see http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/moving-the-movement-analyzing-the-future-of-occupy-wall-street/?scp=1&sq=teach%20occupy%20wall%20street&st=cse
Explain to the class that you will read aloud five statements. Upon hearing the first statement, they should mark the box that best represents both how much they agree or disagree about the movement’s main goals (the columns) and the extent to which they support or oppose the methods that have been used by the protesters (the rows).
They should mark each box with the number of the statement they are responding to. After they have marked a box, they should jot down some notes about why they chose the boxes that they did. Continue the process through the remaining statements.
The statements are as follows:
1. Income inequality has contributed to the country’s problems.
2. Congress has contributed to the country’s problems.
3. The White House has contributed to the country’s problems.
4. Large banks have contributed to the country’s problems.
5. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have contributed to the country’s problems.
1. Income inequality has contributed to the country’s problems.
2. Congress has contributed to the country’s problems.
3. The White House has contributed to the country’s problems.
4. Large banks have contributed to the country’s problems.
5. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have contributed to the country’s problems.
After the exercise is over, have students write about their choices in their journals, or discuss as a class, using the following questions: Which boxes did you find yourself going to most often? Why might that be? How would you summarize your stance on the Occupy Wall Street Movement at this point? Why do you feel that way? What do you need to know or understand in order to solidify your views one way or the other?
Update | Nov. 16: We now have a Student Opinion question that we will leave open to which you can invite your students to post: Do You Sympathize With the Occupy Wall Street Movement?
Students 13 and older are invited to comment below. Please use only yourfirst name. For privacy policy reasons, we will not publish student comments that include a last name.
- I personally believe that in order to maintain the peace and security of the constitution while simultaneously limiting the scope of the Federal Government, the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators are going to need to make one thing clear- that the Federal Government is Wall Street. How is it that we can begin to see Main Street growing like a dream that no part of the American political dichotomy could refuse? Restructure taxes for minimum-wage earning individuals and small businesses. Don’t tax the rich either, just give them no incentive to climb the corporate ladder and kick it out from under them so that no one else aspire. Shop locally. Join the debate that is surfacing instead of sitting behind a computer. The secret is out, Occupy Wall Street is starting to become a beacon of light for all of us, the 99%.— Shane B
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I am a 17-year-old senior at Stuyvesant High School in Lower Manhattan, and I was arrested for “Disorderly Conduct” along with sixty other protesters on the second Saturday of Occupy Wall Street. As far as I know, I was one of the only minors to have been placed under police custody, and I spent 6 and a half hours in jail for following police orders and exercising my right to peacefully assemble and speak freely.I feel that the overall grievances of the movement are pretty clear and stem from the fact that the answer to each of those “5 Points” is “Yes.”Using GNI coefficient as a measure of income inequality, our wealth disparity is now worse than Pakistan, equivalent to that of the 20′s gilded age, and getting worse every day.Congress’s wealth increased over 16% since the recession began, and over half of them are millionaires compared to less than a percentage point overall in the nation. They use inside trading to further their goals, and serve the monied interests who paid for their campaigns and lobby them, rather than their constituents – watering down Dodd-Frank to near ineffectiveness, stalling progressive tax reform, etc.You couldn’t find a greater Obama supporter than me, 3 years ago. But now it’s clear to me that, sadly, he is a slightly attenuated version of more of the same. He has gotten more money from Wall St than all the Big Banks combined. He has not been free with information, has imprisoned and killed American citizens without trial and, when he had a supermajority in Congress, chose to funnel money to special interests in healthcare and education rather than actually spend on our crumbling infrastructure.And Large Banks? God. They took toxic mortgage assets, bet on them 45-1, basically creating 45 imaginary dollars out of 1 real dollar, sold them to customers while shorting them themselves, barely held any ACTUAL capital, used this all to make short term profits, and then