Apr 11, 2007 8:20 am US/Pacific
Students Allegedly Took Holocaust Lesson Too Far
WAXAHACHIE, Texas (CBS) ―
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An estimated six million Jews were put to death by the Nazis. (File)
USHMM
It was supposed to be a hard lesson about the horrors of the Holocaust. But a nearly three-week school experiment is coming under fire for being too harsh.
Supporters say it provided a valuable lesson. But opponents say it went on far too long and over the edge.
The images and photographs of Jews huddled in concentration camps are unforgettable. An estimated six million were put to death by the Nazis.
Educators at a Waxahachie Ninth Grade Academy are trying to make sure the intolerance of the past is not forgotten in the future. But some parents and students say a school project went too far.
One parent, who did not want to be identified, has a child who participated in the three-week project. Anywhere from 50 to 100 9th-graders taking an advanced placement geography class were designated as Jews and made to wear a Star of David on their I. D. badge. Other students were designated as Germans.
Rumors circulated that some students had been spit on, pushed, kicked and tripped. The parent said that if the rumors were true, it was "totally uncalled for. It should not have been allowed to happen. If they would have stopped it sooner, it wouldn't have got to that point."
Of the program, the school's principal, John Aune, said students were "learning about the problems of intolerance and the problems of discrimination and helping kids understand what some people went through to change the world."
According to students and teachers, the assigned Jews were forced to stand against the wall as the German students passed by in the hallway. The Jewish students ate lunch last and had to pick up every one's garbage. But some students say things began to escalate.
"We made beating sticks to hit the kids with," said Texas Medley, a student at the school. "They were spit on. It was a good lesson but it went on too long."
"They would spit on them. They would push them down the stairs. They would be really rude," said student Tiffany Zimmerman. "I think it was too rough and over the edge. They took it too far."
"I think that some of the kids were kind of harsh, but it taught us a little bit about how it was back then," said student Trevor Smith.
Principal Aune says this is the 5th year Waxahachie Ninth Grade Academy has run the Jews and Germans school project. He says he is unaware of any incidents involving students spitting, pushing, or tripping each other.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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