Blog - October 1, 2016 on coachpickett.org
School Bells- Current Affairs – Grade 8 – Week 7
Since I am only teaching two classes a week it would seem there is a lot of time between classes to prepare and, yet, as is true for the students, it seems as if there is never enough time. It is good that I stay in touch with how difficult it is to get school work done and not overload the students who have many others classes as well. Last week, I asked the students to talk with their family members about the fear of John’s parents that politicians will take away their guns and individuals will not be able to protect themselves and their families. Time for class. Here are the students now.
Me. Good morning class. How are you?
Class: Good morning Mr. Jim. Me: I hope everyone had a good week. I am eager to find out how the discussion with family member went. The subject was the fear of John’s parents that politicians will take away their guns and individuals will not be able to protect themselves and their families. Before we start l want to make sure we still agree on the rules for these weekly discussions. I have put them on the board;
• We will listen to each other and not interrupt when someone else if speaking
. • There are no right or wrong answers. All opinions are equally important. • When possible we will research facts and when there are conflicting reports of facts we will acknowledge that
. • The goal is to learn to explore complex issues and not just repeat what we have heard. Do we all agree. Let me see a show of hands. All the member of the class held up their hands.
Me: To start with, what famous document is often quoted by people on both sides of this argument?
Abdul: The United States Constitution.
Me: Correct. Thanks Abdul. What amendment to the United States Constitution is often quoted? John: The Second Amendment. Me: Great John. Will you copy it to the whiteboard please? I have written it down on this paper?
John: Okay Mr. Jim. John writes on the white board: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Me: Thanks John. Is this amendment intended to mean that we can keep national and state military forces or does it mean that everyone has a right to keep and carry guns?
Paul: Our family looked up what the Supreme Court has decided. We found that in 1939 the court decided that this amendment support the right to have a military force but not individual guns. There was a long article on the Cornell University law site .
John: We looked it up too. In 2008 the Supreme Court decided just the opposite and said that citizen have the right to possess arms.
Me: Very good both of you. It seems even very learned judges cannot agree all the time about this amendment. So, one argument centers on the law and how to interpret the United States Constitution. What are some of the other questions which came up in your discussions with your families?
Will: Some studies say that guns in the home are responsible for more injuries to the gun owners and others in the home when there are guns in the home.
Me: Sounds like the question is, “Are individuals and families safer when there are guns in the home?” Again it seems as if we can find research to support a range of answers.
Susie: We talked about the number of times that we hear that a little child had hurt themselves or someone else with a gun. That is very sad. One of our neighbor’s 4 year old got a gun out of a purse and shot the mother. She lived but it was very frightening.
Me: What question should be write on the board? Susie: Can guns be kept away from children and still be available to use if someone threatens the family?
Me: Very good. Other questions?
Ann: We know two families where someone committed suicide with a gun. Would they have committed suicide even if there had not been a gun?
Me: Great question. Does having a gun handy make it easier to act on suicidal thoughts or feelings? Other questions which came up?
Tom: My mother volunteers for a domestic violence shelter. She says that many of the women in the shelter are threatened with a gun and some have been shot.
Me: Great. How shall we word this question?
Amena: We asked whether guns are often used to threaten when there is domestic violence.
Me: Very good. Is domestic violence a frequent issue in this country?
Tom: My mother says it is. She gave me this fact sheet from the National Coalition against Domestic Violence (ncadv.org) but it does not say what year Mr. Jim:
• 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have been physically abused by an intimate partner.
• 1 in 5 women and1 in 7 men have been severely physically abused by an intimate partner.
• The presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation increases the risk of homicide by 500%
Me: Those are scary statistics but again we have to be careful because it seems as if we can find lots of different statistics. Still, everyone seems to agree that domestic violence is a frequent occurrence and that sometimes guns are used to injure or kill family members
Paul: My parents think that the only reason for guns is to kill someone and they do not believe in killing.
Me: There are a number of people who think we need to refuse to be violent no matter what anyone else does.
Tom: My parents say that is just because people don’t know how to fight and then they say that they are against violence.
Me: Yes, I have heard that opinion but today we are not debating answers but just listing some of the questions. It seems that there are a lot of questions and a lot of studies which support various opinions. Will: What about police shootings?
Me: That is a very important question but generally I do not think the second Amendment is used in arguments about this unless someone maintains that people should carry guns to protect themselves from police.
Ann: We have a lot of questions on the board Mr. Jim. How do we ever know what is right?
Me: Great question Ann. If we do not think we are right and everyone else is wrong, then are we more likely to listen to each other and make more thoughtful decisions not based just on emotions? Certainly we need to listen to the fear of John’s parents as well as all the other concerns. I am very impressed with how well the class has done in exploring some of the important questions about how we want to interpret the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and how we want to decide what is best for the citizens of this country. There is also the ethical or spiritual questions which Paul raised about the use of violence. What do we call what we have been doing today class?
Paul: Critical thinking Uncle Jim?
Abdul: Thinking?
Amena: Listening? Susie: Research?
Me: Yes, all of those. We did not come up with any conclusions but we did identify some of the important questions, share a little of our research results and practice listening. It is called critical thinking as Paul suggested. Great job. I am recommending that next week we talk about domestic violence – violence in families. Why is there so much violence in families whose members love each other? What can be done to reduce it? Excuse me a minute and I will make copies of the questions.
