High Schools Students Made to Write Nazi Propaganda

[JumpyTheFrog]

75 high school students were assigned an essay where they had to pretend they were Nazis and convice their fellow citizens that Jews were the source of all their problems.

 

 

What was the teacher thinking?

 

ETA: WendyK pointed out in post #2 that this has already been discussed. Sorry everyone!

[Lily_Grace]

I think it's a good assignment.

 

It is very easy to paint a society as villainous, but without understanding the WHY behind their actions it is meaningless. Absolutely and truly. A good teacher makes students think, not tells them what to think.

 

We do similar writing assignments here. Why should we have used slaves? Why did the southern states defend their position while northern states were okay with dropping slavery? Choose a side and convince me you're right. Now the other side...

 

Understanding goes much farther in giving a student tolerance and compassion than simply handing them a book that has all the "right" answers and proper spin. Even if a kid doesn't agree, he/she learns to listen and formulate a response that puts their own thoughts in equal weight with what they have heard.

[JumpyTheFrog]

Oops, sorry, I didn't know this had already been discussed here.

[JumpyTheFrog]

I think it's a good assignment.

 

It is very easy to paint a society as villainous, but without understanding the WHY behind their actions it is meaningless. Absolutely and truly. A good teacher makes students think, not tells them what to think.

 

I understand what you mean, but I'm not sure most 10th graders have the awareness and skills to benefit from an assignment like this. I think a better approach would be to read real propaganda and look through it to spot the fallacies, appeal to emotion, etc. Perhaps using Soviet propaganda would be a better choice, too, since it would be less likely to get everyone's hackles up.

[Lily_Grace]

I understand what you mean, but I'm not sure most 10th graders have the awareness and skills to benefit from an assignment like this. I think a better approach would be to read real propaganda and look through it to spot the fallacies, appeal to emotion, etc. Perhaps using Soviet propaganda would be a better choice, too, since it would be less likely to get everyone's hackles up.

 

Perhaps it would have been better to use American propaganda, then? Perhaps focus on the use of eugenics and how they shaped thought and law? Add in the history of anti-Judaism laws from the Venitian Ghetto to the 1924 anti-immigration act meant to keep out Eastern European Jews? The U.S. turning away shiploads of immigrants during the war based on this law and public distaste for the Jewish population?

 

 

A 10th grader should certainly have the capability to not only be shocked by the assignment, but to comprehend why it is shocking and use that IN the assignment. Shocking or emotional is not a bad thing. Sometimes it takes something out of the ordinary to get through to teens.

[JumpyTheFrog]

Perhaps it would have been better to use American propaganda, then? Perhaps focus on the use of eugenics and how they shaped thought and law? Add in the history of anti-Judaism laws from the Venitian Ghetto to the 1924 anti-immigration act meant to keep out Eastern European Jews? The U.S. turning away shiploads of immigrants during the war based on this law and public distaste for the Jewish population?

 

These would be good to study (but I don't think students should be made to argue in favor of any of them). The eugenics movement is something few Americans are aware of.

[Word Nerd]

 

 

I think the teacher's assignment could have been worded differently. I think she took it too far.

 

I don't disagree with you in principle, but I would rather ask, "What were some of the reasons people used slaves?" rather than "Talk about why slavery is right."

 

I agree. It wasn't necessary to take the lesson there to make the point.