Truth from the mouths of children....wheres the MSM?

[drummer55]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1424024,00.html

Soldier shocked by pupils' letters

Gary Younge in New York
Thursday February 24, 2005
The Guardian

A teacher has apologised for letters sent by his sixth-grade students to an American soldier, accusing the US military of killing civilians and destroying Iraqi mosques in a futile war on terror.
Alex Kunhardt sent the letters to Private Rob Jacobs for a social studies assignment. Pte Jacobs, who is serving 10 miles from the North Korean border, said his excitement at getting the letters from the Brooklyn schoolchildren turned to shock as he read them.

One of the letters from the 11- to 12-year-old pupils, stamped with a smiley face, said the soldier might have been risking his life for his country, but then asked: "Have you seen how many civilians you or some other soldier killed?"

Another read: "I feel that you are being forced to kill innocent people. Iraq never attacked us, if Bush cared so much about this country then we would be out there trying to find Osama bin Laden. Bush calls this war the war on terrorism. What terrorism? Name one terrorist from Iraq ... I know I can't."

Most letters did include support for the troops, but few were completely uncritical. A Muslim boy wrote: "I know your trying to save our country and kill the terrorists but you are also destroying holy places like mosques."

Another stated: "Bush thinks he's brave ... in his safe little white house with as many guards as he thinks he needs." He concluded with: "By the way, when you shoot someone, is it great or horrible?"

Pte Jacobs, 20, told the New York Post: "It's hard enough for soldiers to deal with being away from their families, they don't need to be getting letters like this. If they don't have anything nice to say, they might as well not say anything at all." Pte Jacobs added that the letters were demoralising.


Mr Kunhardt apologised this week. "It was never my intention to demean or insult anyone. I never meant for the words of my students to hurt any of our troops," he said.

Pte Jacobs's father accepted the apology on his son's behalf.

Michael Bloomberg, New York's mayor, said: "We have freedom of speech and you certainly cannot go around censoring what people want to write. I think most of believe that the freedoms we have ... are protected by them putting their lives at risk."

[drummer55]

1. cause I think its important. n/t

[Moderator]

2. drummer55

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[PunkPop]

3. I know I'd like to know more

Like how these children got so smart so young?

But you're not going to hear anything about these precious tikes. They're telling ugly truths.

[coffeenap]

4. Just like prejudice is learned at home, good things are too--

you should hear my 10 year old go at it with her friends! (Her favorite shirt is her AirAmerica one--I won't let her wear some others--we need her to stay in school;-) )

[Toucano]

5. I think that's a mistake.

Those letters should have been sent to Bush, Cheney, and Condi.

[mwb970]

6. Yes. The troops are NOT THE PROBLEM. (n/t)

[FreedomAngel82]

8. That would've been a good idea

Maybe the teacher should've done that instead. But like the teacher said we have freedom of speech and if we censore them when will it stop? The White Rose Society taught us that well. That's why it's so important to me to always have freedom of speech. The kids weren't being mean, I don't think. They weren't calling him names or anything like that.

[Toucano]

9. It isn't a freedom of speech issue.

I'm not suggesting the government prohibit children from sending such letters to soldiers.

The letters criticizing soldiers are ill-advised.

If my child sees an obese woman in the supermarket and walks up to her and says, "You should go on a diet. You're killing yourself with food," he's free to do that. But it would be inappropriate. Did he call her a name? No, but it still isn't the right thing to do. Children have to be taught what is appropriate. Burdening soldiers with letters that wrongly criticize them is inappropriate in ANY war.

It would have been better if the teacher helped the children direct their concerns to the people ultimately responsible for the situation: Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, or Condi.

Soldiers aren't decision makers. School children should be taught that.

[ultraist]

7. Will Pitt wrote an article about that

http://forum.truthout.org/blog/main/2