Have you ever played the game where you have to choose who you would save if your boat was going down? Maybe it was a plane, or a burning house. Well, a Tampa, FL middle school teacher at Don G. Giunta Middle School, thought that a “Lifeboat” activity based on the same premise would be good curriculum. It seems the teacher missed the mark, as many of the students found the test to be racist and upsetting. So much so, some students refused to participate.
The full assignment, titled Lifeboat Activity!, read like this:
The following 15 people are on a yacht (a fancy boat). The yacht developed a leak and is sinking fast. There is only one lifeboat and only 9 people will fit. Not one more can fit and there are no more life boats or life jackets.
You must come to an agreement as to which 9 people you will save. You must also! List the people in order of importance, because if they run out of food and water the less important people will have to be dumped overboard.
You will have ____ minutes to complete this activity.
Bonus: You will get bonus points if you write in complete sentences why you chose those people for the lifeboat.
**EVERYONE must contribute BUT ONLY ONE PERSON CAN TALK AT A TIME NO EXCEPTIONS!**
These are your people…
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A pregnant woman
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An ex-convict
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A guy doctor
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A girl doctor
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A black guy
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A white guy
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An Hispanic woman
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A minister
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Donald Trump
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Mr. Hagerman
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Mr. BoBo
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A Rabbi
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Barack Obama
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Justin Bieber
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A police officer
Are you kidding me? The teacher is not only asking them to pick between the “white guy” and the “black guy,” but a “guy doctor” and a “girl doctor.” That’s even before they get to Donald Trump and Barack Obama. I guess the teacher thought adding Justin Bieber would seem more appealing to middle school children. I’m sure you can find the other disturbing choices the kids would have to make.
After finding out about this assignment, parent Valerie Kennel was not happy. She told WFLA Channel 8 out of Tampa:
“It’s racist, in every form. It has nothing to do with history. Nothing to do with it, and what is it teaching them?” She went on to say, “Who do you pick? Why is one person better than the other? Why do some get left out? …She’s 11, how is she supposed to pick people based off of what they’re saying? Like to her, everybody matters, everybody should have a chance.”
In regards to the assignment being upsetting, Valerie’s daughter, Leah, had this to say:
“I got kind of upset about it, and everybody else in the classroom was like, “Wow, this is racist, this is racist.”
In defense of the assignment, Stephanie Baxter-Jenkins of the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association said:
“So I understand it makes people feel uncomfortable, but that is one of the educational points of doing it, and in a world where we want our kids to gain key critical thinking skills, this is one of the ways in which we do that.”
After that explanation, I truly hope I never end up in a life or death situation with these people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9CR192-2zg
