Teaching with the News: Classroom Ideas

The following classroom ideas and research activities explore the NSA wiretapping program in greater depth, and introduce other government surveillance programs.

Activity 1: NSA Wiretap Updates

1. Ask students to read the three articles below and summarize in one paragraph the developments in the NSA wiretap case.
2. In one paragraph, students should summarize the questions of law ruled on by the judge and her decision, as described in the Washington Post article of August 18, 2006, and which claim she dismissed, and why?
3. In a third paragraph, students should describe what remains unclear about the NSA wiretapping program and its legality, from your analysis of the articles.
4. After students complete their writing, as a whole class, discuss developments in the case, questions of law that have been clarified, and questions that require further clarification.
5. Conclude by asking students what surprised them most about what they learned. Why?

Articles:

• Judge Rules Against Wiretaps: NSA Program Called Unconstitutional, Washington Post, August 18, 2006
• NSA Has Massive Database of Americans’ Phone Calls, USA Today
• Feds Appeal Loss in NSA Wiretap Case

Activity 2: Secret Wiretaps Across Time: Patterns and New Trends
1. Ask students to read through Time magazine’s Secret Wiretaps Archive Collection, which begins in 1928 and covers wiretap incidents through the present day.
2. Have them identify the following:

1. What legal and social issues have recurred across time?
2. What new legal and social issues have been raised over time?
3. Do you see any general trends in the use of and concern over secret wiretaps across time? If so, what are they?

3. As a whole class, discuss student analyses. Conclude by asking,

1. What concerns does your analysis raise for you about secret wiretaps as they have been used in the past?
2. What concerns does your analysis raise for you about secret wiretaps as a tool in today’s anti terrorism efforts?

Activity 3: Secret Wiretaps Across Time: A Timeline

1. Assign students to one of the wiretap events described in Time magazine’s Secret Wiretap Archive Collection for further research.
2. Ask them to prepare and present reports on the following questions:

1. What happened?
2. What was the public reaction?
3. How did government react?
4. What is the continuing legacy of the event today?

3. Create a wiretap timeline from the reports.
4. Alternatively, create a Web quest for each event for the four questions (a-d) above.
5. Submit your Web quests to abapubed@abanet.org for posting on this web site. Be sure to address the quest to Insights Editor, and give your class name, and teacher contact information.

Activity 4: The  Spectrum of Government Surveillance

This activity may be completed as a jigsaw by small groups, or independently by individual students.

1. Ask students to research the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. What is it, what is its mission, and what does it do?
2. Ask them to research and define National Security Letters. What are they, how are they requested, who grants them, and why?
3. Have them review the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Report and answer the following questions:
   
1. How many secret surveillance requests did the FISA Court grant in 2005?
2. How many National Security Letter Requests were made, and how many people were affected?

4. Ask them to further research National Security Letters and surveillance orders granted by the FISA Court, to discover the following:

1. How do the standards or criteria for National Security Letter requests differ from the standards or criteria required for surveillance requests made to the FISA Court?
2. How do the standards or criteria differ from the standards for the 1,773 wiretaps that law enforcement agencies around the country were authorized to conduct in 2005? (Student will compare three sets of criteria.) For reports on law enforcement surveillance, see the 2005 Department of Justice Report.

5. Next, have student review the Center for Democracy and Technology report, The Nature and Scope of Governmental Electronic Surveillance Activity, thinking about the following question: What surveillance trends do they notice over time?

6. Finally, synthesizing their learning from the various sources reviewed during the activity, conclude by asking students

1. What surprised you the most about what you learned about government surveillance in 2005,
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each surveillance tool from the standpoint of the government and from the standpoint of citizens?
3. Do you think that the government currently has adequate surveillance tools for the purpose of preventing terrorist acts? Why?
4. To what extent do you believe privacy protections should be extended to non citizens? Why?

7. Alternatively, assign students to write an essay on the concluding questions above.