G'day class, today we're going to plot a terrorist attack in Australia

[Arcana XV]

I think it encourages strategic thinking and careful planning.
Sometimes you have to come up with crazy off the wall stuff to get youngsters interested.
This is definitely it.

The prevention aspect isn't a bad idea.

Yeah, it does take a lot to get young people to care about anything these days, but I think it's important to keep their focus on the fact that terrorism is very destructive or they'll simply treat this exercise as another make-believe video game.

 

[MaggieD]

Your examples are completely different. First of all, they zero in on specific, personal atrocities, one invokes psychosexual trauma, and the other gives a direct target.

I bet if it were put in the context of an ROTC class doing something similar to impress the impact on them, you wouldn't be having mouthfoaming fits over an instructor trying to creatively engage that class.

Not quite mouth-foaming, Jallman, though I do enjoy the comparison. I do see similarities in my examples. I understand that you don't. But that's why we have DP. If this assignment were meant to "impress the impact on civilians," I wouldn't have posted in opposition. The article doesn't frame it in that manner -- and neither did the teacher.

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

Yeah, it does take a lot to get young people to care about anything these days, but I think it's important to keep their focus on the fact that terrorism is very destructive or they'll simply treat this exercise as another make-believe video game.

Of course, completely agree.

 

[bub]

I really can't for the life of me figure out how this wouldn't be the same as assigning kids the task of -- hypothetically -- planning to shoot up a school. Any argument you want to put in favor of this teacher's assignment would apply equally well to that.

That doesn't change anything. The kids who shoot 10 or 15 people at their schools do not need lessons to learn how to do that.

What this teacher does is to encourage his students to think, to imagine something, it is very creative. He is a good teacher, even if the subject is not a good one. When I was at school, I had to do boring things like finding an article in a newspaper and translate it, or I had to read some boring book. There was nothing creative.

Furthermore, it's by encouraging people to think about how things work than they can react well when this thing happens.

 

[Redress]

Yeah, it does take a lot to get young people to care about anything these days, but I think it's important to keep their focus on the fact that terrorism is very destructive or they'll simply treat this exercise as another make-believe video game.

I would tend to think that would be great for followup lessons. Have kids plan a terrorist attack, then show them a movie with footage of 9/11 and the aftermath of attacks.

 

[spud_meister]

I would tend to think that would be great for followup lessons. Have kids plan a terrorist attack, then show them a movie with footage of 9/11 and the aftermath of attacks.

footage of the Bali bombings would be more relevant, which was one of the reasons people are bitching about this in the first place.

 

[Harshaw]

because, it's possible for a kid to shoot up a school, i'm yet to meet any 15 year old that's built a chemical or nuclear weapon, i mean, i didn't make thermite 'till i was 17.

This is what they were asked to do, not build chemical or nuclear weapons:

The students were asked to pretend they were terrorists making a political statement by releasing a chemical or biological agent on "an unsuspecting Australian community", according to a copy of the assignment.

The task included choosing the best time to attack and explaining their choice of victims and what effects the attack would have on a human body.

"Your goal is to kill the MOST innocent civilians in order to get your message across," the assignment read.

Grades were to be allocated based on students' ability to analyse information they had learned on terrorism and chemical and biological warfare and apply it to a real-life scenario, the newspaper said.

Do you really think that's beyond the grasp or the reach of 15 year-olds? Simply poisoning a water supply? Finding some kind of way to spread disease? Making it as effective as they could make it?

Particularly when part of the assignment, specifically, is researching exactly how to do these things?

Sorry; there is no difference.

 

[texmaster]

(I've snipped at various points.)

This assignment was insensitive, stupid, unprofessional and a host of other derogatory adjectives one could come up with. My examples are no different. Hypothetical terrorist attack=hypothetical rape attack=hypothetical bombing attack="pretend you're a murderer." Just plain ridiculous.

Very well said. Its amazing how many don't see it.

 

[texmaster]

insensitive to whom? there hasn't been a terrorist attack on Australian soil since 1915, stupidity is a matter of opinion, and the teachers profession is to teach, and that's what this assignment was doing.

and i still don't think those things are equal, and repeating it won't change that.

personally, i if was going to plant a chemical weapon, it would be in the underground areas of Flinders Street Station, so there it could spread through the Melbourne Loop to the other 4 underground stations, and i'd do it at about 5:30pm, to catch the people on their way home from work.

