Week 5- “Love for Syria- Tackling World Crises with Small Children”

 2/19/2024

“Love for Syria- Tackling World Crises with Small Children” Notes and other thoughts

https://rethinkingschools.org/articles/love-for-syria/

Linked above is the article that I chose from the “Rethinking Schools” website. I stumbled on it after browsing for a half hour or so. On the surface, I was interested in what the article had to say about teaching difficult concepts to young children, like war and conflict. But I was also thinking about how the kids that I teach do not have such a grasp. I have never once heard them talk about any of the emergent conflicts of the past few years, whether it be Ukraine or Palestine. It isn’t technically relevant to them– but I wonder if they would be more attuned to talking about it if such concepts were introduced at a younger age, in an environment where it is safe to experience feelings and thoughts. A lot of American schools seem to skirt around these ideas of war and conflict (I wonder why… maybe America’s responsibility in many of them). In any case, this is why I gravitated towards this particular topic.

In the article, teacher and author Cami Touloukian experiences a moment in which her student-teacher shares her emotions about the conflict in Syria, and the children in the classroom are empathetic to her. This inspires Touloukian to begin developing a lesson discussing the conflict with her 1st and 2nd graders, and questioning the ethics and logic of discussing these topics with children. 

“But I also worried that if I dug too much into the topic of war and refugees, parents in our mostly white, privileged community would be upset”

Again the topic of race and privilege becomes apparent, which I think was inevitable. Those with privilege are not privy to– or perhaps don’t want to think about– the struggles of those who do not have their status or privilege. I question, what kind of parental outcry would you get teaching this to a classroom one day? Would it depend where the school is situated? Would anyone care?

“I couldn’t help but wonder though, was it so bad to feel sadness about what was happening in Syria? After all, it is sad. And perhaps tapping into our feelings is exactly what needs to happen more often at home and at school. If we don’t feel anything, if we are oblivious or numb, then we won’t do anything to make a difference”

This quote resonates with me. It is the argument both FOR and AGAINST teaching war and conflict to young kids. Parents do not want their kids to feel upset or sad, which is understandable. But as Touloukian points out, this pure emotion is exactly what helps develop empathy and understanding. Experiencing that would allow kids to grow, and gain a more mature perspective. Empathy is the thing that is lacking in many kids– eventually gained, but even the middle schoolers I teach often lack empathy and foresight. We would be better off introducing these concepts to younger children– would it fast track this empathy?

“At first, we simply had to create an alternate plan for Madeline, as her mom insisted that she did not want her to be a part of this unit. However, as time passed and feelings calmed, her mom began to develop a better understanding of what we were teaching and Madeline began to join in more”

While most parents were supportive of teaching the topic, one parent created resistance with Touloukian, arguing that the topic of war wasn’t appropriate for children. However, in the emails sent out, it created a positive discussion amongst parents, who shared their support with refugees from the conflict. And I think this experience she’s describing is indicative, how a hotly contested topic opens the door for greater visibility and understanding of the issues. So long as the environment is civil and professional, people are able to talk to each other at a human level, at an empathetic level. So much of the politics and rhetoric of today is so aggressive in its “us vs them” mentality, we forget that there can actually be rational discussion created between opposing parties. I believe this is all the more reason why Touloukian is on to something with this practice– discussion is always good, even if there is disagreement.

“As our unit came to an end, the children asked what they could do to help. Now that they understood a little better, they wanted to give back and they wanted to make a positive impact on the world”

Touloukian argues that teaching concepts of war, conflict, and refugees to small children is incredibly helpful– it promotes an understanding of struggle outside of our own world views, and creates empathy in young children– something that is otherwise somewhat difficult to instill. It promoted her students to take action and talk about it with their peers as well.

I couldn’t agree more with her sentiment– the experiment clearly worked. I think having these discussions, for however much they are emotionally draining or upsetting, is important. It creates empathy and understanding, on top of self awareness. So much of today’s youth lead incredibly incurious lives, accepting things as they are. But I believe teaching that there are unpleasant things in the world, unpleasant things to experience, creates and gives students and kids much needed perspective.

It all reminds me again of the on-going conflict between schools and parents. What the parent believes to be right to teach to their children. As hopeful as this article is, it was written in 2017. In today’s political climate, is it impossible to have these discussions of race, conflict, and strife without severe backlash? How can we change the minds of not only children, but their parents as well?