As part of a series of lessons on civil rights, a seventh-grade teacher at Dunbar Middle School recently taught her students about a national movement to promote equality. She probably wasn't expecting such a reaction.
After handing out an assignment on Black Lives Matter, a movement to end racial inequality in the criminal justice system, nearly 500 mostly angry people commented after "Survive the Streets: A Page for Cops" posted photos of the assignment questions on Facebook.
The teacher asked students to answer several questions about the movement, including how it started, how it's affected police brutality, how black people still face injustice, how many people were killed by police in 2014 and the difference between the treatment of Dylann Roof and Michael Brown.
Roof, who is white, is accused of massacring nine people at a historic black church in South Carolina. The media was critcized for not using the word terrorism to describe the shootings.
Michael Brown, who was black, was unarmed when he was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, where the Black Lives Matter movement captured the nation's attention. The New York Times was criticized for referring to Brown as "no angel" in a story.
TV news ran with the Dunbar story after speaking to angry parents. Dunbar Middle School Principal Amon Gilliam told WSAZ "that assignment will not be taught again." He told WCHS, "that topic is something that should not really be discussed with these kids." He wouldn't say whether the teacher would face any disciplinary action.
Later, Kanawha Superintendent Ron Duerring told the Gazette-Mail, "that's been done and reported on" and said that "Black Lives Matter is not taught at any of the schools," before clarifying, "not to my knowledge."
According to Jinnie Spiegler, director of curriculum at the Anti-Defamation League, whether parents like it or not, students are hearing about Black Lives Matter. Supporters of the movement have met with Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. They've regularly disrupted Donald Trump rallies and have been attacked by his supporters. The topic isn't going away.
"They're reading things in their Instagram feeds and Twitter, but they're not really understanding it," Spiegler said.
And as Black Lives Matter has grown from a hashtag to a national movement, it has forced change.
When unarmed Michael Brown was shot to death by a police officer in August 2014, images of police officers in riot gear arriving in armored vehicles and wielding assault weapons shocked the nation. In May 2015, the Obama administration announced it would ban federal transfers of some military equipment to local police departments.
More and more police departments, including the Charleston Police Department, have also announced they will carry body cameras. And in December 2015, the FBI announced that it would greatly expand the database of information it collects on violent encounters with police in the United States.
Stephen Morris, assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Justice Services Division, told the Washington Post the change was spurred by "real human outcry."
Lou Maynus, Kanawha's assistant superintendent of middle schools, and Mark Milam, assistant superintendent of high schools, weren't aware of any teachers who have covered the subject, other than the teacher at Dunbar Middle School.
Spiegler believes it should be discussed. The Anti-Defamation League even developed a lesson plan on Black Lives Matter for grades 9-12, available on its website.
"They're interested in the news of the day," she said. "The whole country and world is having a public conversation about this topic. They should be in on that conversation, especially because the movement and the topic is happening to young people."
Dr. Charline Barnes Rowland, a WVU education professor who has focused on preparing teachers to respond in culturally responsive ways and other diversity in education topics, did have a few suggestions for how the lesson could have been handled better. But she agreed that current events, like Black Lives Matter, could be teachable moments for students.
"There needs to be more diversity training in the schools ... on how to successfully integrate current events into the curriculum," she said.
She suggested that parents could have been given the chance to opt out, and that the principal should have been involved before the assignment was given.
"Hot topics need a lot of preparation," she said.
Amon Gilliam, principal of Dunbar Middle School, says the topic was too much of "a touchy situation" for the middle school students.
"I think what she was doing is using a current event as a teachable moment," he said. "That is something that definitely is a tool for teachers to use to help kids understand things. But with this particular topic, there's too many emotions tied to it. Therefore, it's just not something that we need to touch."
Reach Erin Beck at erin.beck@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5163, Facebook.com/erinbeckwv, or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.