DRONES: A TOPIC FOR THE CLASSROOM

Events of the last week reminded me of a recurring challenge I believe many civics teachers meet all the time. Given the sudden concern with the legality and morality of drone attacks, a civics teacher might want to take advantage of the heightened interest and introduce the controversy into his/her classroom. But most of us, including civics teachers, really don't know that much about drones or their use. So, purposely not reading any material about drones, I want to review some of the questions I would ask of this area of concern if I were to introduce it into my classroom.

I would begin by jotting down all those things I know from simply seeing the news. I must admit I did view a segment on drones that aired on CBS' Sunday Morning, which aired yesterday. I know that drones are flying machines that fly without any personnel on board. They are “manned” from some remote location. At that location, if the drone is out of sight, it can be operated by someone viewing screens since the drone has one or more cameras on board. Drones come in a variety of sizes. Some are the size of a hummingbird; some are the size of a full-sized helicopter. The ones that are garnering all the attention are the size of a miniature plane or glider. They can be armed with missiles that can be fired and destroy a car or a small house. I know that those that advocate their use say they are capable of precise targeting. They say the drones save lives because, besides the benefit of not endangering the lives of pilots and other personnel who would be involved in flying conventional fighter planes, they also relieve the need to deploy infantry and other land forces in accomplishing many military objectives. I know that they can hover and use relatively very little fuel. I also know that they have been the cause of thousands of innocent victims who become collateral “damage” (difficult to name lost human lives as damage). I know that some of these lives include Americans who were singled out to be killed. I know that this latter fact has caused a controversy in that these individuals were not extended constitutional rights to which Americans are entitled, specifically due process ones. Due to this, the American Civil Liberties Union has filed suit in court against the government. Finally, I know that this development of drones is not only a military concern, but also has implications for domestic issues. Apparently, drones are being purchased by local police agencies and used to observe citizens. They have been used to investigate crime scenes, in real time. I know there is a concern that the technology can be and might already have been used to invade people's privacy. I know that the technology is being used by private entities such as photographers and other people who have an interest in acquiring aerial perspectives of areas. I think there is, in at least some areas, a licensing requirement to operate a drone for recognizance. That pretty much sums up what I know.

After establishing such a list, I review it and pass the information through a mental screen. That is, I think about what I know as it relates to the concerns contained in the mental construct which I have chosen to guide my efforts. As I have indicated in this blog, that would be the liberated federalist construct. Here, issues involving defense, human equality, liberty, privacy, and economies come to the fore. All of these are issues identified by our national compact – the US Constitution. Each of these would suggest questions that I would probably want my students to research, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate.

Let me use just one specific issue and run it through the process. I know that innocent victims are being killed by the use of drones. Here are a set of questions that I would identify for student study:

• Are the uses of drones responsible for the elimination of enemy personnel?
• If yes, to what degree are drones effective in this objective?
• Are drones responsible for collateral damage?
• If yes, to what degree; how extensive?
• Have American citizens been killed by the use of drones?
• If yes, to what degree?
• Are these citizens deprived of any of their rights?
• If yes, of which rights are they being deprived?
• Is there any historical precedence of the American government killing American citizens in conditions of war?
• If so, what were those conditions; how was the action defended; do those rationales apply to the deaths that have resulted from the use of drones?
• Are there current actions protesting the use of drones?
• If so, what are they and what are the arguments these protests put forth?
• Who are engaged in these protests; how are these individuals or groups considered (what are their reputations regarding the degree they are responsible in their protest activities)?¹

Current classroom treatment of such questions is benefited by the use of computers and the Internet. I would, after forming an original list of questions, begin to do some research of my own. Nothing is a substitute for a teacher being knowledgeable about the subject he or she introduces for study.

Of course, as the inquiry proceeds, I can open up class discussion and solicit further questions that students might suggest. Perhaps a student might ask whether there are any similarities or differences between Americans who join a terrorist group and those who joined the Confederate States of America's armed forces during the Civil War. After all, our central government killed hundred of thousands of Americans in that conflict without any regard to due process rights.² Such a question can delve into some very important aspects of the legal arrangements regarding what it means to be an American citizen and the rights that that status includes and under what conditions those rights are recognized or how they are limited in given situations.

Lesson preparations would then be ready for me to identify and provide materials – readings, visuals, expert individuals, field visits, and the like – and other elements of the instructional strategy I would employ. Issues such as availability of materials would have to be accommodated . With all this at hand, I would be ready to present my lessons on the use of drones.

1This is a tricky question. We don't want students committing a generic fallacy; that is, finding an argument to be false because of the person or group espousing it. Even the most vile are capable of making a logical argument.

2It should be remembered that the Lincoln administration never recognized the southern states as having seceded. The only concern for due process rights which came up and that I am aware of regarded the property rights of slave owners and such policies as those instituted by the Emancipation Proclamation.