Ten Christian missionaries have been arrested in Haiti and are facing trial, possibly in the US, after trying to take dozens of children who survived the earthquake into the Dominican Republic. The group from the charity New Life Children's Refuge, linked to a Baptist church in Idaho, apparently had no official documents or permissions.
Reports suggest that the children were distressed and did not know where they were going. Many were said not to be orphans. Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive described the group as kidnappers. A group spokesperson denied the charge, telling reporters that their motives were to give children affected by the tragedy a new life. One of the key tasks facing authorities and aid agencies in Haiti is to reunite relatives separated in the chaos and confusion following the earthquake.
Discussion ideas
> Discuss the importance of laws that protect vulnerable people, including children. What would students reply to someone who thinks such laws are less important after a disaster? What would be the response if someone tried to take a busload of children across a border in the US or Europe? Is it poverty, or some other reason, that made the group think it would be acceptable? Talk about how to recognise the difference between naive people who want to help and criminal child traffickers. Giving people a new life usually means destroying their old one. Are outsiders able to make judgements about that?
> Discuss the challenges of reuniting families. Have students ever been separated in large crowds? Without a mobile phone, how would they contact relatives after an emergency such as an earthquake? Discuss how destroyed homes and public buildings, wide dispersal of people out of the city, and the gathering of people in emergency camps adds to the problems. Aid agencies have been using megaphones and radio broadcasts to encourage people to register on a tracing website. What other tracing techniques can students think of? Talk about the personal distress of separated people. What is it like waiting for news?
More resources
Use our assembly ideas and classroom activities about the earthquake in Haiti.
Invite students to find out more about emergency adoption with this quick activity.
Sir Terry Pratchett has called for assisted-death tribunals to be set up to grant people legal permission to end their lives when they choose. The best-selling novelist, who has a form of dementia, used the Richard Dimbleby Lecture to argue that such tribunals would give comfort to those suffering life-threatening illnesses. They would also, he said, protect members of the medical profession.
Last month a jury found Kay Gilderdale not guilty of the attempted murder of her 31-year-old seriously-ill daughter in a case which the judge said should never have come to court. Gilderdale had previously pleaded guilty to assisting her daughter's suicide. Earlier a mother who injected her brain-damaged son with a lethal dose of heroin was found guilty of murder by a court. Frances Inglis was jailed for life, with a minimum term of nine years.
Discussion ideas
> Discuss the argument that if suicide is legal, helping someone to end their life should also be legal. What practical problems do students think might arise? What safeguards would they like to ensure that suicide was really a person's free choice. Some people argue that the cases of the two mothers show that the law is confused. Do students agree, or can they see a difference between assisted suicide and murder? The judge in the Inglis case said there is no such thing in law as "mercy killing". Discuss how someone can act in a way that is caring and compassionate and also be a murderer.
> Sir Terry Pratchett has said that if he knew he could die at any time he wanted, his life would become more precious. "If I knew that I could die, I would live." Discuss what he might mean by this. Would society be improved if death was spoken about more openly, with the option to plan it in advance? Discuss people's fears of long drawn-out suffering at the end of life. What other options to reduce suffering could be available? Discuss terminally patients who do not want their death hastened. How can their rights be protected?
Senior members of the government, including ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair, have been questioned at public hearings of the inquiry into the Iraq conflict. The inquiry, chaired by Sir John Chilcot, began work last autumn and is expected to continue until the summer. It has also heard from military chiefs and legal advisers to the government.
The inquiry's task is to examine the UK's involvement in the Iraq conflict, including the way decisions were made and actions taken. It will try to establish as accurately as possible what happened, and to identify the lessons to be learned. Much of the press interest has centred on attitudes to the legality of the war, even though the inquiry is not a court of law and no one is on trial. The inquiry's report will be debated by parliament.
Discussion ideas
> Talk about the value of public inquiries into the way grave decisions are made. What lessons are learned by looking back? How important is it that the Iraq inquiry evidence and statements are openly available? Do decision makers behave differently if they think they may have to explain themselves in public? Talk about how soldiers involved in the conflict and their families might view the inquiry. Why did the inquiry begin only when combat troops had left Iraq?
> In general, the use of force is illegal under the UN charter, with important exceptions in the case of self-defence or where authorisation is given by the UN Security Council. However the laws of war focus on reducing suffering in war, not the reasons why wars begin. Discuss why this might be. How would identifying those who started conflicts be helpful, and how might it be unhelpful? Could it interfere with humanitarian processes or with restoring peace? The international community has been trying for years to agree what the war crime of aggression – the unauthorised use of force – might be and how to deal with it in a court. It hasn't succeeded yet. Invite students to say why it is so difficult.
England football captain John Terry's extra-marital affair has been widely reported following the lifting of a court injunction which he had obtained against the News of the World. The future England career of the player is said to be uncertain, with calls for him to be sacked or stripped of his captaincy.
The High Court injunction to prevent publication had been based on Terry's right to a private and family life, which is protected under the Human Rights Act. Lifting the injunction, Mr Justice Tugendhat said the affair was already widely known by people involved in football. He also suggested that John Terry's real concern was for his business interests, for which he could recover damages if a court later found his right to privacy had been breached.
Discussion ideas
> How do students react to hearing about footballers and their personal relationships? Do students think sports celebrities should show a good example to their fans? How influential are they in helping people decide what is right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable? Discuss other sports celebrities who have apologised for their behaviour recently, such as Tiger Woods. Reporting of his affairs lost him sponsorship income. Do students think this was fair? Should John Terry lose his? Should he lose his job?
> Discuss the rights to privacy of other people in John Terry's life. What might his wife and ex-girlfriend have felt when the news was reported? Should people accept that associating with celebrities means their private life is open to public debate? Talk about how any teenage children of celebrities might feel when their parents' affairs are reported. Look on the positive side, and discuss elite athletes whom students admire. How do they influence young people's behaviour?
News think! is one of a number of free educational services produced by the British Red Cross. You can find more resources at www.redcross.org.uk/education
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