Objective: Students will utilize their critical and analytical skills
Photocopy for students : The Clampdown on Teen Rights
Background for the Lesson:
It is very important that students conclude this lesson with a firm understanding of what is taking place in schools today, under the guise of keeping students safe. Be very clear that students are being reprimanded far more sternly. Thanks to Columbine Littleton, Colorado; Deming, New Mexico; Jonesboro, Arkansas; Richmond, Virginia, and other locations of school shootings and violence, young people have no more privacy rights. Public opinion has shifted, and school environments will and have become far more restrictive and repressive. Behavior you could have done four years ago, can land you at the police station today. Begin this lesson by reviewing the first and fourth Amendments with students.
Ask students these questions:
1. Do you feel safe in your school?
2. What precautions, if any should be taken at your school?
3.Are you willing to give up your first Amendment rights, in order to be safe?
4. What if you were the student, whose work was misunderstood, would you still feel the same way that you expressed earlier?
Have students talk about the above questions
Have students read the article “The Clampdown on Teen Rights” out loud by different students. Stop and discuss each of the scenarios given in the article.
Ask the students: “Do you agree with the actions of the school officials?” Students must always support their answers. What would you have done differently? Keep reminding them safety is at stake.
Vary the scenarios
Examples:
A student is always very quiet in class. He never says anything. Another student begins to feel uncomfortable. What do you do?
A student always has a strange expression on his face. He just stares at people. Because a couple of students in the class begin to feel uncomfortable? What do you do?
Conclude with a recap of the thoughts discussed today
