I just got this book last weekend called What If…. The book asks questions to ponder like, “If you could give anyone one gift, what would you give them and how would you give it to them?” and “If you could eliminate one thing you do in the bathroom for the rest of your life, what would it be?”
Anyhoo, I was reading some of the questions to my students. One of the ones we got was, “If you could assassinate anyone, who would it be?” I was thinking of the evil people in history. You know, the kind of people that say, tried to kill off entire races of people, or really mistreated human beings. My students all said (in a manner a little too resounding for my taste) George Bush.
This took me aback. George Bush? Okay, maybe he’s not perfect (but who is?). But…of all the people in the world…GEORGE BUSH??? When I asked them why they said, “Because he kills people.” Never mind that they answered in a sentence fragment.
I guess I’m just really distraught over the whole thing. One, that these kids are so misinformed/warped by others that they would wish assassination on our own president. Two, that they are middle schoolers and have no understanding of oh, say, actual fact. And three, that they all chose our president as their first choice, without thinking.
Are these kids getting these opinions from home? From school? From T.V? From a freaky person on the street? My guess is the home….
We had a long talk about George Bush and what he does and what I believe he is working towards. I believe that he does care about human rights…at least to the point that he doesn’t like to see a small group of people reaping havoc on our nation and on those in their country who do not hold the same beliefs. I believe that he is fighting for justice and for human rights. You may not agree with how he is doing it.
My students think this is a war over oil. Holy crap.
Oh, and to top it off, one of them said, “Well, he just wasn’t as good of a president as Clinton.”
I think the world is ending soon. When Clinton is seen as a saint and Bush is seen as an evil monster worthy of death…yes…the end must be near.
Steph Lewis's Blog
As a conservative conspiracy theorist, I’ve decided that the Democrats and tree huggers have put a special chemical in the water out there in California. They call it “Chlorine,” but I really know what it is. A ‘hippie-now’ byproduct, that I nicknamed “The Commie Maker.” Seriously.
*ahem* I’m bothered by this, too. I didn’t understand what made a good president in jr high, let alone grade school. I was too busy playing video games, avoiding cooties, and trying to find a discarded issue of playboy in 3rd grade to even know whether a president was doing a good job. How the heck would they know if Clinton did a good job?
This kind of vitriolic response is far too common on the forums I write in, as well as in popular opinion around the world. Bush is some gun slinging, war-mongering idiot, and I DON’T think this is all his doing. His diplomacy is rough around the edges, but the liberal response here and around the world is a completely blind hatred that makes no sense. It must be because he’s making a stand, something we’re not supposed to do anymore: be tolerant instead, and all that BS.
I’m glad that my brother doesn’t feel that way (him being 13 and all) but I suspect he gets some sembelence of balanced opinions about the world from his home envoronment. I am disgusted that the answer by a classroom of middle schoolers would be GW. Bush, but considering the wackiness that I saw in some first graders at the school that I worked at, I can almost understand.
I wonder how they will answer in a year? Will it be the name of someone who has been the victim of some level of media mudslinging? It seems that the american public, middle schoolers included, have a short attention span regarding news. Does anyone remember Gary Conduit? How about the other folks who have either admitted to wrongdoing or been accused of causing great hurt or even death to someone else? Or will the answer always remain the same? I find it interesting that Adultry in one man is not considered nearly as bad as being the commander in chief of an Army who is liberating a country who has been ruled by a dictatior, and under said rule killed hundreds of thousands of citizens of said country. GW Bush hasn’t personally killed anyone. He commands an army who, under his command, has killed military and civilian individuals in Iraq. America has also lost many lives in this encounter – why not be mad about the loss of life of our country?
Those same kids could sit there next year and answer the same question again regardless of the war in Iraq. What if thousands of residents of any large city – San Francisco for example – were killed by a chemical attack by a country such as Iraq. Would they hold Bush responsible for not protecting them from those who seek to do us harm? Sure they would. They would blame whoever it was in power for not attacking xyz hostle country who hates our guts. They would probably sit there and talk about how they would of been entirely happy to enlist to fight in the military against whatever that military superpower had been.
What a strange culture we life in. Where have all the true patriots gone?
