Years ago when teaching the Civil War, I gave fifth graders a menu of project options. One creative group decided to make a movie. They put hours into the film, and when they showed it to the class, I was put in a very difficult position.
The challenge resulted from the fact that the children demonstrated insensitivity to racism and prejudice in their film. I knew that the discriminatory and unkind film was not purposefully prejudiced, but I also knew that what they did was wrong. Fortunately the film was not put on social media, and I had the chance to teach why the film was inappropriate and discriminatory. I did not accept the project and did the follow-up teaching. That kind of presentation never happened again and we all learned a lot.
Recently a similar issue occurred in a school system in New Hampshire. Unlike my situation, the students' project was placed on social media right away which demonstrated how inappropriate it was to the world. While I don't know all the details, I believe it is a situation for teaching rather than punishment. Students need to learn why their creative work was discriminatory, harmful, and inappropriate. The problem is an opportunity for greater teaching and learning for all involved.
When we quickly punish rather than teach we lose out on important opportunities to get better and bring people together rather than creating greater pain and distancing people from one another. Onward.