when the entire economy crashed because they bet so heavily on such toxic assets, they asked US for a bail out, and then lobbied vehemently against all reform that would’ve actually assured most of this would not happen again. They own our government. Wall ST is Washington. They are both at fault.And finally: the trillion dollars spent on both wars at this point hasn’t helped our deficit, but we’ve also overstayed our welcome, drone-attacked hundreds of innocent civilians and caused hundreds of thousands of Iraqi deaths. Missionaries shouldn’t be carrying guns. Saying we were there for democracy or nukes is a farce. We were in Iraq for oil. And we should’ve gotten out of Afghanistan long ago.So these are all the things that have lead me to get to the streets and protest with my fellow patriots. This movement has already lead to some huge changes in the national conversation – switching it from the deficit to income inequality, corruption and jobs – along with tangible ones – BoA’s ended debit-card fee, Seattle’s movement of most of its money from big banks to Credit Unions, the exposition of the militarization of many police forces, etc.If I had a chance, I would do the same things over again. Getting arrested was terrible and dehumanizing, but I am proud of what I was dragged off in cuffs for: the future of my country, an end to the government-corporation cuddle-puddle and a better functioning democracy for myself and my future children.I urge all students to get involved. Your college debt will/is padding our government coffers. You will be forced into minimum-wage jobs even with the highest degrees and effort. You will find it difficult to get health insurance and will live in a country where your representatives represent their cherry-picked crony-capitalists, NOT YOU.This is YOUR fight. We cannot wait.Students are the 99%.All day. All week. Occupy Wall Street.— Benjamin
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I stand for the position that I would do something but I would not protest since i am only 15. I think that all students should be involved but up to a point, maybe a letter but not sitting out there sleeping. I think that everyone needs pay taxes whether they are wealthy or poor. They protesters have every right to do what they are doing and I support them but would not go with them outside.— sam s.
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The protest is only effective for so long. I agree with the fine statements that were listed because Government should be involved with the country’s problems.— MacKenzie Cote
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In my opinion there is no real use to this protest. this protest has no real use if you want some thing take it don’t just stand there and and hold up signs, take a stand and fight if you want some thing. this in all is useless— MarleyC
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I feel that the five statements are generally true by saying that basically the government, at whole, has contributed greatly to the countries problems. I don’t sympathize at all with the grievances of the movement because some protesters don’t even know what they are protesting for. After a while, the whole movement is going to reduce the amount of progress being made to fix the problems. I have seen the Wall Street aspect before, but have never gotten involved.— Chase L.
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Wall street is our central financial bank, basically the run-off for the national government.Personally, I disagree that the protests being brought through wall street are not necessary.Although there are high-unemployment rates and loss of jobs are crucial, the protests are not allowing people to get jobs. Anyway, people are wasting their time with these protests, going against the National Bank of America.The only way to achieve more jobs, is through supporting our government, and taking a stand for our troops and such.-Blaise— Blaise D
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My opinion is the So these are all the things that have lead me to get to the streets and protest with my fellow patriots. This movement has already lead to some huge changes in the national conversation – switching it from the deficit to income inequality, corruption and jobs – along with tangible ones – BoA’s ended debit-card fee, Seattle’s movement of most of its money from big banks to Credit Unions, the exposition of the militarization of many police forces, etc.— brayan g
I the urge the all students to get involved. -
I think that there are many problems with this protest. What do they think this will accomplish. I don’t think that they are getting there grievances across. I wasn’t apart of what happened. I just heard about this now i don’t think the protesters really understand what they are doing.— Josh H.
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My opinion is that people have a right to protest. But protesting wont help our financial troubles, it could make it wost.— Michaela B.
