Turning the Capitol siege into a teachable moment

+ how 99 big thinkers imagine life after COVID-19 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Have you been finding it hard to understand how a violent mob barged into the Capitol and disrupted Congress? Imagine trying to explain Wednesday’s events to a class of children or teens.

But when we asked six experts on issues ranging from pediatric bereavement to philosophy, they all agreed that K-12 teachers should delve into this hot topic. “Even with younger students, I don’t believe educators should shy away from the fact that some people violated not just social norms but their professional, political and moral duties,” writes Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, a Tufts University civics scholar. Teachers should also explain why the riot could “threaten the health of our republic,” she writes.

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Emily Schwartz Greco

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Turning the Capitol siege into a teachable moment

How should schools teach kids about what happened at the US Capitol on Jan. 6? We asked 6 education experts

Education

Through her divisive rhetoric, Education Secretary DeVos leaves a troubled legacy of her own

Arts + Culture

I spoke to 99 big thinkers about what our ‘world after coronavirus’ might look like – this is what I learned

Ethics + Religion

How self-proclaimed ‘prophets’ from a growing Christian movement provided religious motivation for the Jan. 6 events at the US Capitol

Politics/Election '20

Big Tech’s rejection of Parler shuts down a site favored by Trump supporters – and used by participants in the US Capitol insurrection

Biden plans to fight climate change in a way no U.S. president has done before

Executions don’t deter murder, despite the Trump administration’s push

A brief history of the term ‘president-elect’ in the United States

Environment + Energy

Two-thirds of Earth’s land is on pace to lose water as the climate warms – that’s a problem for people, crops and forests

Science + Technology

Apollo landers, Neil Armstrong’s bootprint and other human artifacts on Moon officially protected by new US law

How does Wi-Fi work? An electrical engineer explains

Some kindergartners are more likely later to be heavy users of online tech, according to new research

From our international editions

The U.S. Capitol raid was a failed self-coup previously seen in dying regimes

Finds in Tanzania’s Olduvai Gorge reveal how ancient humans adapted to change

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