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Posted on 04/15/2003 7:18:49 AM PDT by LurkedLongEnough
Only one of the three groups of fifth-graders at a Brookfield elementary school asked about the war during character education workshops held recently. At a primary school in New Milford, no adults have discussed the war with the children since the United States and Great Britain led the invasion into Iraq on March 19.
Some students at a Danbury school are collecting items for a Marine in the war, but the conflict hasn’t worried most on campus.
Before the war, school officials around the region sent letters home to parents urging them to monitor their children’s television viewing and coached school staff about how to answer children’s questions about war.
But it hasn’t turned out to be the anxiety-provoking event that was feared.
"I think initially I saw some anxiety. There were a lot of questions,” said Grace Gaynor, the student assistant counselor for the Brookfield middle and high schools. "I have to say that there were some concerns. But now things are back to normal and focusing on the routines of every day.”
Gaynor said some students worried about economic fallout from the war. For instance, whether a parent might lose a job because of the flagging economy. At the high school, history classes discussed the war and some students planned a rally for the troops.
But to Gaynor, students appeared more prepared for the 24-hour media coverage of the war than adults.
"They were children during Desert Storm so they grew up with this kind of technology, and it was not as traumatic as it might be for adults,” she said.
Ridgefield schools’ decision to maintain as normal a routine as possible served the district well, said Patricia O’Connor, director of pupil personnel services and special education.
"I’ve heard of no increase of services, so I think staff did a really good job of having as normal an operation as possible,” O’Connor said. "The message was very clear to keep as much normalcy as possible and focus on education. We told staff to answer the questions but not to dwell on the war.”
The staff was told not to take political sides when answering questions and to take an intellectual approach to the war when dealing with the older students.
"No one has reported anything out of the ordinary,” O’Connor said. "We down-played this completely and concentrated on what we had planned for their education.”
Joyce Burns, Park Avenue School’s social worker, said she hasn’t seen behavior changes.
Some students have written to a Marine who is a friend of a staff member. The girls in an after-school program are making him a pillow with some of his favorite things to send to him.
"A lot of it has to do with parents monitoring the TV watching, and I think our teachers are doing a marvelous job of addressing questions on a developmental level so they (students) are satisfied,” Burns said.
"One fourth-grader asked if the war could be active in the United States. We got a map out and showed where Iraq was and where we were. He saw that it was too far for us to be involved. It gives kids something concrete that is comforting to them.”
Charles Manos, a psychologist in the Danbury schools, said he disagrees with some professionals in blaming adults for infecting children with their worry.
"I’ve seen more concern and worry on the adults’ part, both parents and teachers. I have not see more frequent concerns from kids nor more acting out than normal,” said Manos, who serves two private and two public schools that range from kindergarten through 12th grade.
"Children are creatures of routine and schools provide that structure and offer them a place of security. I think if kids bring fears into school, it is because they have been overwhelmed at home,” Manos said.
"I think we are so horrified by what we see,” he said, "but we need to be careful what we communicate to kids.”
The students in kindergarten through third grade at New Milford’s Northville Elementary School have been shielded from war talk at school.
"Our primary schoolhouse is a refuge from things like war. We’ve been fine,” said Northville principal Thomas Atticks. "War has not been an issue here. This is not a place to discuss adult things. Let this be a place of happiness and learning.”
He hasn’t seen tanks on art projects or gunplay at recess.
"I’m very pleased it hasn’t affected the school. I’m sure kids have it on TV at home,” Addicks said. "I think it speaks to the sensitivity of the parents to keep this an adult issue.”
At Bethel Middle School, teacher Sherry Earle said the war has had a "remarkably uneventful” effect on the school climate even though a teacher deployed to the war personalized the event for them.
She has found that students accepted the war as a given and didn’t seem upset by the graphic television coverage.
"I think it was almost like a TV show, watching the war on TV. And I think that puts it more into the category of make-believe,” said Earle, who teaches the gifted and talented students. "The first day of the war, some kids were worried about terrorism acts here. But when they didn’t happen they just calmed down.”
Earle thought the war’s personal impact on students was limited because, compared to cities with military bases, there are relatively few local people in the military. Bethel’s top administrators directed the staff not to be partisan in discussions about the war and Earle thought that advice held down discussions of war altogether.
"I did a lot with geography of Iraq in my classes. It’s a region of the world we know little about. They were stunned to find out about the religions, like the Kurds and the Shiites. They had a lot of questions, but it was curiosity more than fear,” Earle said.
Manos said he has worked with families who are so overwhelmed by their daily lives that there is no room to fit one more thing into it, like the war.
Even monitoring the television can be a burden, he said.
"When we ask parents to turn off the TV, it seems on the surface to be easy. But it is an overwhelming thing to ask for since it means the parents have to attend to their children in a different way and monitor them in a different way,” Manos said.
Manos worried about parents who over-respond to the war and even questioned the value of having children write to soldiers they didn’t know.
"We can make it into a spectacle. It is very tempting to do that,” Manos said.
Sigh. What an absolute loser.
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