Tread lightly in teaching war
With unprecedented news coverage of the war in Iraq on nearly every
channel, and antiwar protests and pro-war rallies on numerous street
corners, schools are faced with a difficult situation. When and how
should teachers and administrators talk to students about the war?
Many elementary schools in Newport-Mesa have decided that they
will not broach the subject with those young pupils unless asked
questions about it. For children that young, this is the best course
of action.
Most would agree that elementary teachers should not bring the
topic of war up with young pupils. Still, they must be aware of what
their charges may already know and think and alert parents to
worrisome activity that may arise in the school yard.
Teachers also cannot ignore questions and concerns brought up by
young children about the war. However, they should appreciate that
some parents may not want their children exposed to the harsher
realities of life at such a tender age.
For elementary school children, it is a topic for parents, as they
are the ones to decide what their children are exposed to and how the
subject is handled.
Once a child is in middle and high school, it is a different
matter.
Students are presumably reading the newspaper and watching the
news and will most likely be bombarded with information and images of
the war. Undoubtedly, they will need to talk about it.
Older students, especially of high school and certainly of college
age, should learn the history that they are living through and the
history that led to the war. They should be educated, not just by the
media, about who the leaders involved are.
Schools in Newport-Mesa seem to be on the right track and treading
carefully. We should all support our schools in this troublesome time
and be wary of what we say in the presence of children.
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