Justin Rules...American History: The Freedom Trail Episode

Talk about dumbing-down the curriculum. In this animated video, sixth grader Justin Rules sullenly takes a tour of the Boston Freedom Trail with his folks, dissing the sites while playing with his "Cool-o-Matic" electronic game toy. Through a rather silly plot device (the spirit of Old North Church comes down into Justin's toy, only to be revealed when he runs into some eighth-grade bullies after the school year starts), Justin gets warped back in time to Boston circa 1765, hears approximately two sentences about the Stamp Act, and then warps back to the future. Unfortunately, most of the tape is taken up with solving the bully problem, while the history leading up to the American Revolution is decidedly secondary. (And it is delivered by a Colonial mouse speaking with a Cockney accent, no less.) The lowest blow comes when the "political chick" (the student who has been telling Justin they need to "unite or die") says the American Revolution was only justified as a last resort--as she leads a sit-in to show the bullies a thing or two. (Wow, just think how the British Army and the Hessian mercenaries would have been cowed by a sit-in!) And in strange homage to the title, the end of the tape (during the credits) includes black and white video of sites along Boston's Freedom Trail taped from a car, narrated in a monotone by an actor playing a bored tour guide. Now if THAT's not an educational treat, I don't know what is! What the producers fail to realize is that real history contains some of the most enthralling stories ever, and telling those stories truthfully without cutesyness captivates students. Giving only a few selected factoids in an otherwise puff piece in order to hit the educational market will not do. Not recommended. Aud: E, I. (R. Reagan)