| Show The Herald Journal Logan Utah Tuesday June II 198S W "I tell my mom that when I grow up I don't want to have a child because I might die and she might die" The third graders sit quietly listening to each other talk about nuclear weapons and what they think their future holds "I feel like there's a nuclear war going on inside me and it's terrible" intones a serious d girl dark-haire- -- From the video "There's a Nuclear War Going on Inside Me" By Jennifer Hines Fitch staff writer Hopelessness and helplessness are themes expressed over and over again by the Boston children children in the video “There’s a Nuclear War Going on Inside Me" produced by Educators for Social Responsibility Boston As older school-ag- e children are interviewed their fears began to turn to anger and frustration The students express cynicism and a mistrust of the superpowers’ right to engage in nuclear arms buildup How can parents and teachers respond to such fears and feelings? A group of 10 teachers from Utah Idaho and Wyoming last week attended a Utah State University workshop that focused on teaching techniques designed to help children cope with the nuclear age "Education for Peace: Teaching and Parenting in the Nuclear Age” was sponsored by College of Education and directed by Deborah Byrnes assistant professor in elementary education Cast in the role of students instead of teachers participants learned how ignorant they themselves were about nuclearissues They discovered the stereotypes and misinformation in their own minds as they listened to differing points of view— including the perception of an expert from Hercules who presented his case for peace through arms buildup They were exposed to masses of information— about the Soviet people about nuclear weapons And they made the decision as a group on how to structure the workshop Through the learning process the participants were given the tools to help their students cope with the nuclear age But do teachers have the right to go into the classroom and teach their students to work for peace? "Not only do they have that right they have that obligation” said Shelley Berman coordinator for Educators for Social Responsibility Boston and one of the workshop leaders "There is no one in the world who would want war “Our children play war We teach war in history classes but we never teach peace We are seeking to help students get a social consciousness so they can create a better viewpoints” he said Teachers should present points of view without biases he said and give their students problem-solvin- g and world "It's not right or left conservative or liberal— we all have goals to make this a better world” "We want to help students to be critical thinkers" said Elise Turner a Santa Fe N If educator who specializes in education for peace and a workshop leader "We don't want to shake up belief systems but reaffirm people’s own beliefs We are teaching people to see alternatives Everyone has their own pointofview "We need to teach students to learn decision-makin- g skills to gather information let them know there is more than one point of view” Turner who teaches in the New Mexico area says she has never experienced opposition from parents to her curriculum: “We don’t teach in a proselytizing highly political way” Her curriculum is designed to break down rigid thinking and stereotypes and to give students information on which they can base decisions It teaches decision-makin- g and conflict resolution skills and offers experiences in cooperation Turner's curriculum attempts to “empower” the students to help defeat feelings of powerlessness and helplessness “Direct action is important but even more important is getting information That is the basis of feeling powerful and in control" she said Berman echoed that idea "Teachers should be informed They should teach children there are alternatives” he said "AH children no matter what the age should be taught there is more than one point of view They should learn to accept other ( cooperation skills The workshop participants an women but one sat on the dark green carpeting in a room of the Taggart Student Center and freely discussedtheir reactions to the video and their own experiences in the classroom Some of them had been asked by their students questions about the nuclear arms race and heard fears expressed about visions of certain annihilation Teachers said in the past they had often tended to pass over the opportunity for using such questions as a teaching tool because they did not know how to deal with the subject r Teachers agreed that in the future they would respond differently to their students concerns about nuclear war They said they would respond honestly to their students but in such a way that was cognizant of the child’s development The would attempt not to scare the student but to give him or her an honest realistic answer The participants agreed they would like to offer their students more information on the Soviet people They felt there is a lot of misinformation and stereotyping of the Soviets that is not true They said they would try to offer their students more accurate information One teacher from Kemmerer Wyo said she would like more than anything else to teach her students that peace begins within themselves The participants were given specific ideas for teaching students the skills to be critical thinkers and cooperative responsible citizens They learned that "Peace Awards” can be presented to children who can work together and resolve conflicts through peaceable means They discovered that an authoritarian teacher can squelch critical thinking and were encouraged to allow children to come See PEACE on page 10 |
