Terrorism: A War Without Borders

Social Studies Review, Fall 2003 by Roehl, Jessica Ann

Terrorism: A War Without Borders Bureau of Public Affairs United States Department of State

"September 11, 2001. The attacks on America shocked us as never before. We were the victims, and terrorism became a gruesome reality. People all over the world shared our horror and grief." A beautiful blue sky is tainted as a jet slams into a skyscraper. Onlookers gasp. The story of terrorism unfolds. Students will know the pictures well, but what they may not know, is the history of terrorism and its regime relentless in its prowl.

"Terrorism: A War Without Borders" is an intense and energetic publication for high school students tracing the history of terrorism and exposing roots of the rotten tree. A tree we recently witnessed devastate so much in America. Never did we hold such contempt for the word terrorism. Never had we seen something quite like the destruction of September 11th The United States Department of State, in collaboration with a special committee of social studies educators, has produced an instructional package (video and curriculum materials) drawing students' attention to the reality and effects of terrorism on our soil and around the world.

The Pre-Video Activities involve using prior knowledge to explain terrorism. The students begin the unit by critically thinking about the opinions that surrounding the issue.

After viewing the video, the Video Activities are designed to better develop knowledge of global terrorism. The video gives visual representation to harrowing events readily associated with terrorism such as the Reign of Terror in France (1793), Israeli athletes taken hostage in Munich, Germany (1979), and Pan Am flight 103 being bombed over Lockerbie, Scotland (1988), to name a few.

The subsequent questions can also help to assess and develop auditory skills. Facts are relayed in simple sentences with appropriate and correlating pictures. Following, are various questions as to the what and why of specific terrorist attacks, their goals, and purposes.

Map Activities not only utilize general map skills, but integrate internet and print resources in exploring cause and effect relationships within those locations. One great activity that it provides has the students identify the "home base" of a terrorist organization and the locations of the attack(s) associated with that organization. What follows is discussion on how the locations are related, can a pattern be identified, and what conclusions can be drawn.

The lesson on Defining Terrorism compels students to identify the differing definitions of terrorism. A graphic organizer is provided in which students align different agencies with their definition of terrorism. Finally, the students create their own definition derived from what they have read and discussed.

Cooperative & Differentiated Learning Activities address a broader association with the many terrorist attacks across the ages. Students' worldview will undoubtedly change as they learn of the prevalence and effects of terrorist incidents. The graphic organizer is wonderful. It asks the students to identify the who, what, where, etc., of events and then forces them to really consider how the event affected geography, economy, politics, culture and global connections. It's a great opportunity to show how history impacts on aspects of life.

To wrap the unit up, the authors have provided a Research unit addressing specified freedom fighters and terrorists groups, assessing the viability of each group's behavior. A step-by-step process is provided with prompting questions for research. The students are to identify the specified groups' attributes in size, leadership, membership composition, organizational structure, ideological background, targets, methods, goals, etc. These topics give high school students many things to think about and consider in regards to the history of terrorism and its possible future. I know I would have been excited to do a research project like this over the many dull ones I had to do in high school. These issues touch and affect who we are. I would expect impressive things to be produced as a result of this research unit.

The materials complement a host of Social Studies and Language Arts subjects. Integration between Language Arts and History is advantageous in its holistic ap proach to education. As the social and global issues addressed in this curriculum are pertinent to both History/ Social Studies and English/Language Arts curriculum, I believe it would be a constructive supplement providing alliance between these studies.

It has potential to be an exciting and thorough means of assessment for many of the skills targeted in Language Arts and Social Studies for grades 8-12; oral communication, auditory comprehension, critical thinking and analyzing, identifying patterns in history, mapping, writing and composition, comparing and contrasting, defining a dynamic concept, organization of thought, Web-based research, and oral presentation.

In the Language Arts circuit, the video and related questions raise hot topics and sticky issues the students may not otherwise be willing to or have the opportunity to discuss. Yet these issues are very much on their minds. The discussions and considerations naturally stemming from these exercises lay the foundation for challenging writing assignments; an exposition on terrorism presented from the antagonist's point of view, an editorial on what should be done to resolve the issue of terrorism, or a narrative on a personal experience with terrorism.