Does anyone really believe the children would have been scared?

[Liberal Veteran]

If Bush had simply got up and said I have some important presidential stuff to deal with and have to cut this short, does anyone really think a bunch of elementary school students would have jumped to conclusion that something majorly big was going on?

Not to put too fine a point on it, but kids that age are pretty callow.

[Nlighten1]

1. Not only that but...

he didn't have to say "why" he was leaving.

[shraby]

2. All he would have had to do

was say "excuse me children, I have some unexpected business to attend to" and the teacher could have taken over.

[Don_G]

3. They Wouldn't Have Been Scared

More likely Dimbo had to change his shorts before his trip to that bunker out west.

[neuvocat]

4. Not as scared as what they saw on tv.

I remember a young mother who told me how her son asked about the people jumping from the buildings on tv. She had to tell him that it was just a scary movie (yeah, not a good dodge but what else would you do).

Anyways, just telling them would have been nothing compared to just not telling them and letting them find out about it without warning.

[Solly Mack]

5. I don't think it would have scared them...though

I would never call that age group callow. I worked w/ younger kids at head start and some of my kids were downright savvy. Some had also experienced more of life (albeit bad) than any 5 year should ever have to face at such an early age. I'm a big fan of 5 year olds. Smartest people on earth.

[Liberal Veteran]

10. No, callow is the proper word...

...yeah, there are some exceptions and kids can surprise us, but for the most part they don't see things the way adults do through the lens of knowledge and experience. It would be safe to say that most kids that age aren't even all that aware of politics or the relevance of the President other than he is someone important.

[gpandas]

28. isn't it amazing when people who probably,,,

don't know what a word means, correct your usage of the word?

[barbaraann]

6. Given a choice between saving lives and not scaring children,

I would have gone with saving lives.

[Wilber_Stool]

7. He stayed because

this would be the first book he ever read all the way through.

[eyesroll]

8. In first grade, I probably would have assumed the principal needed to

talk to him, or there was another teacher out in the hall with a question, or he had to go to the bathroom -- in other words, I would have assumed that he left for the same reasons my teacher occasionally left.

[classof56]

9. I don't know about callow...

But they certainly would not have known what was going on. And I can't imagine many of them would have spent a lot of time in counseling later on in life because the "Prez" didn't read them a book. They should be plenty scared now, however. Chances are, if * stays in office, they'll be going off to fight one of his idiotic wars in a few years.

God help us all!

[Liberal Veteran]

12. Callow is not a insult....it's a decription of experience level.

It means "lacking adult sophistication".

I don't know why anyone would challenge that as a description of small children.

[Solly Mack]

13. Because it also means "lacking experience of life"

or so webster claims..which is the wording I always use when applying the word.

And no one is challenging you. But because of my experiences as a teacher, *I* don't automatically think of young children as callow. Not agreeing with the description in no way means anyone is challenging you. Disagreement isn't challenge...it's just disagreement.

[Liberal Veteran]

17. I was pointing out that saying pre-schoolers are callow is not an insult..

Indeed, most pre-schoolers are "lacking in adult sophistication" and "lacking experience in life".

Some people take offense at pointing that out, but kids are kids. It's the reason we don't normally leave them without supervision and why they can't enter into contracts.

Having to people disagree with the word callow which properly describes why kids would not jump to conclusions gave me a reason to point out that callow is not an insult, merely a general statement of the maturity level of most kids that age.

[Solly Mack]

18. lol Good gawd. I never said it was an insult

Nowhere did I ever say that. I simply said I wouldn't use the word to describe young kids. Having worked with them, I think I can say that with the knowledge of life experience. I knew kids who were far less naive than adults and far more aware of their environment. This is why I wouldn't make the automatic assumption about any child.

It doesn't mean you can't use the word. It doesn't mean I thought you used the incorrect word. You are making a lot of assumptions and putting words in my mouth I never said. Get off the defensive for no slight was intended.

[Liberal Veteran]

22. I don't believe I ever said you did say that it was an insult.

You are replying to my reply to someone else.

I explained why I used the word callow and your stated your position that not kids are callow nor are all adult sophisticated. To which I respond: Duh!

I'm not the one who took issue with the my choice of words, but being a polite person, I explained why I chose that word and in what context I meant it.

[Solly Mack]

24. You posted your response # 17 to my comment, # 13 - however

if you meant to reply to post #9, you can well understand why I would *think* you were responding to me instead of someone else. Especially since your reply to the other post was "branched" under my comment - which indicates a reply to the post directly above it.

I didn't take issue with your choice of words either. Which is yet another assumption. I simply said I wouldn't refer to children that way. There is a difference between taking issue, making a challenge and merely making a comment. I have no hidden agenda. I just see children differently. I amat a loss as to why that is seen as a challenge or as "taking issue"...

I honestly think you've blown this all out of proportion. You word usuage was fine. I was speaking for me, personally...not for everyone else...or telling everyone else how they should describe kids.

I'm sorry if it seemed otherwise.

[classof56]

15. My apologies

I should have checked my dictionary before jumping in there with my comment. I have grandsons who were the age of the kids in the FLA classroom and just never thought of them as callow, but you are right on. They are definitely less callow now, believe me. That day aged us all. One of the reasons I remain...

Tired Old Cynic

[readmylips]

11. bush didn't think about the Iraqi children being scared when....

he bomb the hell out of them. bush killed their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and grandparents. bush is just a fucking son of a fat bitch. Christian....my ass.

[Sparkly]

14. Maybe if he'd jumped up and yelled "Oh my GOD, We're under ATTACK!"

They act like there were only two options: Jump up and freak out and frighten the children, or sit there doing NOTHING... I can't believe anybody is dumb enough to buy this "explanation."

[OldCurmudgeon]

20. the "explanation" is on par with

the "explanation" is on par with the "explanation" for why Bush was flying all around the country on 9/11, and not heading back to DC.

It was cowardice and panic, and the dimwitted lies to try and cover it up.

[recoveringrepublican]

16. My opinion is who cares if he scared the children

I remember being glued to the TV that day. Talking heads saying how more that 50,000 people visited the WTC buildings (I think they meant both towers had over 50,000 visitors), first estimates of over 10,000 people dead. I love children (have two young ones myself), but this was not the time to be worried if the children were scared, it was time to get off his ass, investigate what was going on and figure out what could be done to spare more lives. To say he sat there on his ass so he wouldn't scare the children is to say it's ok to sacrifice lives (didn't at least 1 child die in one of the planes) to spare the parents the trouble of having to explain to their children that not everyone loves America. Shoot me for saying this, but this event should have be a prime learning experience.

[newyawker99]

25. Hi recoveringrepublican!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[AndyTiedye]

19. They Should Have Evacuated the School

It was an obvious target.

Unless Bush* knew that it wouldn't be.
How'd he know that?

[Hippo_Tron]

26. The only reason we know about the school is cause he was there on 9/11

Nobody knew that he would be there in advance.

[Bridget Burke]

27. His appearance at the school was announced September 7th.

Although it had been planned for months.

Later that same day, 9/11 hijackers Mohamed Atta and Marwan Alshehhi traveled to Sarasota and enjoyed drinks and dinner at a Holiday Inn only two miles down the sandy beach from where Bush was scheduled to stay during his Sarasota visit.

www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/main/essayaninterestingday.html

[robbedvoter]

21. NY Post tried it once: "he immediately got up, left and went to respond"

It was on DU at the time.

[Cheswick2.0]

23. hell no

Unless he said, "listen boys and girls, the country is under attack and planes might hit here any minute...gotta go", why would they be scared?