biotic_psychotic: (serious left)
Jack ([personal profile] biotic_psychotic) wrote in [community profile] fandomhigh2018-12-30 11:42 pm
Entry tags:

Civics - Art of Civil Disobedience Monday 4th Period

Jack sat on the corner of her desk. Her feet didn’t touch the ground and one swung idly back and forth. She was waiting for the students to arrive. A new fresh batch of Gifted kids unlike any she’d worked with before.

This whole ‘nexus of realities’ island was a trip. Sometimes it was even a good trip, like now when she got to watch a new class file in and do the ‘seat where I can see everything but not in direct line of teacher fire’ choice. Her lips curved in a bit of a smirk.

Once the kids were seated she looked around the room and met their eyes in turn. Taking their measure.

"Listen up," she began, "My name is Jack. Not ‘Ms. Nought’, not ‘M’am’, not ‘Miss’. It’s not an attempt to be buddy-buddy or treat you like equals. We’re not equals. I’m the teacher, you’re the students. I don’t hold with any bull...crap; Jack is my name, that’s what you’ll use." Jack watched the students to see how they were taking that.

"How many of you know how to break the law?" she asked, "How many of you know when and why to break the law?" She didn't wait for an answer. She wanted them to think about it, not make them admit it in front of the class. Jack stood from the desk and moved to turn on a projector. "In this class, you’re going to learn the laws and you're going to learn when to break them and you’re going to learn why you might need to."

She met their eyes in turn again.

"And then? I’m going to show you how. Let's talk about the difference between laws and social justice to give you an overview."


The first slide read: What is Justice?
Justice, in a tradition going back to Aristotle, means treating individuals in accordance with their deserts. Justice has to do with the treatment of persons by other persons. The lion is not being unjust to the antelope in killing it. The lion is not a moral agent, and no right or wrong, no justice or injustice, is involved. Justice depends on desert, and desert is a matter of past performance, not of future possibilities. The grade a student deserves in a course depends upon his past record of achievement in the course. If a man deserves a punishment for a crime, it is because that person committed a crime in the past, not because (for example) it would be useful to punish him as a scapegoat; punishing the innocent is always unjust. Nor is it just to punish him because he might commit a crime in the future.

The second slide read: What are Laws?
The system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition of penalties. It has been defined both as "the Science of Justice" and "the Art of Justice". Law is a system that regulates and ensures that individuals or a community adhere to the will of the state. The adjudication of the law is generally divided into two main areas. Criminal law deals with conduct that is considered harmful to social order and in which the guilty party may be imprisoned or fined. Civil law deals with the resolution of lawsuits (disputes) between individuals or organizations and may also result in imprisonment or fines.

LAWS ARE NOT ALWAYS JUST.

The third slide read: What is Social Justice?
Social justice is justice that follows the principle that all individuals and groups are entitle to fair and impartial treatment. Social justice attempts to prevent person's rights abuses. Social justice is based on notions of equality and equal opportunity in society. It focuses on the full and equal participation of all citizens in economic, social and political aspects of the nation. Social justice derives its authority from the codes of morality in each culture and differs from culture to culture.

The fourth slide read: Problems occur when..
=> When laws are unjust.
=> When individuals and groups are not considered entitled to fair and impartial treatment.
=> When the governing code of conduct for a society outpaces outdated or antiquated laws.
=> When the system for changing a law is written in a manner that makes the changing of the law difficult or impossible.
=> When laws are written specifically to infringe on the rights of an individual or group.

Jack looked around the room again. "Let's discuss. I doubt any of you are from a world that has no laws, because any group big enough to become a society will end up making some. Give an example - one - of a law that doesn't meet the definition of social justice. If you come from somewhere all the laws are just, give an example of one and tell me why it meets the definition."

[Syllabus is here.]
axe2grind: (sideview)

Re: Slide 1 Discussion/questions

[personal profile] axe2grind 2019-01-02 09:36 pm (UTC)(link)
"What--?" Jack leaned forward to look at the little square in her hand, completely distracted even as he clutched the notes. "That's, I've heard of cameras, but I thought they were much bigger!"
chirpchirpchirp: (Profile)

Re: Slide 1 Discussion/questions

[personal profile] chirpchirpchirp 2019-01-02 09:49 pm (UTC)(link)
"Bigger?" Vette looked at her phone, and then up at Jack, blinking. "Oh, no way. They're super tiny. And this one doubles as a communication device. Do you not have a phone?"

She could get you a phone, Jack.

... Heck, she could make one for you, if she was bored enough.
axe2grind: (coldandblue)

Re: Slide 1 Discussion/questions

[personal profile] axe2grind 2019-01-02 09:51 pm (UTC)(link)
"A what?" Jack blinked at her again. "How can it communicate?" Some portions of Oz's technology were far behind others. Flying drones which took films, yes; telephones, no.
chirpchirpchirp: (Smile)

Re: Slide 1 Discussion/questions

[personal profile] chirpchirpchirp 2019-01-02 09:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Vette blinked. And then broke into a little grin. She got to teach her little sibling about comms? This was going to be fun.

