Makes Me Sick [Nov. 18th, 2007|04:52 pm]

I am working on a unit for my 7th graders research and source reliability. As you can imagine, 12 and 13 year olds aren't always very savvy in regards to what is true on the internet and what isn't. As part of this unit, I am going to show my class screen-shots from a Martin Luther King Jr. Website that on the surface appears very benign. In reality, it is anything but. The site is hosted by a white supremacist group. (I am not mentioning the groups name, or website address, simply because I will not publicize, route, or in any other way support these people. If you are an educator, and you would like more information on this site to use in a way similar to how I am using it, contact me via the comments section of my journal.)
As I was saying, I am taking screen-shots of this site, and it is all I can do to not vomit. The hatred and ignorance here are intolerable. And the subterfuge used by this hate organization, to make people think they are just another informational site, is disgusting.
The only thing that kept me from closing my browser, is I know that pictures of this site will get through to my students that not everything on the internet is true. I don't know that anything else will have this powerful of an effect. I will need to warn my administrators, and I wonder if I should send a letter home?
7th grade is a difficult age. Still children, becoming adults. How much do we let them experience, how little do we protect?
I may have to wait a while to use the horrible pictures I have taken. I don't know that I can stomach them right now.