Jordan Davis in our Classrooms

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Feb 17

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Late on Saturday, a verdict was reached in the case of Michael Dunn, the man who was on trial for the murder of Jordan Davis and the attempted murder of three other young men. While the intentions and motivations of the people involved are in dispute, the facts that are not in dispute is that Dunn shot and killed Davis in 2012. The case is reminiscent of the Trayvon Martin case and brings us once again to the soul crushing reality that a young man's life was cut down early and that the laws in Florida make a defense of the murder plausible with their version of self-defense.So, the question of how to approach this in the classroom arises. Talking about race and justice and the legal system are important and daunting subjects for many teachers. It is easier to just not talk about issues like this. It is easier to say that it is the job of someone else to have this conversation with kids. But it isn't. It's all our jobs to continue to involve students in the issues of the day, give them the resources to inform themselves, help them to analyze a world that is often complex, find their own voice and empower them with strategies for changing a world that struggles to bend toward justice.A number of different educators worked on a series of approaches that a teacher could use to start the conversation with their students and with their fellow teachers. I offer my take, below, on how I would address this with my 7th graders. I fully recognize that I would have dealt with this differently with my 11th and 12th grade SLA students and I think it is important to look at the ideas in the collaborative lesson planning document as a bank of possible approaches. I challenge you take the time to consider tackling this important issue with our students in an ongoing conversation about justice in our country. It matters.

What Does Justice Look Like?

1. Warm up: What is Justice? Provide examples. What is injustice? Provide examples. Discuss. Collect examples on the board or digitally.2. Provide students with scenarios that allow them to take a stand on whether something was just or unjust. Suggestions - students can jot down their thoughts first and then use the ‘stand on a line’ or ‘opinion continuum’ activity for students to indicate where they fall on the just, unjust spectrum with each of the scenarios.

Scenario 1: A family is forcibly interned (confined for political or military reasons) for 2 years because they are American citizens of Japanese descent and the government decided they were dangerous. (Reference)