The question, of itself, is not offensive. On the contrary, education should constructively challenge the developing intellect of students.
The positives of slavery did not go to the slaves, for example, but to the owners and their economic system. A student could and should have been able to see that, at least. Ultimately, the question could have led to the answer, "There were no positives for the victims of this practice".
They should also have learned about the context, that until relatively soon before the war to preserve the Union, slavery was common in the world and almost all cultures. Whites were not evil for having black slaves, just unenlightened.
Nuance seems less and less present in American social debate. Everything has to be 'good' or 'bad', and all according to the current mode and definition.
kids in the eighth grade are something like 13 or 14 years old------NOT A
GOOD AGE to being up the economic of social "pros" of slavery and its
miserable ramifications.-------that sort of issue can wait for sociology class
in college
Kids are more than able to handle this issue at that age. Critical thinking skills are important and should be honed early.
depends on the maturity of the kids----in the kind of school that does not
create classes dependent on intellect and social maturity and just puts
all kids together-----it would not be a good idea------think a little more
about it