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I agree with the 5 sentances above but Protesters actions were a-little over the top. I dont sympathize with the protestors, because insted of wasteing time protesting the people could use thier time to be proactive; going out and getting jobs, writeing letters, talking to authority, ect. to try and fix the problem instead of crying about it.— Annalise Roy
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I have trouble feeling bad for the protesters mostly because in the time they have spent protesting, they could be out job searching. Another reason is that by “occupying” Wall Street you are just slowing down any progress when it comes to rebuilding the economy. Also they have gotten their message out but have achieved nothing.— marty
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I honestly do not know what to think about this. I feel as though some of the reasons contribute to the countries problems, like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the government was made to benefit all people, and some people have different views so the government can make everyone happy, which can contribute to the countries problems too. I have seen some protesters where I live protesting but instead of “Occupy Wall Street” it was “Occupy Where ever”… I do not think that protesting is helping at all. There is a better way to go about this problem, like a petition or maybe making a group that addresses the problem.— Tristan M
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Think about your own response to those five statements, as well as how you feel about the methods used by the Occupy Wall Street protesters. Where would you put yourself?
That is, how much do you sympathize with the overall grievances of the movement? Why? How do you feel about how they have gotten those grievances across, whether in New York City or in other places where the movement has spread? Have you seen or gotten involved in any aspect of Occupy Wall Street yourself? How? What was your experience like? What predictions can you make about this movement’s future? Why?I feel as though I do not sympathize with the occupy wall street members. I do not intend to participate what so ever. I believe this movement will not last at all, even now it is hard to believe that these acts have not been put to rest yet. I feel as though they have no back bone to their argument and are only digging themselves a deeper hole in society. Making us view the protesters even more poorly.— Chad M -
I have some mixed feelings about the Occupy Wall Street movement. On the one hand, I agree that things may need to be changed and that they only way they may be taken care of is if people stand up for it and for what they believe in. If they don’t I don’t think much will change. However, I’ve heard of a few people taking some drastic actions. And that is what I don’t agree with. I think if the government was to take this protest seriously, people need to make their point in a more respective way.— Rachael D.
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Personally, I have no interest in the occupy wall street movement. I am aware that i should be more involved or interested in current events and the problems our country is currently facing, however I am only in high school and I concern myself with other things. I believe that at this age most students judge politics and our country based on their parents views. I definitely do not sympathize with the movement and believe that if citizens have a problem they should work to help out our country and make a difference; where as this movement isn’t going to achieve anything but turmoil. I would have to agree with the listed statements concerning problems faced by the U.S.A. but those are issues that I have to have trust in our government to address and solve.— Cece
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Think about your own response to those five statements, as well as how you feel about the methods used by the Occupy Wall Street protesters. That is, how much do you sympathize with the overall grievances of the movement? Why? How do you feel about how they have gotten those grievances across, whether in New York City or in other places where the movement has spread? Have you seen or gotten involved in any aspect of Occupy Wall Street yourself? How? What was your experience like? What predictions can you make about this movement’s future? Why?— Lily B.
To be painfully honest, I have no knowledge about the Occupy Wall street movement what so ever. My step-father gives his praise to the people of our generation for it. He is impressed about how far people are willing to go to ensure that the country solves it’s many before stated problems. Perhaps as a nation we’re too demanding. There will be problems and there will be people to blame. Though how much of that can we change before we start to diminish our necessities? How much can we change until the nation of change falls to it’s knees from an overbearing population? -
The OWS (Occupy Wallstreet) movement has been the buz of attention in the media recently. People portray them as crazy people who are camping out in tents in local parks protesting sbout what is being done in our country.— joe p^2
I agree with the statement s in this article but I do not agree with OWS. At first the OWS movement really hit home for a lot of people, including me, but now that i begin to understand things a little more, it’s come to my attention that tthe OWS really has no plan. All they do is talk about how the “1%” is ruining the country. That’s all they seem to go on about. he Occupy Wallstreet movement needs leadership and a plan. Right now all those people camping out in cities around the country aren’t organized. They need a plan before they expect the support of the general public.