Me: Here they are. Amena and Paul will you pass them out please? Have a good week everyone.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Written September 28, 2016
School Bells- Current Affairs – Grade 8 – Week 7
Since I am only teaching two classes a week it would seem there is a lot of time between classes to prepare and, yet, as is true for the students, it seems as if there is never enough time. It is good that I stay in touch with how difficult it is to get school work done and not overload the students who have many others classes as well. Last week, I asked the students to talk with their family members about the fear of John’s parents that politicians will take away their guns and individuals will not be able to protect themselves and their families. Time for class. Here are the students now.
Me. Good morning class. How are you?
Class: Good morning Mr. Jim. Me: I hope everyone had a good week. I am eager to find out how the discussion with family member went. The subject was the fear of John’s parents that politicians will take away their guns and individuals will not be able to protect themselves and their families. Before we start l want to make sure we still agree on the rules for these weekly discussions. I have put them on the board;
• We will listen to each other and not interrupt when someone else if speaking
. • There are no right or wrong answers. All opinions are equally important. • When possible we will research facts and when there are conflicting reports of facts we will acknowledge that
. • The goal is to learn to explore complex issues and not just repeat what we have heard. Do we all agree. Let me see a show of hands. All the member of the class held up their hands.
Me: To start with, what famous document is often quoted by people on both sides of this argument?
Abdul: The United States Constitution.
Me: Correct. Thanks Abdul. What amendment to the United States Constitution is often quoted? John: The Second Amendment. Me: Great John. Will you copy it to the whiteboard please? I have written it down on this paper?
John: Okay Mr. Jim. John writes on the white board: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Me: Thanks John. Is this amendment intended to mean that we can keep national and state military forces or does it mean that everyone has a right to keep and carry guns?
Paul: Our family looked up what the Supreme Court has decided. We found that in 1939 the court decided that this amendment support the right to have a military force but not individual guns. There was a long article on the Cornell University law site .
John: We looked it up too. In 2008 the Supreme Court decided just the opposite and said that citizen have the right to possess arms.
Me: Very good both of you. It seems even very learned judges cannot agree all the time about this amendment. So, one argument centers on the law and how to interpret the United States Constitution. What are some of the other questions which came up in your discussions with your families?
Will: Some studies say that guns in the home are responsible for more injuries to the gun owners and others in the home when there are guns in the home.
Me: Sounds like the question is, “Are individuals and families safer when there are guns in the home?” Again it seems as if we can find research to support a range of answers.
Susie: We talked about the number of times that we hear that a little child had hurt themselves or someone else with a gun. That is very sad. One of our neighbor’s 4 year old got a gun out of a purse and shot the mother. She lived but it was very frightening.
Me: What question should be write on the board? Susie: Can guns be kept away from children and still be available to use if someone threatens the family?
Me: Very good. Other questions?
Ann: We know two families where someone committed suicide with a gun. Would they have committed suicide even if there had not been a gun?
Me: Great question. Does having a gun handy make it easier to act on suicidal thoughts or feelings? Other questions which came up?
Tom: My mother volunteers for a domestic violence shelter. She says that many of the women in the shelter are threatened with a gun and some have been shot.
Me: Great. How shall we word this question?
Amena: We asked whether guns are often used to threaten when there is domestic violence.
Me: Very good. Is domestic violence a frequent issue in this country?
Tom: My mother says it is. She gave me this fact sheet from the National Coalition against Domestic Violence (ncadv.org) but it does not say what year Mr. Jim:
• 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have been physically abused by an intimate partner.
• 1 in 5 women and1 in 7 men have been severely physically abused by an intimate partner.
• The presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation increases the risk of homicide by 500%
Me: Those are scary statistics but again we have to be careful because it seems as if we can find lots of different statistics. Still, everyone seems to agree that domestic violence is a frequent occurrence and that sometimes guns are used to injure or kill family members
Paul: My parents think that the only reason for guns is to kill someone and they do not believe in killing.
Me: There are a number of people who think we need to refuse to be violent no matter what anyone else does.
Tom: My parents say that is just because people don’t know how to fight and then they say that they are against violence.
Me: Yes, I have heard that opinion but today we are not debating answers but just listing some of the questions. It seems that there are a lot of questions and a lot of studies which support various opinions. Will: What about police shootings?
Me: That is a very important question but generally I do not think the second Amendment is used in arguments about this unless someone maintains that people should carry guns to protect themselves from police.
Ann: We have a lot of questions on the board Mr. Jim. How do we ever know what is right?
Me: Great question Ann. If we do not think we are right and everyone else is wrong, then are we more likely to listen to each other and make more thoughtful decisions not based just on emotions? Certainly we need to listen to the fear of John’s parents as well as all the other concerns. I am very impressed with how well the class has done in exploring some of the important questions about how we want to interpret the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and how we want to decide what is best for the citizens of this country. There is also the ethical or spiritual questions which Paul raised about the use of violence. What do we call what we have been doing today class?
Paul: Critical thinking Uncle Jim?
Abdul: Thinking?
Amena: Listening? Susie: Research?
Me: Yes, all of those. We did not come up with any conclusions but we did identify some of the important questions, share a little of our research results and practice listening. It is called critical thinking as Paul suggested. Great job. I am recommending that next week we talk about domestic violence – violence in families. Why is there so much violence in families whose members love each other? What can be done to reduce it? Excuse me a minute and I will make copies of the questions.
Me: Here they are. Amena and Paul will you pass them out please? Have a good week everyone.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Written September 28, 2016
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