Poll of the Day > Outrage after Wisconsin Teachers asked 11 y/o's this SHOCKING QUESTION!!!

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A group of Wisconsin Middle School Teachers are SUSPENDED after giving students an assignment asking a very inappropriate question!!

6th Graders at Patrick Marsh Middle School in Sun Prairie were asked a question during Black History month while learning about the laws of ancient Mesopotamia

The 11-12 year old students were asked to to pretend to be slave owners while being asked this shocking question..

Principal Rebecca Zahn apologized for this assignment and said "our intent missed the mark, and for that we are deeply sorry. Going forward we will be sure to think critically about whether or our intenet matches our impaact"

They have now placed the several teachers involved on leave while they investigate

But the Wisconsin State Journal raised questions about the origin of the lesson which did not come from the district's official curriculum

It appears this lesson came from a website used by teachers to buy and sell educational materials called "Teachers Pay Teachers" which had a $4 lesson plan available with the exact wording given tot the students

The site has since removed this lesson..

Marilyn Ruffin, the only person of colour on the school board is among those questioning the unsanctioned materials used in this lesson as it was not an approved website as teachers draw from a wide range of sources when creating lesson plans which can then lead to inappropriate material making its way into lesson plans

Zayvion Hopkins has now hired an attorney to hold the school responsible as she called it disgusting and unacceptable

Do you think these teachers should be held accountable for asking this question?

https://i.imgur.com/V64ooS8.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/wmoxG3p.jpg
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Seems a dumb question to ask.

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Imagine thinking this would be a good way to teach kids about anything lmao

There's a lesson to be learned alright. How to proceed should largely hinge on how this happened. It would seem there would have to be multiple failures for this to happen. One being using an unapproved source, another failing to identify questionable or unacceptable content either by way of poor judgement or by neglect, and finally by those who unquestioningly presented those assignments to their students.

Though I don't think anyone should lose their jobs over this (unless they have multiple similar infractions on record), there should definitely be reprimands, ideally in such a way that also teaches both their peers and their students about the importance of being vigilant and having the courage to speak out if they come across something that doesn't seem right.

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What a stupid ass school, that's about the worst way you could word that question

Like if it was along the lines of "a slave has disrespected his master by saying 'you are not my master', what was the standard punishment at the time?" It wouldn't be nearly as offensive

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Well, according to the slavery terms and service end user license agreement we have to pay their father 50 shekels of silver and then have sex with them

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Oh yeah, thats a thing you do not do. Yeah, kids should learn about how things were back then, but not like that.

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Fierce_Deity_08 posted...

Oh yeah, thats a thing you do not do. Yeah, kids should learn about how things were back then, but not like that.

This. But also in the context in the way it was presented was so fucked up.

my middle school teacher make had a slave day too. We had to pretend to work in a production line while she yelled because we didnt know English.

I get the lesson that they believed they were trying to teach, but I agree the method could have been chosen better.


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I'm kinda curious if Hammurabi's Code actually dictates that, because it would just seem stupid. Under almost no scenario could I see that actually being used as a punishment for insubordination, because it seems impractical.

mrduckbear posted...

Principal Rebecca Zahn apologized for this assignment and said "our intent missed the mark, and for that we are deeply sorry. Going forward we will be sure to think critically about whether or our intenet matches our impaact"

And I'm curious what that intent was. Were they looking to test critical thinking or just ethical thinking?


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Zeus posted...

I'm kinda curious if Hammurabi's Code actually dictates that, because it would just seem stupid. Under almost no scenario could I see that actually being used as a punishment for insubordination, because it seems impractical.

And I'm curious what that intent was. Were they looking to test critical thinking or just ethical thinking?

I was thinking that myself, but at the same time war was pretty common back then, so they frequently had a surplus of slaves, so offing one was easier than reforming one probably and would keep everyone in line. I think it differs a bit from the antebellum slavery days where slaves weren't procured via conquest, but rather trade, so were treated as commodities, commodities you generally wished to preserved because you paid a decent price for one, so they were much more willing to go to the whip instead of the gallows for minor transgressions with execution only as a last resort.

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