Caution: I found the video, which I have provided the link for below, to be very upsetting and not at all funny (although some folks apparently do).
At a high school in Ohio, students in a criminal science class allowed themselves to be hit with pepper spray in the face after receiving parental consent and an explanation of the effects from law enforcement. Extra credit was their “reward.”
My comments:
There has to be a better way to offer and receive XCR.
These were students in the Criminal Science Technology Career Tech program. The training is part of the curriculum and allows them to obtain industry credentials. As long as they had a professional instructor (a former police chief) and parental permission, it seems reasonable to me.
I think that if someone is going into a criminal justice career where there is a possibility they may use pepper spray on another human being then having first-hand experience of what that is like may be useful information. Provided that all parties are informed of the risks/effects, proper consent is given, and it’s not mandatory I have no objection. This sort of thing should be subject to some scrutiny to prevent potential abuse, but really, the only thing unusual I see here is the youth of the participants - many police officers have undergone being pepper sprayed or tasered as part of training in the use of minimally lethal force.
I see know obvious problem for students to experience pepper spray if they are well informed, sufficiently curious, and have parental consent. I do agree with the OP however, it seems like students may be coerced into agreeing with the promise of extra credit.
For me, the problem with this whole scenario isn’t the pepper spray; it’s the extra credit.
Extra credit is, quite frankly, bullshit. It’s a sop to students by teachers who don’t want to maintain proper standards. It is also, quite often, an unfair advantage to students who have more extra time on their hands, and/or who (as in this case) are willing to do something that really isn’t a necessary part of the curriculum.
The course syllabus should make clear what the requirements of the course are, and should hold all students accountable for the same assignments and level of work. No more, and no less. Extra credit added on during the semester is unfair to students who can’t take advantage of it, and if you’re including regular course activities to give students the option to get more than 100% on the class then that is, as this guy nicely puts it, “spreadsheet voodoo.”
Where are you seeing that it’s for extra credit? The article you linked to doesn’t say extra credit. Buzzfeed’s articlespecifically says it is not for extra credit.
You’re right. The OP’s linked story also, as far as I can tell, never mentions extra credit. I was just basing my argument on the claims made by the OP.
I don’t see the issue.
As long as all who participated in this did so willingly. Somebody taking a criminal justice course may need to use pepper spray in the future, and they should understand the effects of it.
It appears that the premise of the OP is flawed since with wasn’t for extra credit. That would be the only things I would really have objections to. From the linked article.
This has been done yearly and according to the TV report linked in the Buzzfield article, the kids had been tased last year.
I thought the video was a tad extreme, but I was tear-gassed at 17 and had to do all of the drills as part of my training. It wasn’t fun, but I survived.
It said they got extra credit right here on this link ! I wonder if the kids knew how painful getting this 'extra credit ’ would had agreed to do it ! From what I saw on the news I never agreed for my child to do this . I was thinking WTF ! when I saw this on the news tonight .
I think WKYC (a station local to Barberton) may have erroneously reported that they got extra credit and those other sites picked it up, and WKYC corrected.
I actually tend to believe the reporting in BuzzFeed when it comes to viral video junk. Local news channels just throw up junk to fill time but BuzzFeed actually will contact the source/parties in the video/Tweet/photo/meme etc.