Have you ever been betrayed by someone you trusted? a best friend, teammate, colleague, fellow worker, even relative? How did you feel? What do you do about it? In some cases, how can you pick up the pieces of your life and go on? This is a topic that touches us all, at one time or other, in so many ways.
So what? On a more global scale, watch the following video and think how you might ask your students to respond. Challenge: weave these components into a powerful lesson.
It is a short video about the environmental catastrophe created by the aftermath of the collapse of the Twin Towers and Building 7. And about those who are now suffering tremendously as a result of Toxic Lies told to them about the air quality at Ground Zero.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GFPBWj_G9Zc
Thursday, March 27, 2008
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3 comments:
Developmentally, the students I see on a daily basis (in middle school) are becoming increasingly aware, if on a limited scale, of injustices in their own lives and the wolrd around them. I think that this type of video is a great jumping-off point for a discussion or lesson about fairness, betrayal, and loss. whenever a social issue presents itself (and this video is a powerful example) the opportunity for engaging students is multiplied tremendously. Students need to develop a consciousness of what happens around them, and they need to decide what actions should be taken, as well as what they can do as citizens to bring changes. Sometimes it can be difficult for a teenager to step out of his or her microcosm to think about issues hat are more global in nature, but it seems imperative for teachers to try and raise awareness about world problems, because these students and their children will inherit our world.
Betrayal is an issue that everyone deals with at some point in their lives. The statistic portion of this video was incredibly disturbing. I believe that high school students would comprehend the detrimental effects of the toxins found in the rubble at ground zero because of the heightened awareness of environmental problems. Older schools often have signs posted about scheduled asbestos removal, toys are recalled due to lead levels....these are all toxins that they hear about in "our" world. This notion of the heroes being betrayed when they are fully invested in trying to help people is almost beyond comprehension. I think that a lesson about topics such as this would have to look at the issue of TRUST, as well as betrayal. A key factor in betrayal is to have the trust of someone in the first place. The heroes that are now suffering from exposure trusted the individuals that told them it was safe. Interestingly enough, toys the size of a pencil are readily recalled because of lead....but workers are allowed to wallow in toxic dust from the towers. My question is...where is the continuity? Recalling toys, warning about mercury levels in fish, but then the EPA drops the ball on a "toxic zone" that is many city blocks wide. The bottom line is that the government and EPA gained the trust of the public and then blew it. Several references to the workers wanting to wear masks, and the EPA telling them that is was not necessary exhibits this trust. Teaching students to go with their gut feeling about something and not always listen to "big brother" would be the culminating point to the trust lesson. Of course, I would clarify that this is in the context of personal safety or security, it is not a lesson to debunk authority or the law.
Taking "it's not fair" and turning that into a life lesson in the classroom is an exciting challenge. This is unique to English (maybe history) teachers because of all the great content we have to choose from of writers expressing their betrayal in words. Turning this into a lesson makes me think of a hot seat-let the kids really dig deep into the emotions surrounding betrayal. That allows for them to search themselves and think about what betrayal feels, looks, sounds, etc. like. You've got to follow it up big life connecting activity. Something to drive it home for them. Nothing is coming to mind, but maybe connecting it to how their parents make them feel when they won't let them do something??
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