PROGRAM ASKS YOUTH “IS IT EVER JUSTIFIED TO TAKE AWAY INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS?”
In September and October 2009 the Go For Broke National Education Center conducted its first Teen Leadership Development Program sessions with 12th grade students from Los Angeles High School and James Lick High School in San Jose. Funded by the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, a program of the California State Library, 57 students participated in this bi-coastal effort, 27 in LA and 30 in San Jose.
The program's goal is to build youth leaders by using lessons taught through Japanese American history. Focusing on the essential question, Is it ever justified to take away individual rights for the good of the community?, students learned about the factors that Japanese Americans faced before they volunteered from incarceration camps to serve in the U.S. military. Through interactive activities, peer-to-peer presentations, research, journaling, meeting Japanese American WWII veterans, and a virtual tour of Manzanar, students learned about Japanese Americans who lived during WWII, particularly those from the Manzanar War Relocation Camp in California.
During the five-day program, students received an introductory course on Japanese American history, including: the impact of racism in the 1940s on the decision to confine Japanese Americans during WWII; changes in the protection of civil liberties during war time; the balance between national security and the rights of individuals protected by the Constitution; and Japanese American segregated military units. Additionally using GFBNEC's Volunteering From Camp interactive program, the students were educated about a family's decision to take or not take the Loyalty Oath. One of the highlights of the program was when students took a field trip to the Go For Broke Monument and met with Nisei WWII veterans.
The culmination of the program was the LA High students' presentation to their James Lick peers. Students were asked to relate their questions to contemporary issues such as Megan's Law and the Patriot Act. Using a virtual classroom model, LA High participants videotaped their presentations for the San Jose students, who in turn provided feedback to Los Angeles.
The next Teen Leadership Program, sponsored by Nissan, will be held in April 2010.
