Students present their poster about the Egyptian Revolution (Photo: Brennan Meeks, Patterson Press)

By Brennan Meeks

Ms. McDermott’s Government class held a presentation about the Egyptian Revolution on February 11 ,2013 in the Skills USA room. Several other teachers, staff members and students were in attendance to witness the presentation. The class had been studying the revolution in Egypt for several weeks leading up to the presentation.

The presentation was divided into different groups. Each group had to present on a principle of democracy relating to a picture they had displayed on poster board. Each group talked about about how Mubarak, the government leader of Egypt until 2011, was a dictator. Mubarak had limited his people’s rights by using the force of the military to control the people. Mubarak had been in power in Egypt for many years and the people of Egypt were tired of his rule. Beginning in January 2011, the citizens of Egypt started protesting and rioting because they wanted him out of power. The class discussed what happened in the revolution.

“The revolution in Egypt happened two years ago. Egypt had an authoritarian government,” said Ms. McDermott. In the end, Mubarak’s government was overthrown by his own people. In February 2011, Mubarak was forced to leave the government.

“Egypt had been going through a lot of changes when he was dictator. Mubarak took away peoples’ rights and this led to  riots in Egypt.” explained students Kelvin and Xavier.

“[What happened in Egypt teaches us the importance of]  freedom of speech. Protest for your own rights and fight for freedom. [In Egypt,] they didn’t agree with the government because [Mubarak] treated the people badly,” said Regia Bell, another of Ms. McDermott’s students.

“President Mubarak had an authoritarian government, and he was powerful leader. He  didn’t allow any [free] press and he didn’t want people to know about what was going on Egypt,” offered students Breona and Malika.

By the end, each group had presented its principle of democracy and how it related to the Egyptian revolution. Everyone agreed that it was a very good discussion and they learned many new things from this project. As events in Egypt continue to make headlines, it is important that everyone understands what is at stake and is able  to appreciate the value of democracy. Ms. McDermott’s class has helped us to do just that.

(Photo: Brennan Meeks, Patterson Press)

(Photo: Brennan Meeks, Patterson Press)