Common Core State Standard L.CCS.1/2/3/4 Grades 6-12: Video of a current news event is presented for discussion to encourage student participation, but also inspire the use of evidence to support logical claims using the main ideas of the video. Students must analyze background information provided about a current event, draw out the main ideas and key details, and review different opinions on the issue. Then, students should present their own claims using facts and analysis for support.
05/27/2024
Dangerous jobs: U.S. prisoners often work without basic protections
U.S. prisoners are being placed in dangerous jobs, sometimes with little or no training. They pick up trash along busy highways, fight wildfires, and operate heavy machinery. They work on industrial-sized farms, poultry and meat-processing plants tied to the supply chains of some of the world’s most iconic companies, from McDonald's to Walmart. But incarcerated workers and their families often have little or no recourse when they are hurt or killed on the job
■Class discussion: When a private company or government agency uses prisoners as laborers, should the prisoners be considered employees with the same health, safety and workers’ compensation rules as everyone else? When the United States abolished slavery, why did it specifically exempt prisoners? Americans are sometimes asked to boycott foreign goods made by prison labor. Should we boycott goods made by U.S. prisoners? Which nation imprisons the largest share of its people?