Discussion for article #243042
What would a parent find objectionable about this assignment? Serious question.
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Honestly, this is a fairly insightful assignment.
No wonder people in Utah were angered by it.
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Agreed. This is the kind of assignment that the smart and engaged kids will understand immediately. The natural extension of this assignment is have them watch a raft of campaign commercials and analyze and critique those for intent and content.
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Because Utah.
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Whatever we do, we must not teach students in Utah how to recognize propaganda.
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It’s more important to raise a generation of jingoes rather than teach critical thinking otherwise the Rethuglican brand will die a lingering, whimpering death.
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There were objections to this?
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And whatever you do, you must not imagine yourself in the mind of someone who holds ideas you abho. Not even to fight them more effectively.
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The kids might start asking questions about the religious weirdos in their own neighborhood.
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What a great assignment! It helps the student put on someone else’s shoes, however uncomfortable it may be, for a short period of time while using creativity. I commend the teacher for coming up with ways to spark the imagination and at least attempt to see the world through another’s eyes with current events.
I fail to see what the issue is here. Would they have objected to analyzing a copy of the German paper Der Stermer during WWII?
This other article mentions that some parents were concerned that students would research existing propaganda online and then find themselves added to a terrorist watch list.
http://kutv.com/news/local/utah-junior-high-school-asks-students-to-draw-terrorism-propaganda-poster
I support teaching comparative religion in schools and love assignments that encourage students to see questions from other perspectives, even ones they don’t agree with.
That said, I honestly can understand the objection to this assignment just like I am not sure I would want my kid being asked to write a white supremacy pamphlet from the point of view of a klansman or to dress up like a nazi in shiny boots to explore the power of uniform fetishization in the fascist movement.
Sometimes it’s just more appropriate for them to write about something than to live it.
Bottom line for me is that this is a tough one–certainly not a slam dunk like: “my high schooler should not be learning what the five pillars of Islam are.”
Clearly these Mormonist fundies are so fearful of the fragility of their own brainwashing that they dare not let their children be challenged lest they be sucked into the gaping maw of radical Islam.
kids have assignments like this all the time. yesterday I was helping my son with crafting an argument in support of stalin, then one in support of hitler. You can’t effectively fight a system that you don’t understand. that was obvious to him as well.
On the other hand, making a pro-hitler poster would’ve been inappropriate, as well as easier. Writing a brief speech, in my opinion, would teach them more.
While the exercise is a good one, I do question the judgment on the poster.