State looks to survey kids on efficacy of genocide education

Wareham High School students took a deep dive into some of the most brutal genocides in history. Kids examined the events of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, looked at the Holocaust and turned their attention towards what is happening in Ukraine.

Through a $28,000 state grant the school received last year, the high school started a new class focusing on genocide and racism and incorporated genocide education into the preexisting history and English classes. The curriculum taught kids about different genocides from around the world and now the state wants to survey kids on the efficacy of the curriculum.

Wareham High School Principal Scott Palladino presented the idea to the School Committee at their March 20 meeting where they approved the survey.

With that money, the school was able to write and purchase curriculum as well as organize enriching field trips.

"It allowed us to bring a lot of students to the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C.," Palladino said.

Palladino said the class was born out of student interest in the topic and it has run twice. The grant is now expired and the state wants to conduct a survey with about 10 students to see how effective the genocide education was.

The survey itself would be in the form of an open ended discussion where a representative from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education would ask a group of students questions. Palladino said he would be in the room observing the discussion as it was happening.

School Committee members raised some concerns over the specific questions, saying kids would not be inclined to answer them honestly because the topics are difficult to talk about it and the questions are too broad. Member Geoffrey Swett cited one question on the survey as an example of this.

"Describe changes in your feelings about people who are different from you," Sweat said.

But member Apryl Rossi said she thinks the experience would help prepare kids for college.

"If you're trying to prepare a student for college where they will have these kinds of open discussions, I think it's beneficial to anyone who would participate in it," Rossi said. "Everyone's going to have a different way of looking at things but to come at it in a collaborative way will prepare them for college."

Students have the option to opt in or out of taking the survey and while it was approved by the committee, enough kids need to sign up for it to be held.

The results of the survey are anonymous and the state would use the data they collect from this survey to measure the efficacy of genocide education.