So I do agree with what is being said and I do think we need to take control of the goverment and show them they aren’t doing a very good job but I don’t have much sympathy for the OWS movement. People compare them to the protesters of the vietnam war and fight for civil rights but those people had an agenda and knew what they were doing. It just doesn’t seem to me thta the people down in New York (and other places) seem to know what exactly they want. -
On a personal level, I do not believe that the 5 statements are true, and that all the problems are rooted in the “evil” government. The protesters that seem to believe that stealing from the rich and giving to the poor seem to forget one thing: the rich stimulate the economy. The common belief that they state that the rich are stealing this money from others with unequal job opportunities is falsified. In my opinion, the protesters should disband, as they themselves do nothing by protesting, only cluttering the minds of others with their false information that the government has wronged the people.— Ethan
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I do not agree with the Occupy Wall Street movement, and although I do believe that the wars have contributed to the debt of nation is in, I think that the government is doing the best they can to help us out. It is not the middle class peoples fault that some people don’t go to college and therefore cannot get a high income, it is their fault. A lot of what is happening is based on what individuals do, and what they are doing now does not help the government. By protesting, they are putting a lot of extra stress on the politicians that have enough stress worrying about the economy now. The only way this economic crisis will be resolved is if people work with the government and not against it.— Mike
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I agree with the five sentences listed above, but I do not agree with the Occupy Wall Street movement. The protesters are wasting their time complaining about how our government works instead of helping themselves move up in the world. They are angry, and I can understand that, but they are going about this issue the wrong way. There is no reason to become violent with police officers who are just doing their jobs. In my opinion the protesters should just go home, find jobs, and stop complaining about everything.— Abby P.
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Let me start by saying that I pretty much live in my basement and I don’t really know what the occupy wall street movement is all about. I don’t believe that income equability has done anything major because those of us who work harder get paid more money (in most cases) and those of us who put in less work get paid less and are not as profitable but if we were all paid the same there would be no reward or punishment for hard work or laziness. If we say congress has contributed to the problem we are really blaming herself because you have to remember who elected congress. I do honestly believe that the white house is doing a fine job in running our country that being said I would like to see a few changes but I am sure that they have a good reason for what they are or aren’t doing.— Nathan W
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In my personal opinion, I believe that the people occupying Wall Street are wasting their time. From what I have previously heard about the topic, the protesters are unemployed and while I understand that they do not agree with everything like the government and the banks, their time would be better spent looking for jobs so they actually have an income. Also, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have contributed to the country’s problems, but no one could predict the amount of time the U.S. military would spend there and now President Obama is doing the best he can to withdraw troops from the Middle East, but it includes spending money the U.S. doesn’t have. I think that the protest will not last much longer because it is the middle of November and the weather is getting colder, so the protesters will want to go home.— Meghan
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I very much agree with the five sentences, but sometimes the protesters go a little too overboard. They start a riot destroying the city, which makes bigger problems since they have to rebuild all those buildings. Don’t destroy, but build. I think that if people really want to a better government and economy, they should peacefully protest. The more violent the protesters get, the worse the problem becomes. Of course the grievances are getting worse because the U.S. gov. can’t get a new way to build a better economy. But the people should also help in the process. I have not protested in the Occupy Wall Street Protest and I don’t plan to do so. The future of the Occupy Wall Street Protest depends on a better government and economy.— Chanha
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of cousre i do sympathize with the occupy wall street movement. those people, who are striking by wall street for many days so far, have a problem which schould be solved. i think wall street works only for the rich people who compose 5% of the Americans instead the 95% of the rest. wall street has looted money which it makes a big gab between the aristocrat-class and the middle-class. i support those people to keep protesting and do not give up till they take their rights because when the law-makers decide to increase taxes on the middle-class they don’t mind and even they got beatten if they do mind. on the contrary if the rich people in this position they refuse right away and they send cops to crackdown people which is not fair. rich people must pay for the poor ones because they do have surplus of money, while the poor struggle just to survive and pay the bills.— youssef 3D
