Posted on 03/16/2005 8:57:47 AM PST by Patriot62
SCHOOL'S STAGE WAS SET FOR A STARK LESSON
Three invited pro-military speakers were shocked last Friday when they arrived for a West Seattle High student assembly to confront a theater stage strewn with figures costumed as Iraqi men, women and children splashed with blood.
It was a warm-up for the "Iraq Awareness Assembly" so no students except the actual actors saw the skit before the military guests complained to principal Susan Derse and she put a stop to it. And here comes the crucial part: no teachers or advisers were on hand or evidently even aware of the content although that part is one of several things still under investigation.
What happened at West Seattle High was troubling and messy, to be sure. But it also was educational, if you don't mind learning the hard way. Lessons don't all come neatly packaged. Sometimes they come laced with pain, anger, regret and conflicting passions.
In the aftermath of the assembly, students, administrators and staff are learning, among other things, just how deep run the emotional divisions behind the bumper stickers they may encounter in the school parking lot.
"War is terrorism!," "No Iraq War!" and "Not in My Name!" some slogans say. "Land of the Free Because of the Brave!," "My Daughter Is Serving in Iraq" and "Proud American, Embarrassed Washingtonian (with photos of Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Jim McDermott)" others declare.
For Nadine Gulit of Operation Support Our Troops, the spectacle was sickening.
She had been asked by student organizers to provide three speakers and she delivered.
"I was told there would be three on each side. No debates. No rebuttal," she said in the e-mail she fired off to members of the Seattle School Board. "At no time was I referred to a teacher nor did a teacher contact me. As I walked into the theater there was a young girl wearing a mask and crawling on the floor. And, over the loud speaker (someone) was denouncing our military, saying 'Americans are killing my family!' "
Not a good thing for "impressionable students who may have family serving Iraq," Gulit told student organizers. "Two of our speakers had returned from Iraq and Afghanistan."
With her speakers in tow, Gulit saw the bloodied figures on the floor. Stage right were students in orange Abu Ghraib-style prison jumpsuits, hoods over heads, pounding on plates with spoons. Next, a student dressed as a grieving Iraqi woman knelt near a bloody body while, over a microphone, a narrator wailed the story of civilians shot, kicked and beaten by American soldiers.
"Did anyone with authority read this script?" wondered Diane Anderson, another adult on the pro-military side who attended the assembly.
Good question and one I tried to ask. Attempts to reach principal Derse were unsuccessful. But Seattle Schools communications manager Patti Spencer filled in what blanks she could.
"It isn't clear at this moment to what extent any adults on staff knew what the pre-assembly theatrical element was going to be," she told me. "The initial understanding, the point of the assembly, was for it to be completely thorough and balanced -- three speakers to support the troops, three who were anti-war. And the drama or enactment was supposed to be the same."
Obviously that part went awry. Apparently the plan was for students to file into the auditorium as the play was going on. But, when she got wind of the content of the skit, Derse issued an announcement that all students be detained in their rooms until after the stage could be cleared. "The only folks who saw it were the students putting it on and, unfortunately, the guest speakers," Spencer said.
There's disagreement, too, about the tone of the rest of the assembly. Gulit credits Derse for putting a swift stop to the skit but claims the panel discussion was loaded on the anti-war side.
But a letter to the school from at least one of the military participants said the panel was fair and balanced. It was a lively discussion peppered with heatedly conflicting views. But mutual respect reigned.
And that is as it should be. High school students have every right to question the war in Iraq and how its civilians are being treated. After all, it's a war that some of them may very well soon be fighting.
Still, no one wants a rancid replay of the days when young Vietnam War vets returned to pigs' blood and cries of "Baby killer!"
There is nothing quite so powerful as the first stirrings of political protest. But, since the assembly, students are learning the importance of condemning policy, not the young people near their own age who are sent into danger to serve.
Despite all the fallout, it's a lesson bloody well worth learning.
Susan Paynter's column appears Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Call her at 206-448-8392 or send e-mail to susanpaynter@seattlepi.com.
Ping
Well stated.
Susan Paynter = idiot
I can just imagine the faces of those who tried to set this up as an anti-war thing. What a hoot!
I propose Seattle be annexed to Russia
some sick people out west...despicable. Why aren't these kids learning to read and write?
Excellent point you make. "I wonder if anyone at that pathetic state institute brought up the odd coincidence that today, the first day of a full Iraqi parliament (government of the people...to answer the bumper sticker: I want my democracy, now!), just happened to convene on the anniversary of Hussein using chemical weapons to kill 5000 Kurds who dared to disagree with him."
The article said: "Despite all the fallout, it's a lesson bloody well worth learning."
typical journalist PC copout when the liberals go too far with a stupid stunt, it's a 'lesson' in 'dialog'.
No, it isnt. Ignorant boneheads put together a Socialist agitprop style propaganda stunt, and were stopped. These teenagers didnt do this without being inculcated with leftwing clap-trap, ie, without mis-guidance. What was learned was that students may not be aware of the real Iraq at all.
Interestingly, on the virtual tour, when you go to the link directly from FreeRepublic it is obscured by a photoshopped building. Refresh, and the statue appears.
Um, nevermind on the photoshopped building, I think it is just there when loading.
"You're kidding, right?"
Unfortunately, not. The wackos got it from Russia after the fall of communism there. Disgusting.
My first thought: Thermite. A big pile of it right on top of the head.
These violence-obsessed children should be locked up before we have another Columbine.
Fear not Patriots, Lenin is an unsettled account.
Do they put something in the coffee up there?
"""War is terrorism!," "No Iraq War!" and "Not in My Name!" some slogans say.""
Have these Liberals learned about the elections yet? Really, they are so behind on the news.
How these kids have have been led astray. Their righteousness is so misguided. The socialists in Seattle must be proud.
Post-modern liberalism in a nutshell. It's only nominally about the issues -- it's true concern is your own personal part in the grand play that is self-righteous victimhood. Ah, let us revel in our victimization! Can you not see how tragic is the world? If there is not a tragedy we will invent one or inflate one and sing its injustice to the heavens! Ahhhhhhhhh ...!
Balderdash. These derivative kids need a swift kick in the pants and their post-modern teachers need a therapist and a slap upside the head. Adult issues like war are best left to serious people.
Sheesh.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.