****, now i must be a terrorist.

Did you miss the Bali bombings? Exactly how is desensitizing children to terrorist attacks a good thing?

 

[VanceMack]

The funny thing is if these kids had decided to plan this as just a 'for fun' exercise and were caught they would be sent to a psychologist and labelled disturbed, antisocial, and behavior disordered.

Now students...lets here Sally's report...Sally?
Well...I would walk into an elementary school cafeteria during lunch time, walk up to the adult in charge, and blow his or her head of with a shotgun. then i would methodically blow them away, one at a time, feeding shells into the magazine as I went to avoid being empty and being rushed.

Well...thats nice...but how many of the little ****ers do you think you could off?

Well...if history is any indicator, Im thinking a police response time should be 4-6 minutes...and as long as i first targeted any adult that i saw, I would say, low estimate...30-40. Of course...lin terms of sheer gore...the sight of 30-40 children ripped apart by short range blasts from a 12 gauge would be far more psychologically impactful than say...200 worthless homeless people...or 100 or so at a mall.

Oh...and for extra credit...I would stand right out in public after I was done so the cops would have to shoot me in front of the cameras. Imagine that sight...a blood covered 15 year old, then being blasted by a volley from the cops. I estimate most cops that pulled triggers would live with that for the rest of their lives...

A+ Sally...well done...class...what are your thoughts???

 

[jallman]

The funny thing is if these kids had decided to plan this as just a 'for fun' exercise and were caught they would be sent to a psychologist and labelled disturbed, antisocial, and behavior disordered.

Now students...lets here Sally's report...Sally?
Well...I would walk into an elementary school cafeteria during lunch time, walk up to the adult in charge, and blow his or her head of with a shotgun. then i would methodically blow them away, one at a time, feeding shells into the magazine as I went to avoid being empty and being rushed.

Well...thats nice...but how many of the little ****ers do you think you could off?

Well...if history is any indicator, Im thinking a police response time should be 4-6 minutes...and as long as i first targeted any adult that i saw, I would say, low estimate...30-40. Of course...lin terms of sheer gore...the sight of 30-40 children ripped apart by short range blasts from a 12 gauge would be far more psychologically impactful than say...200 worthless homeless people...or 100 or so at a mall.

Oh...and for extra credit...I would stand right out in public after I was done so the cops would have to shoot me in front of the cameras. Imagine that sight...a blood covered 15 year old, then being blasted by a volley from the cops. I estimate most cops that pulled triggers would live with that for the rest of their lives...

A+ Sally...well done...class...what are your thoughts???

That's not even close to being an accurate comparison of what the assignment asked for.

 

[Crunch]

I am going to come down on the side of saying this was a good lesson. In the coming years, we have to expect and plan for more terrorist attacks. Teaching teenage children what the terrorists will look for in a place to attack, and making them reason as a terrorist would, provides them a better set of tools to help prevent such attacks.

Or teach them how to plan a terrorist attack.... can't have one without the other.

 

[Crunch]

because, it's possible for a kid to shoot up a school, i'm yet to meet any 15 year old that's built a chemical or nuclear weapon, i mean, i didn't make thermite 'till i was 17.

Funny, I made my first nerve gas at 15.....

 

[digsbe]

To be honest it doesn't sound like the teacher was trying to breed terrorism. Yeah, it was a stupid idea. However, i don't think it was as bad or as harmful as some may believe. It would be one thing if the teacher endorsed terrorism. I just think the teacher wanted to assign a creative assignment but didn't think through the implications of it.

 

[texmaster]

Funny, I made my first nerve gas at 15.....

Beans or fruit?

 

[VanceMack]

That's not even close to being an accurate comparison of what the assignment asked for.

Dang! You are right...I didnt past

"A school teacher who set an assignment for her class to plan a terrorist attack that would kill as many innocent Australians as possibler did not seek to promote terrorism, education officials said today."

Before I realized what an incredibly ****ing stupid idea it was and what in incredible moron that teacher was for thinking this assignment was a 'good' idea. I should have kept reading to this part...

