The Bill of Rights is outdated and needs to have at least two Amendments removed and some added, according to Common Core education materials reportedly being used in an Arkansas sixth-grade class.
According to Digital Journal, a sixth-grader in the Bryant School District brought home a homework assignment that instructed her to imagine she was part of a special committee put together by the government to update the “outdated” Bill of Rights.
The assignment begins:
The Bill of Rights is outdated and needs to have at least two Amendments removed and some added, according to Common Core education materials reportedly being used in an Arkansas sixth-grade class.
According to Digital Journal, a sixth-grader in the Bryant School District brought home a homework assignment that instructed her to imagine she was part of a special committee put together by the government to update the “outdated” Bill of Rights.
There has been a lot of controversy lately surrounding the War on Terror. Many Americans feel as though The Patriot Act is infringing upon our privacy and other individual liberties, while others feel protected by it. The government of the United States is currently revisiting the Bill of Rights. They have determined that it is outdated and may not remain in its current form any longer.The students are then instructed to “prioritize, prune and add amendments” to come up with a Revised Bill of Rights. The assignment required students to select two Amendments to throw out, add two new ones and put together persuasive speeches to market the idea.
Remarkably, parent Lela Spears told Digital Journal that her daughter has had no previous government or civics classes and this was the first assignment dealing with the Constitution or Bill of Rights.
“After she brought it home and explained her assignment to me, it made me question exactly what she was being taught. Where I can see a class using critical thinking skills to modernize the words, as to help them better understand the Amendments, giving an assignment to remove two then add two with little explanation as to why is upsetting,” Spears told Digital Journal in an interview. “When I asked my child what the assignment was to teach her she had no idea. Only that she was TOLD to do it. She didn’t even understand what the Amendments meant. How can she make an informed decision when she doesn’t understand what she is ‘throwing out?’ That was new to me. I also did not like the fact her teacher used, ‘you have been selected to help a special committee’ bullshit.”
The parent also pointed out that the class never went over the actual process of amending the Constitution, but were instead told that “the government” would be “changing” it in the scenario presented.
“I read through the handouts she was given (they do not use a book for this class, nor take one home to study from, only handouts that are put in a box for their table to share and place in their binders), around 6 in total, and nothing about how an Amendment is ratified,” Spears said. “I believe that, with the wording of the assignment, many children will think that the Bill of Rights is amended and can be changed by a ‘special’ committee instead of an act of Congress. I know that my child will not think this is true since I have made it my mission to be very much involved in her education.”
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