When The Lesson Is Deception

(The Bee has received the following letter for publication.)

To the Newtown Board of Education:

I was a student in the Newtown school system from first to twelfth grade. While I am quite pleased with almost all of my education there, one mandatory eighth grade assembly has always bothered me. I am now an educator — I have taught in Newtown and now work in New York — and I recently attended a seminar that gave me the perspective and vocabulary to address this simulation exercise that the middle school administrators thought would teach students about the dangers of crime.

We were 12- and 13-year-olds who were brought into the gymnasium and asked to sit in a large circle. Two guards with a German shepherd and two convicts in chains were brought into the middle of the circle. We were told not to go near or touch the dog or it would hurt us. The convicts were unshackled and they proceeded to talk to us about what it was like in prison. My friend next to me had taken his shoes off, and one of the convicts picked up his shoes and explained that if we were in prison these would now be his shoes. And “what would we do about it?” he asked. Later one of the convicts talked about shanks — homemade knives — and produced one from his pocket, which the guards then wrestled out of his hands. At the end of the assembly the convicts were chained up and taken out.

Later that weekend I found out from The Newtown Bee that this was all a show that was put on to scare us into following the law. The “convicts” were guards, and the German shepherd was borrowed from one of their friends — he was, in fact, very friendly.

I was furious. But I didn’t have the vocabulary to address what it was I was feeling. I talked to the vice principal at the time to tell her it wasn’t right to do that to us, and she told me, “Would it have had as much of an impact if we had told you that it was all fake?” And the answer to that is No. So I left feeling shamed and betrayed, but also cowed into submission.

Now I am older, I have a degree in education, and I have had professional training on the dangers of simulation exercises. Are simulation exercises that appear to be real powerful? Yes. Will students remember them for a long time? Most likely. Will these simulation exercises also carry the hidden lesson that adults are not to be trusted, that students are incapable of understanding truth without being tricked, that fear is the only motivation toward lawful behavior, and that it is right to lie to others to achieve your goals? Absolutely.

Shame on you, educators who were involved in this decision. You have a responsibility to behave ethically. There is no greater teaching than that of example, and you were wrong to lie to us. I don’t know if this program has been discontinued. If you still teach through these simulation exercises, I ask you to stop. It teaches a great deal more than you think.

Sincerely,

Don O’Connor

King Street, Newtown                                                     August 3, 2007