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.
:-)
"Sometimes they (lessons) come laced with pain, anger, regret and conflicting passions."
Ahh, the wonders of government-run education centers.
Good choice not to.... But I looked at the link, and now I'm pissed... LOL. I'll get over it..
Seems a length of chain and a large truck are in order there.
And for those not aware of Seattle's long flirtation with communism there's this little ditty outlining the Seattle strike of 1919. Warning that the following link is to the Industrial Workers of the World web site:
http://www.iww.org/culture/articles/zinn15.shtml
In my experience not much has changed.
You know you are exactly right.
the Marxist left controls our universities.
But what is anyone doing about it?
Todays conservative leadership is invisible on cultural issues.
Guess too many tax-cut bills need attention.
Don't be fooled - this was a coordinated, staged and rehearsed event. And, at the bottom of it, there was a teacher involved.
We should give credit where credit is due, however. The principal acted responsibly and appropriately.
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.
It's $#!+ like this that makes you wish for the draft to be reinstated they still hung traitors...
That's more like it... :)
We need to use our SUVs and pull this over.
As a veteran, this makes my blood boil, and as a teacher, it makes me want to cry. I try to teach patriotism and love of country to my students....and then this garbage happens in a school. I want to die.
I believe the script was written by that great playwright and patriot, Jim McDermott.
Then who kills the guilty???
You have to feel sorry for kids who have parents who fill their minds with such garbage. Little do they appreciate the irony of protesting those who have provided and maintain their right to protest.
&*^@$#%*%^$#!
What the heck is wrong with Seattle? I swear, do all the morons in the country live there?
IDIOTS!
couldn't of said it better!
Much better would be to send them to live in Cuba or North Korea for a year. They would come back with a much better appreciation of the US and the US military.
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