Current Event for Week of 9/7/07
New York public school accused of radical Islamist agenda
A school in New York City has opened with the goal to "prepare students for college and successful careers" by focusing on the study of Arabic language and culture.
Many proponents of the school claim that it promotes diversity and understanding of the Arabic culture. Opponents of the school claim that it has ties to "Islamic Extremists" groups.
Read the article here.
After reading the article, do you think that the school is a good idea? Why or why not? What would be the benefits and harms of having a school like this? Would you ever attend a school that focused on a specific culture and language?
A school in New York City has opened with the goal to "prepare students for college and successful careers" by focusing on the study of Arabic language and culture.
Many proponents of the school claim that it promotes diversity and understanding of the Arabic culture. Opponents of the school claim that it has ties to "Islamic Extremists" groups.
Read the article here.
After reading the article, do you think that the school is a good idea? Why or why not? What would be the benefits and harms of having a school like this? Would you ever attend a school that focused on a specific culture and language?
posted by cldaily at 1:43 PM
3 Comments:
I think that the school would be a good idea as long as it doesn't try to change students religious, because if we don't allow a school to teach Arabic language then why allow schools to teach Spanish, French or even Japanese. The benefits of having a school like this is that its giving kids a chance to learn something new however the harm is that its singling out a specific language to learn instead of some schools where u have variety of languages to learn
I think that the people that are making a big deal about the school don't need to make the big deal out of it. If we are going to be dealing with people like this then we should learn more about them. That does not mean to try and make them believe in everything about the islamic culture but its no different then how we are trying to learn spanish because we deal with so many mexicans and such. This language and the understanding of their culture may be very important for the future if we continue to be so involved in the middle east. I think as long as the school is not shoving islamic culture and religion down the kids throats it will be of no harm to learn about it.
I think that the school is a great idea. I think that America is uneducated and sometimes ignorant to other cultures around the world. People don't protest other foreign languges being taught in school such as, Spanish, French, German, or Japanese so why should Arabic be any different? It makes me wonder if 9/11 has anything to do with people's opinions? I think our generation needs to become more open-minded to the cultures of the rest of the world. There's a lot more than just America out there. It may sound like a simple concept, but I think also it's important to understand that just because a person speaks Arabic, doesn't mean they're Islamic extremsts. I think the school is a great idea and an exellent way to learn about other cultures.
Post a Comment
<< Home