"The students were asked to pretend they were terrorists making a political statement by releasing a chemical or biological agent on "an unsuspecting Australian community", according to a copy of the assignment.

The task included choosing the best time to attack and explaining their choice of victims and what effects the attack would have on a human body.

"Your goal is to kill the MOST innocent civilians in order to get your message across," the assignment read."

Then I would have adjusted Sally's plan dramatically....

 

[jallman]

Dang! You are right...I didnt past

"A school teacher who set an assignment for her class to plan a terrorist attack that would kill as many innocent Australians as possibler did not seek to promote terrorism, education officials said today."

Before I realized what an incredibly ****ing stupid idea it was and what in incredible moron that teacher was for thinking this assignment was a 'good' idea. I should have kept reading to this part...

"The students were asked to pretend they were terrorists making a political statement by releasing a chemical or biological agent on "an unsuspecting Australian community", according to a copy of the assignment.

The task included choosing the best time to attack and explaining their choice of victims and what effects the attack would have on a human body.

"Your goal is to kill the MOST innocent civilians in order to get your message across," the assignment read."

Then I would have adjusted Sally's plan dramatically....

I think you are grossly oversimplifying the complexity of this assignment. My interpretation of the assignment would involve things like:

Specific location
Time of day to maximize traffic yield through the targeted area
The specific delivery method and why
Psychological impact assessment
Sociological impact assessment
In-depth biological impact assessment

You do realize, these are called "war games" and our military school students do them all the time, right?

 

[Crunch]

Beans or fruit?

Ammonia and chlorine.

Ammonia and iodine is fun too.

 

[VanceMack]

I think you are grossly oversimplifying the complexity of this assignment. My interpretation of the assignment would involve things like:

Specific location
Time of day to maximize traffic yield through the targeted area
The specific delivery method and why
Psychological impact assessment
Sociological impact assessment
In-depth biological impact assessment

You do realize, these are called "war games" and our military school students do them all the time, right?

Yes. Military. Not 15 year old children who's prefrontal cortex and decision making capabilities are 6-10 years from being fully developed.

 

[VanceMack]

I think you are grossly oversimplifying the complexity of this assignment. My interpretation of the assignment would involve things like:

Specific location
Time of day to maximize traffic yield through the targeted area
The specific delivery method and why
Psychological impact assessment
Sociological impact assessment
In-depth biological impact assessment

You do realize, these are called "war games" and our military school students do them all the time, right?

Interesting the number of people that actually think this is a good idea and yet I get nasty grams for posting pictures and videos of simple beheadings. Ive got some decent footage of the bloated corpses at Halabja we can post...and some really awesome terrorism aftermath shots...hell...what was I thinking...this could be FUN... :doh

 

[jallman]

Yes. Military. Not 15 year old children who's prefrontal cortex and decision making capabilities are 6-10 years from being fully developed.

No, military school students as in kids that attend military structured private schools. Besides, how is this assignment any different from taking the ROTC class out to play paintball wars?

 

[The Mark]

It could be an interesting and instructive project, under the proper parameters.

I don't think the parameters used were the proper ones, however.

Perhaps instead: “half the class plans a terrorist attack and the other half plan how to defend against one (give each some parameter(s) that must be met). Then compare the two and see which half wins.

But still…

 

[jallman]

Interesting the number of people that actually think this is a good idea and yet I get nasty grams for posting pictures and videos of simple beheadings. Ive got some decent footage of the bloated corpses at Halabja we can post...and some really awesome terrorism aftermath shots...hell...what was I thinking...this could be FUN... :doh

Well if you can point to where the assignment called for visual aids of that nature, by all means, I'll concede that point to you. :roll:

 

[Redress]

Or teach them how to plan a terrorist attack.... can't have one without the other.

The first step in stopping future attacks is to learn how to do such attacks.

 

[VanceMack]

No, military school students as in kids that attend military structured private schools. Besides, how is this assignment any different from taking the ROTC class out to play paintball wars?

Military academy students are taught some of this...but they are also being conditioned with a military mindset. We are talking average civilians...15 year olds...and this was plain and simple an idiotic endeavor.