“If you could assassinate anyone, who would it be?” seems like an odd question to begin with. Let’s discuss bringing healing to the world through death. Did any of the students point out that irony?
But anyway…
Are you really that surprised at such a reaction? OK, from middle schoolers it’s a little surprising, but that type of hatred for George W. Bush is not so surprising. There are a lot of people upset with Bush right now, and I’m not too surprised.
We’ve got a major war going on in Iraq, started under dubious circumstances. Maybe we can justify that removing a viscious dictator is worthwhile, but that wasn’t our rationale. Weapons of mass destruction were our rationale, and they haven’t shown up. To the rest of the world, and a lot of liberals, that makes us look like a rogue nation, doing what we want to whomever we want. Add to that the ties between Dick Cheney, his oil company, and reconstruction contracts and you’ve got a pretty sticky mess.
I’m not trying to defend this liberal perspective and I don’t exactly buy into it, but there is some foundation to it. It helps to try and understand that a bit. For everyone who thinks Bush is a gun-slinging cowboy, there’s just as many people who think Clinton is a sex-machine, pot-smoking draft dodger. The extreme liberal is often balanced by the extreme conservative. At times both of them can be seen as just as wacky.
Depending on how things go in Iraq, the ’04 Election could be pretty interesting.
The Dems have to get their act together if they’re going to win. They have no clear winner, and a lot of people running that sound awful similar and split the vote pretty well. We’ll see what happens, but I’m not holding my breath, yet. The Dems would also have to rip something really good out to make me think one of them would be better than Bush right now.
Why, again, did you ask middle or grade school students whom they would assassinate- hypothetical or not, it’s at best tangentially related to art and it’s not the world’s most pleasant place to take these kids, anyway. Also, it’s fallacious to say that because Clinton is perceived as a better president that he is perceived as a ‘saint.’ Ideological dogma is a poor substitute for critical thinking. At any rate, Clinton bombed Iraq, too, and the sanctions he maintained prevented Iraquis from rebuilding the infrastructure he destroyed. Shouldn’t this make him a great hero of the people and of humanity in general, or is it the case that only Republicans are entitled to do good using extraordinarily violent means?
I guess I need to make it clear that this was not given to my class for an assignment. I would never do that. It was just me and like three students sitting around looking at this book. None of the questions were offensive and we were like on page 30. I started reading this one without really thinking (which was my own fault). I guess I was just shocked by the answer.
Oh, and this question does have the potential to turn into a very interesting discussion that can really get kids thinking. You can bring up issues as were said by several people in this post thread. Very often we don’t give kids difficult questions…but then at the same time we don’t encourage them to really get thinking. I’m open to turning this into a discussion and helping kids to see multiple viewpoints.
I guess I’m just shocked by all of the hatred that exists for our current president, who, given the circumstances, is doing a pretty decent job in my opinion. I don’t agree with everything he does…but for the most part I think he is carrying on an excellent presidency.
Hee hee…Helen said “ass.” I guess when you’re 25 and you’re a middle school teacher, this is funny.
Something is to be said for the quick responses of middle schoolers. As lost in the facts as they may seem, thier opinions should not be so easily discarded as pulp. Kids of that age are reactionary. They have to be on the offensive in every aspect of their daily lives. To attack is to suvive in middle school and high school. You can’t be truly suprised by such an obvious reaction to a President commanding so much authority and wielding it so recklessly.
I think the question you asked is fine for that age. Especially in the violent culture we live in. Violence should be discussed, it needs to be. Why is assassination even an option? Why is death an acceptable punishment for killing? Do ends justify the means? I wouldn’t let that question stand alone.
As far as our President goes? George Bush wouldn’t answer your question that much differently. Far too quickly. Like a seventh grader wanting to kill the president.
Funny how you are so upset that young children jump to conclusions without thinking.
Maybe if you were as concerned about your president jumping to conclusions and acting without any facts to back him up we would live in a world where there is much less hate to spread around to young children…
That’s the best story I’ve heard in long time. Maybe the kids are on to something.
This is a direct quote from your entry on this website: “Never mind that they answered in a sentence fragment.” Unless you are using the word “mind” as a verbal imperative, your statement is a fragment. I also counted three authentic fragments in your little note. Perhaps they uttered sentence fragments because they’ve learned them from you.
Have a nice day ; )