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Dallas teacher gives assignment to write essay about how Kyle Rittenhouse is a hero.
- Thread starter purbeast0
- Start date
This teacher sucks. Including a 17 year old felon and murderer in your list of options is disturbing. Some still view Hitler as a hero, wonder why the teacher didn't put him on the list to be complete.
Floyd also wasnt a hero. He was a victim of police brutality. His death kickstarted a movement and conversation, but in abscence on intentional actions, its hard to justify hero status.
Again, this teacher sucks. Either the teacher is racist scum, or quite clueless. Both qualities should exclude him from shaping the minds of our children.
Floyd also wasnt a hero. He was a victim of police brutality. His death kickstarted a movement and conversation, but in abscence on intentional actions, its hard to justify hero status.
Again, this teacher sucks. Either the teacher is racist scum, or quite clueless. Both qualities should exclude him from shaping the minds of our children.
zinfamous
No Lifer
I mean....in that context, you could take the assignment as "a hero for whom?" Obviously, you've got extremely disparate communities related to each of those individuals on the list, that would equally label the person a hero or a villain to their cause. The Floyd/Rittenhouse puts the contemporary perspective on the other individuals.
So, it's a complex, probably educational exercise. However, this is problematic for a number of reasons:
1: It's just too contemporary. You can't really discuss these topics fairly during the moment. Especially when you have developed, historically contextual histories of individuals like Ghandi or Chavez or Malcolm X--you can literally examine their relevance as it relates to the long-standing results of their work. You can't do that with Floyd or Rittenhouse--anyone really--in the moment. It will only be superficial and suffer from a lack of perspective.
2: These kids are just too damn young to be engaging in that kind of thing right now. This is a very complex, very charged time right now. Not to say that highschool kids are dumb and have no idea what is going on around them; just that at that age, there is a habit to pick and choose a trait or defining point and use that to define the entire narrative. Our brains at that age aren't really given to nuance and due to general lack of world experience, mostly incapable of challenging our own nascent world views.
....of course, we do suffer from a lack of complex, nuanced, empathetic thinking from large populations of so-called adults in this country as it is; and maybe it's because they were given assignments like this at such young ages, decided they were and always will be correct about it forever, and chose to stop thinking? 😀
So, it's a complex, probably educational exercise. However, this is problematic for a number of reasons:
1: It's just too contemporary. You can't really discuss these topics fairly during the moment. Especially when you have developed, historically contextual histories of individuals like Ghandi or Chavez or Malcolm X--you can literally examine their relevance as it relates to the long-standing results of their work. You can't do that with Floyd or Rittenhouse--anyone really--in the moment. It will only be superficial and suffer from a lack of perspective.
2: These kids are just too damn young to be engaging in that kind of thing right now. This is a very complex, very charged time right now. Not to say that highschool kids are dumb and have no idea what is going on around them; just that at that age, there is a habit to pick and choose a trait or defining point and use that to define the entire narrative. Our brains at that age aren't really given to nuance and due to general lack of world experience, mostly incapable of challenging our own nascent world views.
....of course, we do suffer from a lack of complex, nuanced, empathetic thinking from large populations of so-called adults in this country as it is; and maybe it's because they were given assignments like this at such young ages, decided they were and always will be correct about it forever, and chose to stop thinking? 😀
brycejones
Lifer
How could he forget about George Zimmerman or James Alex Fields Jr?
purbeast0
No Lifer
You are giving this trash way too much credit lol.
Please write such an essay. I am curious if, in trying to get into the heads of people who could argue such a case you might not learn something important about them. I would think that part of a liberal education should include learning to think like the other side especially in preparation for debates and to refine your own thinking on your side of the issue.
Hehe, had I seen his post I wouldn't have felt a need to write mine. As any rational and critically thinking educated person will do and he did here, was to look at and argue the other side. His essay, essentially, took up the task of arguing the teacher is a hero. As you can see, at least from his and my example, such thinking isn't unusual, thank God. Naturally, this is my opinion.
purbeast0
No Lifer
Perhaps the essay should be to argue whether Lebron or Jordan is the GOAT instead of why an underage racist murderer is a hero if that is the case.
WelshBloke
Lifer
What about Mohamed Atta or Ted Kaczynski?
zinfamous
No Lifer
It's easy to assume his motivations, but much more difficult, from our distance, to confirm them.
We live in what are far more charged times today than when you and I were in high school, dealing with such topics. OK, well, for me it was Rodney King to OJ. So yeah, some pretty heavy stuff to deal with, but we didn't also have roving bands of Nazis marching across the country demanding to be treated with respect, and the then-realization that those events and the fallout never improved matters.
I think it's important to try and separate the overall emotion of the...cacophony of bleating horseshit that is going on in the streets...with these specific people or events, in their own context. Yes, that's difficult because they are certainly part of it, but I think that in a proper setting and assignment like this has merit....and which I argued there isn't a very appropriate setting, right now. Separated from the context right now, say 15+ years later, it's a worthwhile assignment.
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interchange
Diamond Member
I'm with you on this one.
Commodus
Diamond Member
I don't know that he's explicitly declaring Rittenhouse a hero (he wouldn't have included Floyd if it was strictly a partisan effort), but at the very least it's in poor taste. There's nothing you could do to call him a hero unless you're such a diehard Trump fan that you'd advocate for violence.
interchange
Diamond Member
The title of the assignment is "Hero for the Modern Age".
The presented evidence is missing far too much context to say much about the assignment itself.
pauldun170
Diamond Member
edit....
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SMOGZINN
Lifer
You have to click though to see part 2 of the assignment which is to explain why they are a hero.
Ahh thank you. Missed the title as I browsed it.
ch33zw1z
Lifer
Maybe put Timothy McVeigh, or David Koresh on there also. Toss on the 3 perps from Boston marathon bombings, who cares?
WelshBloke
Lifer
Everyone's a hero to someone!
HomerJS
Lifer
ch33zw1z
Lifer
Nailed it.