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https://freedium-mirror.cfd/https://medium.com/bouncin-and-behavin-blogs/why-dont-my-students-want-to-talk-about-the-war-bf8453c37e67>
"There are a lot of weird things about the Trump administration's war with
Iran, but one of the strangest is that my students don't really want to talk
about it.
This is quite unusual. Though the students at the high school where I teach are
not always interested in the world around them, they usually perk up when
there's the threat of war. They get the sense that they're living through an
important historical event, and some of the students worry that, if things go a
certain way, they're at risk of being drafted. My students usually have a lot
of questions as they try to wrap their heads around the ways that their world
might be changing.
I remember back in 2020, when Trump assassinated the Iranian Quds Force
commander Qassem Soleimani, and it felt like our two countries were on the
brink of wider hostilities. Teachers held a session during extracurricular time
for students to come and ask questions, and so many kids showed up that we ran
out of seats.
I thought we might have the same experience when we held a similar session a
few days into the current American bombing campaign in Iran, but I was
surprised when a modest number of students showed up. In my classes, too,
especially after the initial day of attacks, it seemed that students weren't
all that interested in discussing the war.
I probed a little, trying to figure out why the kids weren't asking questions.
Was it because they didn't think this was important? No, they clearly
understood that war with Iran was a big deal. Was it because they didn't think
it would affect them? Again, no — they had seen the higher gas prices, were
worried about the impact on spring break travel plans, and had studied enough
history in my class to understand that wars can quickly spiral out of control.
It eventually became clear that they understood the significance of the war,
but saw no point in trying to have a logical conversation about such an
irrational event."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
