Tasered

CNN is running a story entitled, "Woman Says She Didn't Deserve Taser Treatment." The article states, "Video footage from the police cruiser shows Gill, 38, crawling on the ground while the officer stands over her with the stun gun. She's screaming wildly. At one point, officer Rich Kovach shoves her with his foot as she struggles." It reports, "In the video, Gill, once inside the police car, kicks the back-seat window and continues to scream. 'At this point, I had been Tased for so long and just drug around by my handcuffs. I was terrified of this man. He was no longer a police officer to me.'"

Read the Article!!

Discussion-Starters for Young Children

• Have your students ever thrown a fit? Why did they throw a fit? Have they ever seen somebody else throw a fit? What's the best way to prevent yourself from throwing a fit? What's the best way to stop somebody when he/she throws a fit?
• Consider teaching students to count to ten when they get upset. Encourage students to use this strategy the next time they become frustrated.
  
• Do your students think that it's OK for a non-parent to hit a child? Why/why not? Why might a parent spank a child? Is it ever appropriate for a child to hit another child? Why/why not? Is it ever appropriate for a child to hit an adult? Why/why not?
  
• Consider asking students to develop skits that show how somebody might respond to somebody else who makes them mad, instead of hitting them.
  
• Do your students know what electricity is? What is it? Why might students get hurt if they touch an outlet? Why might they even be more likely to get hurt if they touch an outlet with a wet hand? What else can students think of that might be dangerous to touch
• Students could make signs warning others not to touch electric currents. Post these signs around the school.
• Have your students ever had an argument with somebody else as to who did something first? Perhaps, they've argued with somebody over who sat in a specific chair first. When students argue over such a situation is it possible that both students think they are telling the truth? Why/why not?
  
• Consider asking students to identify situations in which two people say that different things occurred when only one thing could have occurred.
  

Discussion Starters for Older Students

• Vocabulary terms to discuss: Stun; Administrative; Deploy; and, Nonlethal.
• Ask students to imagine that they are investigating the situation described in this article. What questions would they ask as they attempt to determine whether or not the officer should have used his taser as many times as he did? To whom would they want to ask these questions? Encourage them to justify their answers.
  
• Consider challenging students to write these questions in groups of three or four. Students might even try and cull a first hand account of the incident. How might they successfully accomplish this objective?
  
• Do your students think that police officers should have the right to physically hurt somebody who is neither physically hurting somebody else nor threatening to hurt somebody else in an effort to bring them to jail? Why/why not?
  
• Consider challenging students to argue the side of this question with which they do not originally agree. They might write persuasive arguments. Encourage them to incorporate core democratic values.
  
• Do your students think that the bar has a vested interest in how this case turns out? Why/why not? Ask students to respond to the following statement: "The bar should not care how this case turns out as long as they have paying customers."
  
• These questions might prompt an interesting class discussion.