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!) This part of history curriculum can be tricky to teach. When you teach history, you do not want to single out any race or ethnicity of a group of people. Yes, in this case, white people were looked at to be "evil" for the act they were doing against the blacks. Now, the white students may feel embarrassed about the discrimination that once took place against African Americans. The blacks in the class could feel the angered from white people for committing this act of discrimination. Overall, slavery happened in the past and we have learned about the behavior in order for it to not happen again in the future. I believe that the students should look up their own information about slavery, in addition, to what you are teaching in the classroom. By the students researching the topic, they may find other information that interests them about slavery. The students can share about their findings with the rest of the class. Students tend to be interested when their peers share information. Even in small groups, students can share articles, stories and such that they find about slavery. In the future history curriculum, all different groups of people will be talked about. The students in the class, in my opinion, will have to keep their minds open when other topics are talked about.