School Bells – Current Affairs – Grade 8 – Week 5
The last time I met with the 8th grade current affairs class I had asked them to talk to each other and their family member as well as doing some research about the refugee issue. One of the class members, Amena, who is from Syria had brought up the topic. The questions I suggested all of us think about were:
I have written these questions on the white board. Here come the young people now.
Me: Good morning everyone.
Class: Good morning Mr. Jim.
Me: Today we are to talk about the Amena’s concern about the millions of refugees. Amena, why don’t you remind all of us what your concern is.
Amena: Everyone knows that I am from Syria. When our town in Syria became dangerous my parents decided to leave. We were lucky that we had relatives here and my mother had a job offer to teach at a university. The university and our relatives helped us get a green card for a year. We do not know what will happen at the end of the year, but the university wants her to stay and teach. Many of my classmates were not so lucky. Some of them have, along with their families, died. Others have gone on boats and we do not know if they have lived. A couple of people we know are now in Germany and were able to email us.
Me: What was it like to leave your country Amena?
Amena: It was good and bad. We were glad to leave the violence, but sad to leave our beautiful home. We were only able to take some suitcases. We do now know what has happened to our relatives, our house or all our things. We are still staying with my father’s relatives. They are very nice, but it is not the same. Before it got so bad my father was a doctor and my mother was a professor. We had many friends and relatives.
Me: We are glad you are safe and here, but sad that you had to leave your home. Class, there are millions of refugees. What can we in this class do and what should we do as a country to help?
Will: We already have homeless and lots of poor people here. Some people are afraid that some of the Muslims are terrorists and should not be allowed to come here.
Me: Amena is Muslim. Do you think she will hurt us?
Will: Mr. Jim that is dumb. Of course she will not hurt us. She and her family are really nice.
Paul: We do not think of her and her family as Muslim. She is Amena and they are our neighbors. We really like them.
Susie: My mother and dad says that there are Christians who were members of groups like the KKK who think all black people are bad.
Will: Yes, my dad’s dad had relatives who had been hung by the KKK.
Me: So is the class saying that we have to be careful not to assume that all Christians are violent or all Muslims are violent.
Abdul: Our Inman says it is wrong to be violent. He says God wants us to find ways of living in peace.
Me: Are you all suggesting that the way to stop some of the fighting and wars is to get to know each other as people?
Tom: My cousin lives in Israel and he and his family regularly meet with other Jewish people and Palestinian people to get to know each other. He says that when the people get to know each other that they want to find a way to share and live in peace.
Me: In this class we are from a variety to cultures and religions and it seems like everyone treats each other with respect.
Abdul: Yes, I feel safe here. Even at the Mosque some do not feel safe because there have been some threats. We are sad.
Me: That is very sad. I hear everyone saying that long term fighting will not result in us getting to know and respect each other. The second question I suggested we think about was:
What should be done when there are millions of people who need homes, food, clothing, jobs and education?
Is there anything we can do?
John: My mother and dad suggested that every time we think we need something new we talk about it as a family. We have been talking about the difference in wants and needs,
Tom: That is really good but a few dollars will not buy much?
Me: If we look up the number of 8th graders in the United States would find that there are between 2 and 4 million. If we just took the lowest number and multiplied by $5.00, that would be $10 million dollars. If we multiplied that by 5.00 a week for 8 months that would be how much Susie?
Susie: That would be $320 million dollars. That is a lot of money?
Me: How many think that many families – not all – spend more than $5.00 a week for wants which are not needs?
All the hands in the class go up.
Me: So individually we do not have a lot of power but collectively we have a lot of momentary power. Can we make a difference in resources available?
Paul: Uncle Jim are you saying we have a lot more power than we think we have?
Me: Sounds that way. If we have that much monetary power how much power to we have if we learn that we can learn to get along with each other. Does that work the same as the monetary power?
Will: Sounds like it. Sometimes we have been really poor but when we get together for a family dinner everyone brings something and there is a lot of food. There are also Christians and Muslims, gay and straight, black, white, yellow and other colors.
Me: It seems we have already begun to discuss the last questions, but perhaps we can continue the discussion another time since we are out of time for this week. For next week talk with your family and see if you can get everyone to help make a list of how much of the budget is spent on wants and how much is spent on needs.
You all did really well. I am so impressed. Thanks.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
Me: Have a good week.
