Re: [sept11info] Please help me with advice on how to deal with this situation.

["Shelly Constantz" <sconstantz@workadvertising.com>]

I'm not an educator, but a mother.  

I hope you take the time tomorrow to allow your students to express
themselves *constructively*.  I would lay some ground rules up front (use
your best judgement).  My 3 (almost 4) year old had at least a million
questions like "who are the bad guys?" "why did they do this?"  " will the
president fight them?", etc.  Clearly, he is affected by this and how his
parents are affected by it.

I would then work into it that we (Americans) don't "rush to judgement"
and remind them of the Oklahoma bombing when the country was sure it was a
mid-eastern terrorist group and found out it wasn't, but a home grown
crazy, white boy.  I would remind my students that America is made up of
many peoples....Chinese-Americans, African-Americans, HIspanic-Americans,
Japanese-Americans, etc., and the one thing that binds them is they are
AMERICANS.

The COWARDS who perpetrated this evil do it from a distance.  They don't
wan't to know who the enemy is because it is easier to "kill" the faceless
enemy.  It is important to talk to each other and other peoples, to learn
about them, and who they are because these acts are less likely to happen
if we do.  And for one day, for one hour, you can make that happen in your
class.

You have my prayers as you watch over and help guide our children through
this.

Shelly