(NAME-MCE) Parents complain lesson on racism was too upsetting

[Bill Howe]

In the past when I have used Jane Elliot's Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes video, I
have gotten some comments from teachers that they would never do an exercise
like that because of fear it would traumatize their students. Some of these
same teachers are also insensitive to the fact that many minority students
live this on a daily basis, not just an exercise during Black History Month.
Where is the outrage over that?

On Jan 28, 2008 4:55 PM, Anselmo Villanueva <anselmo.villanueva at gmail.com>
wrote:

>
>
> Parents complain lesson on racism was too upsetting
>
> A Martin Luther King Jr. Day lesson about racism and segregation angered
> some Idaho parents, who said the exercise was too upsetting to their
> children. Fifth-graders were assigned to a yellow or green group and told
> not to talk to or use the same bathroom as anyone in the other group. One
> teacher said he has included the lesson in his class for 16 years with no
> complaints. Times-News, The (Twin Falls, Idaho) (01/23)
>
> Complete story below.
>
> http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/01/23/news/local_state/129254.txt
>
> School exercise draws heat
>
> Jerome parent says MLK Day activity went too far for fifth-graders
> By Andrea Gates
> Times-News writer  Twin Falls ID
>
> A Martin Luther King Day lesson intended to teach hundreds of fifth-grade
> students about racism, segregation and tolerance was more disturbing than
> educational, one parent said.
>
> About 200 to 225 fifth graders from Summit Elementary were randomly
> assigned
> a color, yellow or green, and teachers told them not to talk to peers of
> different colors. Bathrooms were segregated, and videos about the issue
> were
> also shown to kids, said school staff.
>
> The exercise deeply disturbed some students, said Mike Stokes, the parent
> of
> a 10-year-old.
>
> "It kind of blew me away. I found her lying in her room crying," said
> Stokes. "I don't feel that's the right way to teach."
>
> Stokes said he heard some students threw things like pencils and paper at
> others.
>
> Principal Alice Hocklander, however, said she had no knowledge that things
> were thrown.
>
> Not all fifth-grade teachers chose to participate in the activity, which
> was
> done last year with sixth-graders. Monday was the first time it was done
> with fifth-graders, school staff said.
>
> Stokes said he also heard that during the exercise teachers called some
> students names, such as "stupid."
>
> One teacher, John Derr, said he has done the exercise for 16 years without
> any complaints.
>
> "I didn't observe nor hear the word stupid," said Derr, who is also a
> part-time sports writer for the Times-News.
>
> Derr said the exercise was meant to bring alive the lesson of King, and to
> show students what it's like to be judged by color rather than character.
> Teachers also had discussions with their students about feelings after the
> exercise.
>
> Most students understood what was going on and went along with it, but a
> few
> got a little emotional, Derr said. So teachers reminded them it was just
> an
> exercise and told them not to take it personally. But some fifth-graders
> seemed more emotional about the exercise than past classes have been, he
> said.
>
> "What we're trying to do is teach a message," said Derr. "As educators,
> sometimes we can talk a lot about a particular topic, but for the students
> to actually experience it, that's the greatest teacher."
>
> But Stokes said this is not a lesson kids should have to go through. And
> now, he said, he's considering pulling his child from the school district.
>
> "That's something devastating to kids that young - look how many years
> it's
> been since that's happened," Stokes said. "If that's how they treat
> students, there's got to be a better school around."
>
> Summit teachers are now reviewing the exercise.
>
> "We're going to take a good, hard look at this" said Hocklander. "We have
> a
> very caring staff and we wanted this lesson to be something they'd
> remember
> … But not negatively."
>
> Andrea Gates can be reached at 735-3380 or Andrea.Gates at lee.net.
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Bill Howe

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