Monday, September 18, 2006

From The Mouths Of Babes

Today was Constitution Day. Since I was legally required to teach a lesson on the Constitution and since my class has pretty much nothing to do with the US Constitution, I had my kids compare our constitution to others from around the world, including Iraq's. One of my students expressed some confusion about that constitution's emphasis on combating terrorism.

Student: It says all this stuff about how they're against terrorism but don't they HAVE a lot of terrorism?

Me: You have to remember this is the government's position on terrorism. It doesn't necessarily mean the state will be free from terrorism. Just like the US government says it's opposed to terrorism but we've still experienced terrorist acts. Iraq is being terrorized, but not by its government.

Student: Oh. So what would the Taliban be? Cause it was the government but it was also kind of a terrorist organization.

Me: Well, the Taliban was in Afghanistan first of all, but --

Student: Wait. So why'd we invade Iraq then?

And I just let the crickets take it from there.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

You should have just shown School House Rock and called it a day.

Anonymous said...

How depressing. Was there any reaction from the rest of the class?

Phil said...

Good critical thinking. That kid wants answers.

Anonymous said...

Megan, I expect a 500-word essay from you on the topic "Why I Hate America."

Melissa said...

Wonderful!

(And why haven't you written me back yet?? I drank for 9 straight hours on Sunday - how's that?!)

Coaster Punchman said...

Well, at least the student is catching on, even if she/he isn't up on current events.

Anonymous said...

Smart kid.

Bravo-Foxtrot said...

What?! I hope you gave that kid a goddamn Freedom Knuckle Sandwich. What a dumbass!

We invaded Iraq because we're AMERICA! We own the world! We're the greatest! We're the best goddamn liberators the world's ever known! We're the world's saviors! We know what's best for EVERYONE! We can do whatever the hell we want!

"Why'd we invade Iraq?" Ha! Becuase we're America, buddy. That's how we do. Get on board.

Let's roll, motherfuckers.

Megan said...

Lulu: Probably, but transitions are not my strong suit.

Chris: Yes, actually. Classmates offered two main explanations: 1) oil and 2) our president's an idiot.

Phil: We are all about the critical thinking. I, too, was impressed by the kid's questions.

Vikki: I only get 500 words? I might need a few more.

Melissa: I'm on it. Tomorrow. And way to go with the drinking.

CP & GM: Yes. The kid appears to be good stuff.

Brian: What I gave him was bonus points.

Anonymous said...

Kids say the darndest painful truths about our government policy.

Megan said...

I know! And it's hard to just let the crickets do their thing sometimes when what you really want to do is give them (the kids, not the crickets) a high five.