Writing Wrongs ... Business Letters Give Students a Voice in World Affairs August 2001 Volume 5 Number 1

August 2001 • Volume 5 • Number 1 • Pages 36-37

Writing Wrongs … Business Letters Give Students a Voice in World Affairs

Ron Adams

One student's letter persuaded the mayor to implement her adopt-a-neighborhood cleanup campaign.

Another student's letter galvanized the community to fight for a retired U.S. naval vessel to be returned to the shipyards where it was built so it could be reopened as a museum.

Other letters helped gain the freedom of teenagers in the former Yugoslavia who were imprisoned because they asked for bilingual education classes.

And a 1994 visit from a 12-year-old Pakistani boy who had worked in carpet factories since age four inspired students to send letters to their senators in Washington, D.C., to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, and to local carpet stores asking whether they sold rugs made by children. The students also testified before the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, addressed graduate students at Harvard University, and raised $147,000 to set up a school in Pakistan for children in bonded labor.

Why practice writing phony business letters from a textbook when students can write authentic letters that matter?

"…If you vote TO RATIFY the I.L.O. Child Labor Standards you could help the Senate to lead the way to the extinction of child labor. You could help stop a girl of my age from being forced into prostitution. You could help stop a child from working in mines or with dangerous machinery. You could make child slavery a thing of the past."
— Mike, 14

For the past 15 years, I have helped turn students' outrage into activism while simultaneously teaching them about effective written communications and contemporary civics. Through a unit I call "Writing Wrongs," students read about things that are "not fair," then use a core requirement of language arts to try to change them.

Think of it as vertical curriculum integration. By grade seven, most students have learned about the U.S. Constitution, especially the Bill of Rights. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights lists the ideals of human behavior for people everywhere. Taken together, those two documents provide the framework for lessons about democratic principles. But when do middle school students ever get to do democracy? When do students get to practice citizenship, not just get tested on it?

"Dear Principal…I have heard that you gave a high school diploma to all the MEN that quit school to serve their country during World War II. I think that was a great thing to do. They deserved to get a diploma. World War II might have gone on for a longer time than it did if we didn't have ships. They were desperately needed. I would also like to inform you that it was not only men that quit Quincy High School to serve their country, but women also quit school to go to work building ships for World War II. I know of two women in particular who quit school when they were about sixteen years old to work in the ship yards. They are now about eighty years old and fighting for their lives and health care…"
— Mary Catherine, 13

I started this unit in 1987 after our town received a wave of immigrants from Asia. Many of our students come from low-income housing neighborhoods where newcomers often settle, which can cause hard feelings among other groups of people struggling to feel empowered. I asked myself how I could update the curriculum to reflect these changes and help my students overcome their prejudices.

After we examine and discuss the Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I encourage my students to look for violations of the standards. In my class, the rule is that once students learn about an injustice, they must take action to change it. They have from early October until the end of the school year to write "the perfect business letter," not just to complain, but to point out something that is not fair and offer a solution. They must offer to work with the person to right a wrong.

The power of this assignment comes from choice. "Follow your heart," I tell them in a description of the assignment. "No issue is too small. No issue is too huge. Don't be paralyzed by the size of the problem. Little differences add up to make a big difference."

"I am writing this letter to inform you of a situation that I think requires your attention. As you know, the weekly Bingo games are held in the church hall on Friday nights at 8:00 p.m. Although there is a parking lot designated for these games, a great sum of people repeatedly park on the side of the street and as a result, block our driveway…." — Julie, seventh grade

My students don't have to mail the letters, but most do. By January, the question, "Did we get any mail?" becomes the daily welcome from my seventh-graders. About one third of the writers get responses. Each time a letter arrives, it presents a vivid lesson about citizenship.

(Memo from a City Commissioner to the director of a Parks Department): "Attached please find a letter from a young resident regarding the possibility of constructing skate parks…Given the popularity of the sport, the potential for alleviating pedestrian/skater safety issues, and the reasonableness of the request, I am forwarding this letter to you for consideration…"

Students want to be connected to the community and involved in making the world a better place. When they can use their writing to learn about and influence issues they care about, they find a purpose and an audience for their work. The curriculum becomes an extension of their lives.

With the globalization of the economy and advances in technology, students can connect to the world in ways unimaginable just 10 years ago. But too often, teachers do not update their assignments to reflect those changes. The letters about child labor abuses around the world opened my eyes to the concern and knowledge young adolescents have about their peers in other countries. Other letters about topics such as global warming and genetic engineering changed the way I approach writing assignments. I find myself thinking now in concentric circles, with the middle school writer in the center. The first circle represents the student's neighborhood, the second circle his or her city, followed by the state, the nation, and the world.

Middle school students are idealists. Writing letters helps them find their voices in a democracy that usually ignores them because they are too young to work or to vote. Remember this: They are not too young to take action or to make change.

"Thank you for contacting me concerning your opposition to the use of child labor in foreign countries…I am opposed to the exploitation of children as labor in other countries…I will continue to support efforts to end this practice. In September 1997, the Congress passed H.R. 2378, the Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appropriations Act (1998), which included a provision that would restrict the importation into the United States of goods produced by 'forced or indentured child labor…"
— John McCain, Unites States Senator

Ron Adams teaches language arts at Broad Meadows Middle School in Quincy, Massachusetts. You can reach him at ronadams2@aol.com.