War brings battle to US, UK schools

While the war in Iraq may be distant from most classrooms around the world, schools in Britain and the US have been far from immune to the impact.

In Britain, up to 8,000 schoolchildren walked out of classes a few days ago to stage sit-ins and anti-war demonstrations, in what are thought to have been the first national political protests by pupils since the 1970s.

In London, more than 1,000 pupils, mainly girls, from at least 20 schools joined university students for a protest in Parliament Square.

Chaos was reported in Birmingham, as more than 4,000 child defied their schools and met in the city's main square. Unprepared police tried to stop them occupying the city council offices.

In Liverpool, 800 pupils, some in school uniform, joined other anti-war protests and closed several motorway junctions. In Manchester, up to 2,000 schoolchildren and university students blocked traffic and staged a protest outside the BBC offices.

Similar demonstrations and sit-ins, mostly organised by text messages, were held in other cities and in schools around Britain.

The protests have not gone down well with the authorities. One sixth-former was suspended for urging pupils to walk out in protest, and the child-led anti-war demonstrations have been condemned by teaching unions and the police.

One pertinent question being asked by educationalists in both countries is how to approach the war inside the classroom.

Last week, overseas aid agencies joined forces to encourage teachers not to be frightened of tackling sensitive topical issues. Julian Filochowski, director of Cafod, said: "Schools cannot teach in a vacuum. They must be relevant to the outside world and engage students in issues they care about. Right now that issue is war."

One commentator observed: "Schools everywhere are facing a battle trying to find ways in which children's passionate response to the war - of whatever kind - can be appropriately expressed and constructively channelled."

While the US has seen its own share of anti-war protests, individual schools there are approaching the war in contrasting ways, ranging from open discussion to virtual blackouts on the topic.

In some schools students are allowed to watch televised war coverage regardless of the subject they are studying. Sometimes the volume is on low, and other times discussion of the war dominates a class. In other schools, newspaper articles are read and discussed daily.

Many schools expect teachers to keep their views about the war to themselves. One teacher was quoted as saying: "As teachers, we do not give our opinions, rather we leave it up to students to draw their own conclusions."

"The war and the economy do cause concern, and our students are pretty thorough. They're looking at this war, and they're taking an academic approach," said another. "We teach our students to analyse situations and think them through. When they take a stance, they can defend it."

On the other hand, one student said some of his friends were not likely to speak up because of their teachers. "If you're pro-war, you're probably nervous because most of the people are against it. Teachers often show bias by asking questions that promote answers that are anti-war."

Not everyone thinks all students should be talking about the war, and some educationalists argue that discussion of the war should be left out of elementary school classrooms.

"I think parents should be talking about it and putting their children at rest," said one.

Teachers acknowledge that it can be a difficult trying to explain a war to young children, although one teacher is using it to put across some lessons: "I told them that our president made a decision and there may be consequences. For example, when they misbehave, there are consequences. I have to reach them at their level."

One pupil said she wished her teachers would talk about the war and wonders what they would do if the area near the school were bombed. "It would help me understand," she said. "Right now, we don't know why President Bush wants us to go to war."

Back in Britain, the National Union of Teachers, in its new guidelines on the impact of war in schools, points out that the new citizenship course requires pupils be taught about national and religious identities, and social justice, which provides an opportunity to discuss the war.

Some classes have had discussions on the UN and its future role. Others about America being a big powerful country.

One education psychologist argues that it's also important to remember that many feelings are not unique to the current conflict. "The fears and anxiety and worries that they have around this war are not necessarily specific to war. Loss, aggression, separation - these things should be dealt with at all times, not just now."

Whatever opportunities schools make available for discussion, it's clear that pupils are demanding a voice. As a 14-year-old protester outside the Houses of Parliament said last week: "Our opinions matter as much as anyone's."