A “Supreme” (and educational!) new computer game

An article in today’s Washington Post details Our Courts, the civic education project former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has been working on since her retirement from the bench.

I visited the Our Courts Web site to play the Supreme Decision game this afternoon, and came away thoroughly impressed. This particular game (there are two on the site) takes players through a hypothetical legal case about a student’s right to wear a certain t-shirt in school by (1) showing them all sides of arguments, complete with animated lawyers for each side being questioned by animated Justices, and the Justices deliberating with one another in their private chambers; (2) asking them questions about those arguments to ensure they understand the legal arguments presented; and (3) allowing them to make their own decision and thus cast the deciding vote (of course!) in the case. The game is designed for 7th and 8th graders, but although it wasn’t challenging, it held my interest for the 10 minutes or so it took to complete it.

I suggest that parents introduce their kids to this informative and fun resource at home, or tell their kids’ teachers about it. This game certainly would have been helpful when I was teaching my American Government course last year!