Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: Culture and Content How does a Social Studies work with students that may be offended by the state content standards. Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) All Social Studies classes should attempt to teach their standards from all points of view involved. For example, when discussing the Colonization of America, teachers should provide supplemental materials to ensure that this topic is covered from the view point of the Native Americans, the Europeans, and the African slaves. By providing more than one point of view, students can see that multiple groups of people have been the minority/oppressed at some point. Even in the case of Irish immigration in the middle half of the 19th century, a group of Caucasian people were looked down upon. If we provide students with the materials and the opportunities to see that everyone has the right to be offended based off of some historical period, they might start to realize that the area that offends them is simply a part of history, and that history is meant to be learned from rather than repeated. If the student still feels offended by the content, explain to them that while they do not have to agree with or identify with the content, it is something that they must be familiar with due to the fact that it is a state standard on which they will be tested. If the student is strongly offended by the standard, I would encourage them to write to the Department of Education for their state about why it is offensive to them and alternative solutions to the standard.