Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: Why Should I Listen? As part of my 7th grade Social Studies curriculum, I have to talk about slavery, the civil rights movement, etc. The topic ultimately leads to a discussion of how Whites oppressed Blacks. I try to present these topics in a way that does not suggest any guilt. This year, one of my students had a very bad reaction. When we were talking about the civil rights, John, one of my well-behaved but opinionated students, got up and said that he did not want to listen to this lesson anymore, because all we did was to demonize the White people. Three other students openly agreed with him saying that these topics made them angry. I have to cover these topics because they are a part of my curriculum. Also, I believe in the importance teaching children about these inequalities. However, it seems like the way I teach, which is mainly based on lectures and small group work, is making my White students uncomfortable. What should I do to make sure that my White students do not feel offended by these topics? Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) for my us history class i recently had to read the book black like me the journal of a john howard griffin a writer who's focus is on racial prejudice and his experiment in 1959 to transform himself into a black man and travel through the south in order to properly document the relation and treatment of the black and white community. This book is very enlightening and i feel like it would have a greater impact if it was incorporated into a younger curriculum the book does cover sensitive topics like sexual exploit and abuse but i believe its content is more profound. I too have experienced situations where students are frustrated because they feel like they are being punished for being white when they read about slavery like everyone is punishing them for something they didn't do them selfs but their cultural background points the finger at them. recently in my us history class when we were coving slavery ,segregation and civil rights one of the students asked a resonating question " why do we continue to learn this we know it happened we've been learning it since the 3rd grade why cant we learn about something we don't hear about like the treatment of the hispanic slaves or how we wiped out the native american community i understand the seriousness of the topic and I'm sorry it happened and is still happening but african americans are not the only victims why cant we learn about them why are they so much better than the others ?" this stirred the class we didn't know weather to be offended or agree the room was quiet for what felt like forever then a student came into the room who had herd the speech from the hall and said we continue to learn about it so we don't let it happen again so we learn from the past my teacher chimed in that the curriculum requires it and doesn't the other aspects just like the war in korea isn't even a chapter long in any history book. I'm telling you this to let you know that students are always going to feel uncomfortable but perhaps if you included other aspects into your lesson like perhaps reading a book or incorporating other stories about oppression in other countries or races.                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes The suggested solution is original Yes Comments: Rated On: February 11, 2013 12:06 am Rated By: Sara Jernigan                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes The suggested solution is original Yes Comments: Rated On: March 2, 2013 11:50 pm Rated By: eruHeB