Terror 101: Scottish primary school kids given terrorism homework
A Scottish school has come under fire for issuing primary school kids homework featuring questions about global terrorist organizations. Children were asked to describe the various tactics of Al-Qaeda, the IRA and Hamas.
Children, some as young as seven at New Stevenston Primary in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, were handed worksheets with a cartoon of an exploding bomb.
One of the exercises required pupils to consider why “Palestinians feel that they have the RIGHT to use terrorism against the Israelis.”
The students were encouraged to give two examples of why, and to describe two of the methods used.
Copies of the worksheets were later posted online, provoking complaints from parents and campaigners.
Another question – presented in a multiple-choice format – involved identifying the two most prominent terror groups in Northern Ireland. Pupils were asked to explain the aims of Loyalists and Republicans.
A North Lanarkshire Council Learning and Leisure Services spokesperson told the Daily Mail the homework, called “Terrorism and Terror - Case Study: Separatists,” should not have been issued and is obsolete.
The spokesperson said the council is “contacting all schools to ensure this particular material is no longer used.”
They explained that the project had been part of a social studies program, which was meant to provide pupils with a “greater understanding of the nature of different conflicts and their regional, global and historical significance and does not pass any judgment on the subject.”
The incident comes only a day after another learning resource designed for use in British schools – this time about the British armed forces – was slammed by campaigners and military veterans.
The 58-page Armed Forces Learning Resource 2014 was branded a “poor quality learning resource” by the authors of a paper criticizing the Department of Education initiative.
They told RT: “If this was a warts-and-all look at the armed forces, it would not be a problem. Instead it is a glossy promotional brochure that glorifies ‘military values’ and sanitizes war and has no place in education.”
