what happened. Not ALL that happened, they can wait till high school, but I'm sure u know what I mean. Reading the diary of anne frank as a class assignment just doesnt cover the holocaust.

[AshleytheGreat]

Originally Posted by Baby_Baby

Ok they can watch shows like south park, family guy, etc (this is nothing against the shows, but we are talking about middle schoolers) watch all kinds of movies with cussing, sex, drugs whatever, but they cant hear about stuff that really happened and a group of 6 million people who were tortured and much more...

That was PERFECT!

Originally Posted by flamingonhot

THe reason people are probably getitng mad is because this was done before and it didn't turn out too good. Supposedly the teacher went nuts adn all the people in that class were to attend an assembily and I guess he tried to actually truly recreate it. My teacher told me this last year and I just remembered lol.

I saw the video about that in History. The reason it started was because a girl asked a question along the lines of "How can millions of jews be murdered and no one notice." So the teacher planned an experiment to show how kids can get 'caught up' with the new system and to see if the Holocaust could happen here in America without telling them. He started with writing on the board "Disiplin" and soon after they created a name (The Wave) and "slogans" (Stregnth through Disiplin, Stregnth through community, Stregnth through action...) Kids i dont want to say fell for it, but took it VERY seriously. The Wave was succesful becuase it WORKED, it created equal opportunity for kids who didnt fit in and because it was new.

After things got out of"Wave" armbands and all) and showed them who their leader was. Adolf Hitler.

It was a good movie with a good lesson but it was boring ot watch lol
--i would have rather read about it

[dwool36]

I would love if my daughter had a teacher like that. My daughter's teacher told her that millions of people are going to die from the bird flu and that President Bush has a cure but won't let the people have it. By the way...SHE'S 11! Aside from the outright politcal tone to his "message" he scared my daughter. I can't wait for Monday

[AshleytheGreat]

Now thats a completely different situation. :P