Last night on 60 Minutes II, they had a brief report on high school and junior high students walking out of their classes to protest war. The reporter made the point that most of the students didn’t even know the basic facts of what they were protesting. Most didn’t know who the leader of Iraq is. Others didn’t even know that we haven’t started the war yet. One girl chanted, “Healthcare, not welfare,” even defending the position to the reporter until he pointed out that her flier said, ‘Healthcare, not warfare.” But what kid can resist the chance to cut class and be applauded for it?
So where are these kids getting the idea to cut classes? It certainly couldn’t be their teachers, could it? It’s not like they get to take those class times off from teaching now. Are those students punished in anyway for their disobedience and truancy? What should happen is that their teachers give them a “zero” for the day.
I’m of the “seen, not heard” camp. Children are not generally capable of rational debate on this level (never mind that many adults aren’t either), and until they have completed their basic education and gained the right to vote and thus become a full citizen, they should sit quietly at their desks and perhaps start their education with finding Iraq on a map.
