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TV TAKES OVER TEACHING STUDENTS ABOUT
WAR
By Richard
Petz
Despite the ongoing war, high schools around the nation are not adapting their lessons to the current conflict.
This seems to be the sentiment around the nation. Many schools seem to be teaching the same way that parents have been for years, sitting children down in front of a television.Some schools have even developed a strict policy of only allowing discussion of the war to take place in history and social studies classes. During this controversial war, it is important for children to learn both sides of the conflict from their trusted source, their teachers.
David Greer, a world language teacher at Edison Intermediate School, Westfield, NJ said it was tough for the students to grasp what is really going on in the Middle East.
“Some of the students have older brothers or sisters who are in the military or have friends that are,” Greer said. “They seem to care and just want to make sure that they are safe.”
Students do not care about the war because they do not feel that it affects them, said Greer, and at this point some of them may be right. With some of the lowest test scores for world affairs, it is hard for many of them to follow along with the war.
Keith Kielbasa, a high school teacher in Elizabeth, NJ said, “Besides the ROTC kids, most of them really don’t realize what this war means, and most of them really don’t care.”
Other schools are taking a different perspective on Operation Iraqi Freedom. As CNN reported in Normal, Illinois, an international relations class spent weeks debating the issue of war before the bombs started falling, talking about people and places most students never even heard of.
Their teacher Kelly Keogh said, "They're typical kids, too, though."
One of her students went on to say, “I'm just glad that when the full-fledged attacks start, the NCAA (basketball) tournament will still be on."