In honor of Martin Luther King Day, my class did a special assignment a few days ago. First, I showed them a copy of the "I have a dream" speech, and we discussed his meaning and perspective. Next, I asked kids to think about the issues that face people today (are they the same or different than in 1967?). Finally, I asked them to write their own speech discussing the issues that concern them the most. As usual, there were some great ones, lots of so-so examples, and a few stinkers. On the whole, however, I thought they did better than average on the assignment, and I was impressed by the depth of their thinking about these issues. Some things 7th graders are concerned about:
-Race
-Hunger
-Global Warming (this was the most discussed issue)
-Terrorists
-Wars
-Gas Prices (this is a big deal here in SUV land)
-Inflation (they didn't use the term, but that was the main idea)
-Good Vs. Evil (will evil just overcome good?)
-Weapons/gun violence (guns are bad was the idea in all of these)
-International Co-operation (again, they didn't know the term, but they knew what they meant)
-AIDS
-Poverty
-Domestic Violence
-Cancer
Proof once again that not all kids are as shallow as some people would make them out to be. Granted, their proposed solutions to these issues were sometimes quite goofy (the government should just give everyone money and then no on would be poor) but at least they are thinking about things that need change.
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