For better or for worse social media plays an increasing role in the way that information is disseminated and is a major factor in shaping student perceptions of current events. I often find that ideas that are discussed and passed along are based on wildly inaccurate information but are taken as factual simply because they were posted online. Students lack the skills to properly evaluate the information that they come across and it is becoming more imperative that those skills be taught in schools.
The long simmering gun control debate has rightfully been stoked to an inferno in wake of Friday's events and will hopefully be a major talking point for the foreseeable future. Finding the appropriate angle to approach such subjects in class in a meaningful way is always a difficult task but it is necessary for students to be given the opportunity to explore contentious issues in order to grow. I personally feel an almost overwhelming burden to teach about such things and do what I can to prompt constructive thought on the topic.
Evaluating Social Media Response in the Wake of Tragedy is an activity developed to help students examine some of the responses being posted on social media from a more critical point of view. It is based on the seven faulty logic errors in reasoning that Marzano identifies in the A Handbook for the Art and Science of Teaching; contradiction, accident, false cause, begging the question, evading the issue, arguing from ignorance, and composition and division. I selected a handful of posts to focus on (many from my own network) that caused me to pause because I either reacted especially positively or negatively to them. Students will be completing this activity this week after previous practice analyzing errors in arguments that were not as relevant.
Further Resources for Exploring the Gun Control Debate in the Classroom
Bill of Rights Institute A lesson plan and resources created after this summer's Aurora shootings. It contains summaries of recent landmark Second Amendment cases DC v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago.
PBS- NOW Gun Debate A nice chart that breaks down some of the pro and con arguments of gun control along with links to other sources.
NYT Opinionator The New York Times will this week be publishing a series a responses from contemporary philosophers looking at the ramifications of gun ownership and regulation.
