SOLDIER STUNNED BY LETTER KIDS' RANTS

New York Post ^ | 2-21-2005 | David Andreatta

[jocon307]

An American soldier overseas is fuming over letters he received from Brooklyn middle-school children accusing GIs of destroying mosques and killing civilians in Iraq.

Pfc. Rob Jacobs of New Jersey said he was initially ecstatic to get a package of letters from sixth-graders at JHS 51 in Park Slope last month at his base 10 miles from the North Korea border.

That changed when he opened the envelope and found missives strewn with politically charged rhetoric, vicious accusations and demoralizing predictions that only a handful of soldiers would leave the Iraq war alive.

-snip-

The letters were written as a social-studies assignment.

-snip-

[Aquinasfan]

Hopefully the commie teacher did us a favor.

[gakrak]

That teacher should be arrested for treason and jailed. If my child was one of the students who were coached to write this garbage, I would be hiring a lawyer. A lawsuit would be started against the school district with a demand that the teacher be fired on the spot. When are we going to take back our schools from these communists?

[angkor]

These kids were doing just what they were told to do

The teacher is just as despicable as Churchill, IMO.

[Quix]

Agreed.

Though I'd rather mail him to Dillbo and Shrillery Clinton's cesspool and let them all swim together.

Such letters should have never hit the troops at all.

I can't recall any culture/nation in history be so suicidal as we have become. Sheesh.

[OldFriend]

Hilary's constituents!

[Aquinasfan]

These letters were just the teacher's views written many times.

Exactly. When I was in school the kids pretty much parroted what the teacher said, if they knew anything at all. My dad escaped Poland after WWII, and passed his opinion of the communists on to me. I knew the teachers were high 8-)

[angkor]

I realize it's a bit like shoveling against the tide in these end times . .

Buck up! Stop demoralizing yourself.

This is not "end times" and you don't have any crystal ball.

[jocon307]

Seems like that's the school. I wonder why the Post is calling a JHS (junior high school) when it is, in fact an MS (middle school) as the web site you found describes it.

We never used to use the phrase "Middle School" in nyc, we used to call these ISs (intermediate schools).

[dyed_in_the_wool]

It looks like it is. If you google JHS 51 in Park Slope, you see William Alexander show up.

[mewzilla]

From the link on the school in question:

MS 51 is a selective school that accepts high-achieving children from across District 15. Long the highest scoring middle school in the district, MS 51 is known for its solid academics as well as its creative "talent" programs in drama and the arts.

Looks like that's not all it's going to be known for now, is it?

After reading this description, I'll stick my neck out and say these kids were probably mimicking their parents as well, not just parroting the teacher.

BTW, did you all note the mispelling in the above quote? That was NOT mine...

[marty60]

M.S. 51 William Alexander School 350 Fifth Avenue BROOKLYN, NY 11215 Phone: (718) 369-7603 | Fax: (718) 499-4948 Principal: Xavier Castelli Parent Coordinator: Audrey Komaroff (347) 563-5371

At a Glance Grade levels: 6 to 8 Class size: 28 Enrollment: 973 Ethnicity %: 42 W 17 B 31 H 11 A Attendance: 96% Reading scores: Math scores: Region 8 / District 15 Neighborhood: Park Slope

Admissions: selective/audition/portfolio

What's special: High-scoring kids and popular talent programs, including a renowned chorus and drama department. Downside: Some complain that the math program doesn't prepare kids for specialized high school exams.

MS 51 is a selective school that accepts high-achieving children from across District 15. Long the highest scoring middle school in the district, MS 51 is known for its solid academics as well as its creative "talent" programs in drama and the arts.

In other words , we are an elitist school preparing children for nothing.

[mewzilla]

mispelling=misspelling

[PubliusEXMachina]

Just to let you know for every idiot teacher there are ten who support the troops. I teach in Maine, and my school sent cookies and pictures made by students to Iraq last fall. The troops loved them and we plan to send more this spring. This so called "teacher" ought to be dropped off in the middle of Ramadi to see how his friend Zarqawi would treat him.

[carlr]

Maybe just a coincidence but I think most public schools in NY are closed this week.

[Quix]

so . . . you appear to think you have a 'crystal ball' disclosing to you that these are NOT the end times?

I think I'll go with the Biblical criteria, instead.

But, thanks for your kind response and caring about my demoralizing myself. Caring is an increasingly rare thing in our era.

[mewzilla]

I can't spell this morning. Theirs was fine. Well, they're off the hook for that one.

[libs_kma]

I don't know. Trying to think about motivations for this is a tough one. If you're a democRat who teaches these kids, then you probably wouldn't be motivated to have them write letters in the first place. Because you know that if you poison the kids to write hateful letters, it has a real good chance of coming back and biting you in the @$$.

I could more easily see it happening where a teacher with pride in the soldiers has his students write letters, and right away has little Mohammed and some of his rat friends raise their hands and say "If this is the way we feel, can we write this?"

If it happened like that, this teacher may be reluctant to comment about it because something he wanted to turn out good, now turns out to be a huge lose/lose for him if he comments or not.

[Nightshift]

[Quix]

You could be right.

But it still SOUNDS like the teacher influenced the kids in that direction wholesale. That I deplore.

[dennisw]

Now this show boating commie teacher, Alex Kundgart, will get the attention she/he craves