
How Teens Want You To Teach #BlackLivesMatter
Inspired by several high profile cases in 2014 -- the shooting death of black teenager Michael Brown by white police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson Missouri; the death of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man, who told police he couldn’t breathe while he was in a chokehold; the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was holding a toy gun that police mistook for a real weapon -- many teachers across the country have been looking for ways to address issues like race, violence and social justice, in their classrooms. Alongside social media campaigns like #BlackLivesMatter, educator hashtags like #FergusonSyllabus spread across the twitterverse. Here at Youth Radio, we took the question of how to talk to teens about the issues raised by these events back to the teens themselves. Youth Radio’s Tylyn Hardamon, a member of the newsroom’s youth team, and journalism teacher and producer Teresa Chin sat down together to come up with a lesson plan for how educators can facilitate a productive conversation about race, police and violence, grounded in a collection of stories created by Youth Radio’s reporters and commentators.Why A Socratic Seminar?

"In school, subjects are often taught through tests and lectures. In my experience, those formats don’t really help us better understand the main point of the matter. That’s why I wanted to structure these lesson ideas around the framework of a Socratic Seminar."If you've never done a Socratic Seminar before, here's a good resource from New Hanover County Schools (downloads as a word document). In addition to this guide, we've also put together some tips, reading materials and discussion questions that you can use for your class.- Tylyn Hardamon, Youth Radio Newsroom Youth Team
Before You Begin: Ground Rules and Acknowledgements
Here at Youth Radio, we’re big fans of ground rules. Allowing students and teachers to co-create the norms and guidelines for a class or a particularly sensitive discussion helps to foster a safer learning environment where everyone can participate productively. If you are thinking of doing a lesson plan on Michael Brown or other high profile cases, we highly recommend you set or revisit ground rules with your class.
This resource has some good advice for setting ground rules with a group, and includes sample ground rules for discussions and lectures. Our students at Youth Radio also weighed in on ground rules they thought would be particularly helpful for a discussion about race and profiling in a classroom setting:
Suggested Ground Rules
- One mic (one person talking at a time)
- Step up step back (try to create space for everyone to talk, try not to dominate the conversation)
- “Don’t yuck my yum” (No bashing)
- I vs. they/we (try not to generalize, recognize you are speaking from your perspective)
- The goal is not to agree, the goal is deepen your understanding of the issue
- Personal stories stay personal (what’s said in the room stays in the room)
- Listen to others (both by being present and by trying to avoid preconceived conclusions)
- Don’t assume
- assumptions like: everyone believes in the criminal justice system, someone’s cultural identity is X, someone can speak for all members of a certain race, etc.
- Acknowledge that this is an important yet emotional issue for many young people.
- Acknowledge that some of the teens in your class (or people they are close to) may have had been personally affected by racism and police brutality/profiling.
- Acknowledge that some of the teens in your class (or people they are close to) may have family members who are police officers or are involved in law enforcement.
- Acknowledge that while the shooting deaths of Michael Brown and others are important news events, that this discussion will also be informed by the history of race and class in America.
Insider Tips (From YR Teens and Teachers)

- What is Institutional/Systemic Racism? (The Center for Racial Justice Innovation)
- What is the protocol on use of deadly force? (The Washington Post)
- What is the protocol after a shooting by police? (The Washington Post)
- How does a Grand Jury work? (St. Louis Public Radio)
MORE TIPS FROM YR TEENS | MORE TIPS FROM YR TEACHERS | |
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Discussion Materials
You’ll want to select a rich and complex text as the basis for discussion during your Socratic Seminar. Youth Radio has created a hub for youth-produced coverage on Ferguson and Michael Brown’s death. Our teen reporters selected a few of these stories that resonated with them and paired each one with one or more suggested discussion questions.



Follow Up: Keep Youth Voices Going
After your Socratic Seminar, you may find that your students are interested in adding their voices to the media conversation around #BlackLivesMatter. Luckily, there are many ways beyond social media for teens to get involved. Consider having your students write a commentary (see our DIY Toolkit: How To Write A Commentary) and submit it to Youth Radio or their local radio station. Other options include writing an op-ed for a local paper, or submitting a letter to the editor. For more examples of youth coverage of Ferguson and #BlackLivesMatter, see more resources below.More Resources
There has been some great media coverage of Ferguson and the #BlackLivesMatter movement by other youth media organizations. Here are just a few highlights to check out:
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