Didn't "Cops and Robbers" used to be an innocuous child's game? Now, in today's politicized environment, it appears unwise to bring up the topic of burglary when children are involved:
An elementary school worksheet that tells the story of four people who get away with robbing a house and describes how to do a card trick has drawn criticism from a Baltimore mother who sees it as promoting criminal activity. The worksheet, called "The Four Robbers," is part of a booklet designed to prepare children for Maryland's standardized tests in March. It is intended to teach fourth-graders about sequence of events.But Kenyona J. Moore, whose 9-year-old brought the worksheet home last week, said it promotes criminal activity to youngsters. "This is being given out to inner-city children," she told The (Baltimore) Sun. "The assumption is they can relate to this, and that's wrong."
The worksheet describes a card trick with four jacks, instructing the person doing the trick to say, "Imagine that the four jacks are robbers. They're going to rob a house." The first card, slipped into the bottom of the deck, represents the first robber, going into the first story of the house. The second and third cards are the robbers on the second and third stories. The fourth card, on top of the deck, is the robber on the roof looking out for police.
The person doing the trick is supposed to say: "Just then, the wail of a siren is heard. The robber on the roof says, 'Cops! Let's get out of here!'" The person peels off the top cards in the deck, showing that "the robber-jacks have magically migrated to the top of the deck!"
I'm finding myself more offended by the fact that Maryland schools are teaching their students card tricks as preparation for the exam. I can't find anything online about what the fourth-grade items might be, so I'm not sure what "sequence of events" means (logically? chronologically? spatially?) and how this trick could be useful.
Posted by kswygert at February 7, 2006 03:36 PM