Third grade assignment asks: “What is an illegal alien?”

[alp227]

There are just no words. A third grade class in at Chesney Elementary School in Duluth, Georgia was given a homework assignment that included an essay entitled “What is an Illegal Alien?” with follow-up questions, including his gem:

What does the U.S. do with illegal aliens?

A. The U.S. puts them to work in the army.

B. The U.S. shoots them into outer space.

C. The U.S. puts them to death.

D. The U.S. sends them back where they came from.

More: http://feministing.com/2011/03/25/third-grade-assignment-asks-what-is-an-illegal-alien/

Source: http://www.11alive.com/rss/article/184036/3/Third-graders-asked-What-is-an-Illegal-Alien

Go to the 11alive.com page for the passage related to this question...this seems to be a reading comprehension assignment from edhelper.com (registration required), which reads:

Sam was playing with Buster, his pet terrier, in the backyard. Taylor called and asked if he could come over.

"Sure!" Sam told his friend. "I'll be in the backyard. Just come through the side gate."

Sam heard Taylor coming down the walkway. Taylor hurried up to the gate, swung it open, and entered the backyard. He closed the gate behind him.

The two friends greeted each other. Then they began to play with Buster. What a shock they had when a third boy jumped the fence into Sam's backyard!”

Tolerance.org responded: "We encourage healthy discussions about immigration in the United States within the classroom, even with third-graders. However, this particular lesson—with its marked political slant—was appalling and inappropriate."

How to solve this problem? Bring back real civics education! Thom Hartmann has said on his program a lot that Reagan's education secretary William Bennett wrecked civics so that people schooled post-1983 don't know jack about what communism, socialism, etc. really are and so eat up those right-wing "Obama is a Marxist" BS memes. I did some research on that and found this Washington Post blog: "Reagan’s second education secretary, William Bennett, continued to pursue a policy that focused on standardized testing"...which means readin', 'ritin', 'rithmetic I suppose. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Bennett is part of a group that views participation in the American democracy as merely "one aspect of overall character education"; Bennett also "pushes for the virtues of patriotism, loyalty, and national pride."

[brewens]

1. When I was a kid I would probably almost always jump the fence,

if I could, because it was more fun! If we had a fence, we'd only be shocked by someone jumping it, if it was really tall. I grew up in a middle class neighborhood where we had 5 houses in a row without any fences.

[ejpoeta]

2. i really don't think that the possible answers are really suited for 3rd graders.

first and foremost. if you are going to discuss such a subject, i would suggest waiting until at least middle school and then maybe discussing the reasons one might leave their country for another. also perhaps one could discuss our history and the fact that we are a nation of immigrants and how people came here and why from columbus through the potato famine to today.

[RebelOne]

3. I think the answer to that question would be

because the third boy was not invited.

[Wwagsthedog]

4. et, of course