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What Would You Do?
Question for the group:
My first grade son brought home and assignment as follows:
For the week of November 12-16, the theme of our sharing will be Veteran's Day. On the bottom of this sheet there is a star. Each child will choose a veteran, write the veteran's name on the star and prepare to share some information about that person. It can be any member of your famly who has served in the armed services, a friend, or a famous veteran you have read about. We will be displaying all the stars. We will follow our normal "share" schedule that week. It is printed on the back. It is our hope that this experience will help make veteran's Day more meaningful for the students.
I have no idea how to handle this. My father and grandfather were both naval academy graduates and veterans of WWI, both are deceased. They both felt that Veteran's Day was a day for tears. They felt that war, any war, was a failure of humanity. My husband and I feel there are no wars of nobility, only necessity.
Having said that, how would you handle this situation?
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I think that story is a powerful teacher. Your son could "imagine" the story of his forebearers, through you or your husband, or scrapbooks, or research online.
Here at the university, we are planning a semester-long exploration of WAR as an interdisciplinary topic. I think STORYtelling and creative art-making will play a role in this exploration. I hope so because when we listen to, retell, and advance those stories, we truly understand what is at stake.
Tell your son how you and your husband feel, and the others you mentioned. Tell him how you came to that conclusion.
You may feel that your son is just a child and that there will be peer pressure or some type of negative reaction from the teacher.
You will be strengthening his resolve should he ever become a conscientious objector. If he does, he has to document that his convictions started early, and where they came from.
We went through the same thing (not exactly the same assignment). My son went to antiwar rallies since infancy and knew why his father didn't go to war but his grandfathers did and some of his uncles.
We allowed no war toys and taught why.
I realize that is just one opinion.