Distorted View

I know from experience that the last thing children need during war or rumors of war is the hoopla that engulfed the students at Hancock Elementary.

During the Vietnam War, I taught 6th grade at Perry Elementary in the Bayview Naval housing area. Most of the students’ fathers were in the war zone, and we often talked about our fears and our hopes and dreams. We talked about the world as it, perhaps, should be--loving and caring--and how it really is--paranoid and troubled.

I’ll always remember how insightful and capable those beautiful young people were, how they contributed to making our classroom a dynamic and fun-filled learning environment (to the extent possible under the circumstances). Their minds were open and pliable, fully capable of going in any direction, based on the guidance they received, or other influences in their lives.

Our children and grandchildren cannot be all they can be if war continues as an option in human relations. From us, they should learn how to cooperate and resolve conflicts. From us they should hear peace stories instead of war stories.

ERNIE McCRAY

San Diego