"You can use this," she waved her phone around, "to contact anybody else who has one. I'll tell you what... pick a day, and I'll take you to get one, and I'll show you all the stuff it can do. It's a pretty useful little thing."
axe2grind: (worried)

Re: Slide 1 Discussion/questions

[personal profile] axe2grind 2019-01-02 10:19 pm (UTC)(link)
"I can just-- get one?" What about the money? And wouldn't someone have to be informed that he had one? "I-- I suppose tomorrow would work. But I haven't any money, you know."

At this rate, he was going to have to get a job. Even with free food and shelter, and minimal need for clothing.
chirpchirpchirp: (Look Over There)

Re: Slide 1 Discussion/questions

[personal profile] chirpchirpchirp 2019-01-02 10:35 pm (UTC)(link)
"They're easy to just get," Vette confirmed. "And don't worry about the money thing. I've got this one, you can... I don't know. Buy me lunch sometime to make up for it. You'll want one of these around here for sure, even if it's just for the reference material."

She was gonna teach him how to Google so fast.
axe2grind: (small smile)

Re: Slide 1 Discussion/questions

[personal profile] axe2grind 2019-01-02 11:03 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh. Thank you! All right, then." If they were comparatively cheap, that wouldn't be so bad, to pay back his Big Sib later. "Wait, what has that to do with reference material?"

Confusion: Population, Jack.
chirpchirpchirp: (Big Smile)

Re: Slide 1 Discussion/questions

[personal profile] chirpchirpchirp 2019-01-02 11:11 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh, you're going to love this part," Vette enthused. "Pick a topic, any topic."

Prepare to have your mind blown, Jack.

Or not, depending on your topic.
axe2grind: (Default)

Re: Slide 1 Discussion/questions

[personal profile] axe2grind 2019-01-02 11:15 pm (UTC)(link)
"Um, I, ah." Jack's mind went blank for a moment, then he picked something he knew well. "Axes. Or forestry. Either of those." He paused, watching curiously to see what she would do now.
chirpchirpchirp: (Default)

Re: Slide 1 Discussion/questions

[personal profile] chirpchirpchirp 2019-01-02 11:28 pm (UTC)(link)
"Axe is A-X...?" Vette paused for a moment, frowning a bit, and then hesitantly added, "E?"

Stupid silent letters were the worst and they should feel bad about their life choices. Especially since both options were right, depending on where you were at the time, and regional spellings were also jerks that really should re-evaluate what they were doing with themselves.

Either way, she was tapping those things into her Google search bar, and then making a big show of hitting the wikipedia link at the top of the page.

She held the phone up for Jack to inspect.
axe2grind: (earnest)

Re: Slide 1 Discussion/questions

[personal profile] axe2grind 2019-01-02 11:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Jack's jaw sloooowly dropped open without him even realizing it, because the words and pictures were flashing past on the glass surface so quickly, and then there it was: Axe, with the words running down and off the end of the little rectangle, probably to go on forever if the tiny type were any clue.

HOW DID SHE DO THAT. WHAT. WHERE? Jack's brain was nearly frozen with questions, and he finally settled on "Who...?!" getting out of his mouth first.
chirpchirpchirp: (Look Over There)

Re: Slide 1 Discussion/questions

[personal profile] chirpchirpchirp 2019-01-02 11:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Vette? Was absolutely smiling and giving a little bounce on her toes.

"I'll teach you all about how it works when you have your own," she promised. "You have to be careful when you use the search thing, because sometimes you can get some... pretty weird information. But for stuff like this? It's so good to have." She paused. "Actually..."

Why yes, she she was looking for some kind of Wikipedia app. Way safer than trusting Google to not scar the tiny baby new kid for life.
axe2grind: (small smile)

Re: Slide 1 Discussion/questions

[personal profile] axe2grind 2019-01-02 11:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Good call, Vette. Jack wasn't completely innocent, but there was no call to traumatize him with the weirder or more sinister parts of the Internet in his first week at Fandom.

"I didn't understand all of that, but I really, truly, want one of those communication devices now," Jack admitted, fingers itching. "It would have made my time in Ev so much easier to look things up that I didn't understand."

[ooc: and off I go to get my dinner, back in an hour!
chirpchirpchirp: (Profile)

Re: Slide 1 Discussion/questions

[personal profile] chirpchirpchirp 2019-01-03 12:01 am (UTC)(link)
Fortunately, he still had one hand that could actually interface with the phone, so they wouldn't have to mess around trying to find a stylus for him or anything!

"The language is my big stumbling block," Vette admitted. "I mean, I speak it just fine, but the alphabet is dumb."

She was never not going to think the alphabet was dumb. Sorry.

"But when I have time to just sit down and read, I can spend hours just following these encyclopedia entries around in circles."