Written September 12, 2016
The last time I met with the 8th grade current affairs class I had asked them to talk to each other and their family member as well as doing some research about the refugee issue. One of the class members, Amena, who is from Syria had brought up the topic. The questions I suggested all of us think about were:
- What should we do to help the refugees?
- Is there a way to stop the wars and other conditions which creates refugees?
- What should be done when there are millions of people who need homes, food, clothing, jobs and education?
- What are we willing to share?
I have written these questions on the white board. Here come the young people now.
Me: Good morning everyone.
Class: Good morning Mr. Jim.
Me: Today we are to talk about the Amena’s concern about the millions of refugees. Amena, why don’t you remind all of us what your concern is.
Amena: Everyone knows that I am from Syria. When our town in Syria became dangerous my parents decided to leave. We were lucky that we had relatives here and my mother had a job offer to teach at a university. The university and our relatives helped us get a green card for a year. We do not know what will happen at the end of the year, but the university wants her to stay and teach. Many of my classmates were not so lucky. Some of them have, along with their families, died. Others have gone on boats and we do not know if they have lived. A couple of people we know are now in Germany and were able to email us.
Me: What was it like to leave your country Amena?
Amena: It was good and bad. We were glad to leave the violence, but sad to leave our beautiful home. We were only able to take some suitcases. We do now know what has happened to our relatives, our house or all our things. We are still staying with my father’s relatives. They are very nice, but it is not the same. Before it got so bad my father was a doctor and my mother was a professor. We had many friends and relatives.
Me: We are glad you are safe and here, but sad that you had to leave your home. Class, there are millions of refugees. What can we in this class do and what should we do as a country to help?
Will: We already have homeless and lots of poor people here. Some people are afraid that some of the Muslims are terrorists and should not be allowed to come here.
Me: Amena is Muslim. Do you think she will hurt us?
Will: Mr. Jim that is dumb. Of course she will not hurt us. She and her family are really nice.
Paul: We do not think of her and her family as Muslim. She is Amena and they are our neighbors. We really like them.
Susie: My mother and dad says that there are Christians who were members of groups like the KKK who think all black people are bad.
Will: Yes, my dad’s dad had relatives who had been hung by the KKK.
Me: So is the class saying that we have to be careful not to assume that all Christians are violent or all Muslims are violent.
Abdul: Our Inman says it is wrong to be violent. He says God wants us to find ways of living in peace.
Me: Are you all suggesting that the way to stop some of the fighting and wars is to get to know each other as people?
Tom: My cousin lives in Israel and he and his family regularly meet with other Jewish people and Palestinian people to get to know each other. He says that when the people get to know each other that they want to find a way to share and live in peace.
Me: In this class we are from a variety to cultures and religions and it seems like everyone treats each other with respect.
Abdul: Yes, I feel safe here. Even at the Mosque some do not feel safe because there have been some threats. We are sad.
Me: That is very sad. I hear everyone saying that long term fighting will not result in us getting to know and respect each other. The second question I suggested we think about was:
What should be done when there are millions of people who need homes, food, clothing, jobs and education?
Is there anything we can do?
John: My mother and dad suggested that every time we think we need something new we talk about it as a family. We have been talking about the difference in wants and needs,
Tom: That is really good but a few dollars will not buy much?
Me: If we look up the number of 8th graders in the United States would find that there are between 2 and 4 million. If we just took the lowest number and multiplied by $5.00, that would be $10 million dollars. If we multiplied that by 5.00 a week for 8 months that would be how much Susie?
Susie: That would be $320 million dollars. That is a lot of money?
Me: How many think that many families – not all – spend more than $5.00 a week for wants which are not needs?
All the hands in the class go up.
Me: So individually we do not have a lot of power but collectively we have a lot of momentary power. Can we make a difference in resources available?
Paul: Uncle Jim are you saying we have a lot more power than we think we have?
Me: Sounds that way. If we have that much monetary power how much power to we have if we learn that we can learn to get along with each other. Does that work the same as the monetary power?
Will: Sounds like it. Sometimes we have been really poor but when we get together for a family dinner everyone brings something and there is a lot of food. There are also Christians and Muslims, gay and straight, black, white, yellow and other colors.
Me: It seems we have already begun to discuss the last questions, but perhaps we can continue the discussion another time since we are out of time for this week. For next week talk with your family and see if you can get everyone to help make a list of how much of the budget is spent on wants and how much is spent on needs.
You all did really well. I am so impressed. Thanks.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
Me: Have a good week.
Written September 12, 2016
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