The Kids Are FreeIntroduction Class Discussion

Source: VA Department of Education

Before we start our group discussions…

1.You will be working in your pods today.

2.Each of you need to have your laptops logged into the following websites:

•Padlet (everyone needs to login)

•Our Class Website: ushistoryisawesome.weebly.com

Go to: UNIT 2: Reconstruction > #1 Introduction Class Discussion

•Please Leave Schoology Open

Wait for further directions….

This morning, your parents told you that all children under 18 are now free of their parents.

You must leave your house immediately, and you may only take the clothes you are wearing and anything you have purchased with money earned from jobs you have done for other people.

Everything else, including any savings accounts in your name, belongs to your parents and will be sold or kept to pay them back for the cost of taking care of you.

Your parents have offered to allow you to stay, as long as you do chores and pay them rent each month.

1. What will you do? 2. What, if anything, should the government do to help you?

Directions: Small Group DiscussionsIn your pods, discuss the scenario and come up with a plan for how you would handle this situation.

Plus, as a group you have to decide if the government should help you. Make sure to explain your opinions and include ways you think the government should provide assistance.

Click on your pod’s Padlet link. Post your groups ideas and include images, videos, or website links to support your ideas. You can even record yourself explaining your plan directly into Padlet!

During our wrap-up, students will be given the opportunity to present and make connections to the Reconstruction Era.

WRAP-UP…class discussion activity:

1. Were there any groups in the United States during that time that might have found themselves in a similar situation?

2. Why were they similar?

3. How were they different?

GUIDING QUESTION: How does the idea of “The Kids Are Free” relate to the Reconstruction Era after the Civil War?

Prior Years Class Discussions

Class Brainstorm – Responses from B-day 3/4

• Work for less money at fast food restaurants (fast food workers might not be happy because jobs being threatened)

• Move away and start over• Government should give you a house• Government should give you a job and lower taxes• $20 rent to parents• Government should give you an education so you can apply

for the same job as parents/adults • Work for parents – work off the rent and cost of food• You are free, and should be treated with the same rights as

adults, therefore have the same responsibilities as adults• Government should not help because you have the choice of

staying home with parent, plus you could get a job• Give you a house, and you work for parents

Class Brainstorm – Responses from A-day 3/4

• The government should pay you $100 a week• Shelter for kids that feeds and educates children – buy your belongings at the shelter• If under 5 ft, government should provide transportation• Older people might feel that their jobs are threatened because you are offering to work

longer hours for less money• Government should buy clothing for you, food, and shelter• Kids should travel with groups of other kids for safety and to raise money• Government buys you a house, kids take a survey, group kids by interests• The government buys you cars, and allows you to drive• Government should provide education for all children• Don’t want to have to pay parents rent• Give you a recommendation for jobs• Parents can give a “boost” to help children start on the right foot• Government will pay for your food until you have a job and can pay for yourself• Kid’s should make their own “club” that talks about what they want to do in life and how

they are going to do it…”kid’s rights”

Class Brainstorm – Responses from B-day 7/8• Ask the government to revoke the law• Get as many kids as you could together to protest• Gather friends and pool money together to buy land; buy a few cheap tents and use the

resources from the land, find local work doing odd jobs• Sneak some of your belongings out of your parents house• Government should give you something to jumpstart a business, two pets of your choice, a

piece of land, and crossbow for hunting• Ask the government for “kid” jobs• Steal wallet from parents, get a job, buy a car, sleep in different locations, and be a

criminal mastermind on the loose• Offer to work for less money• Work somewhere until you have enough money to buy a computer, sell stuff online that

you bought from thrift shops, buy a bike for transportation • Might stay with parents for shelter, might lower the rent, work more chores in return