• Resources >
• Lesson Plans >
• HMD08 Post-16 Lesson Plan

HMD08 Post-16 Lesson Plan

HMD08 Post-16 Lesson Plan : Genocide Footprints.

In the 21st century many people in the UK are taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint. They hope that by doing this they will reduce global warming and conserve the earth’s energy resources. In her letter to young people Ruth Barnett suggests that people should be more aware of their genocide footprint.

She says: “We cannot avoid making our own genocide footprints within a society that carries so much denied and discounted genocide. But each one of us can take on some small measure of dialogue with difference, finding out about and spreading knowledge about past and present genocides, joining in protests etc, to raise our consciousness and counteract our genocide footprints.”;

Gregory H. Stanton, the President of Genocide watch, suggests that there are eight stages which lead to genocide.

Classification
Symbolisation
Dehumanisation
Organisation
Polarisation
Preparation
Extermination
Denial

You will find a full outline of these on www.genocidewatch.org

Read Stanton’s descriptions. How might these be related to Ruth’s concept of the genocide footprint?

When Ruth tells young people to examine their own behaviour by thinking about local prejudices, playground behaviour and racism, which of Stanton’s stages could she take as her focus?

What do you think she means when she challenges the students to take a small step from being a passive bystander to becoming an active “upstander”?

Work in small research groups. Use websites and newspaper archives to discover more about genocides, each group taking a different event e.g. The Holocaust, Cambodia (1970s) Bosnia (1990s) Rwanda (1990s) and present day Darfur.

Put together a brief historical outline. When did the genocide take place? Who was targeted? Who did the killing? What was done to stop the genocide?

Report your findings to the other groups. Using Stanton’s eight stages discuss whether the genocide could have been prevented before level seven was reached.

Next examine the role of the United Nations in preventing genocide.

Go to www.un.org

Look up statements on Human Rights. Which of these rights are broken in the events leading up to the genocides you have researched?

Look up the 1948 Genocide convention. What does it say about a) prevention b) responsibility? c) Justice?

Examine the official structures of the UN. What limitations might these present when the world community is trying to prosecute the perpetrators of genocide?

What difficulties might the UN face when trying to prevent future genocides?

Finally, return to the concept of the genocide footprint and discuss individual responsibility.

Today, most people are aware of global warming and their small contributions being worthwhile. How could campaigners like Ruth encourage people to think about small changes in individual lifestyles as contributing to the creation of a more positive future, when “Never again” might really mean that there will be no more genocide?

• Post_16_LessonPlan (pdf)