Industrial Revolution Debate

Our class had a great debate on the Friday before vacation about whether the Industrial Revolution was a positive or negative time for our country.  I was really impressed how much information the kids used in their arguments or questions.  In the end, we realized there were many positive and negative things that came out of this time period.  We wouldn't be able to make goods quickly, give women the chance to work, be able to travel farther, or have the child labor laws we have today if we had not gone through the time period.  We also discussed how these changes caused more pollution, children lost their chance for education, and there were poor working conditions.