Teaching with the News

Terrorism: How Should We Respond?

Terrorism has become a central issue in U.S. policy at home and abroad. How should we respond to terrorism? What U.S. interests are at stake in this issue? What values and interests should guide U.S. policy toward terrorism? What should our long-term goals be? What steps should the United States take in the coming months and years?

This lesson plan invites students to explore four divergent policy options on the question of how the United States should respond to terrorism and then to articulate their own considered perspective on this issue.

This lesson includes:

Policy Options
Four policy options have been framed to help students think about divergent policy alternatives, each driven by different underlying values, each with merits and tradeoffs. The Options can be printed for classroom use from the Choices web site.

Lesson Plan
The suggested lesson plan focuses on role-play and deliberation exploring the four Options. Ultimately students are expected to articulate their own views on the issue. Teachers are encouraged to integrate the suggested background resources into their courses as appropriate.

Online Ballot: Terrorism: How should we respond?
After consideration of this issue, we encourage students to make their views known. A report on student views will be developed.

Additional Resources from the Choices Program

Responding to Terrorism: Challenges for Democracy is a one-week unit that helps students explore the threats to the United States, the motivations of terrorists, and the challenges for our international and domestic response. Background readings prepare students to thoughtfully consider the policy choices facing our country.

Scholars Online provides video taped interviews with researchers designed for use in classrooms, for homework, and for professional development. All Scholars Online resources are also available as downloadable podcasts from Choices or iTunes.

Are We Winning the War on Terrorism? asks students to consider whether and how the United States can determine the success or failure of our efforts to combat terrorism.

Supplemental Materials for Responding to Terrorism: Challenges for Democracy provides links to additional resources related to this issue.

Additional Online Resources

U.S. Department of State
Information on official U.S. policy on terrorism

U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Information on threat levels and the functions of the Department

National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States
The web site of the 9.11 Commission

9/11 Public Discourse Project
A web site developed by ten members of the 9.11 Commission

Council on Foreign Relations
A website from the Council on Foreign Relations that provides clear information about terrorism.

Terrorism: How Should We Respond? is an excellent entrée into the larger question of America's role in the world. The U.S. Role in a Changing World is a one-week curriculum unit that provides a substantive look at this larger question.