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!) One way to deal with this issue is to emphasize why we learn history in the first place. It is important to explain that we learn history in order to avoid repeating it in the future. This can be done by explaining how slavery is still something that goes on today all over the world by all different types of races and cultures and that some groups of people have not learned through history. But by ignoring the bad history of a culture we risk repeating it again and that is worse than having to learn about it. It is also important to emphasize that we learn history as fact, not as a means to blame a certain group for something that today's kids have no control over. We should not blame today's children for something that their grandparents or great grandparents did. In terms of slavery and the civil rights movement, one way to help those who feel attacked by the subject is to show how many whites fought for equal rights and protection for black. You could explain how without them the success of the civil rights movement would never have happened.