Students Who Protest the Gulf Crisis

I read a letter to The Times (Dec. 2) from Irving E. Friedman regarding his “great disappointment” (over) the protesting high school students.

I am a student at Dana Hills High School, which is one of the schools that had students protesting the military forces in the Middle East and had students protesting the protesters. I am appalled at the condescending attitude of this teacher. We are peacefully voicing our opinions of the crisis, and, instead of being praised for it, we are criticized by some parents, students and teachers.

In our school systems, we are taught to solve our problems in peaceful and non-violent ways. Our country was founded by protesting the taxes and laws imposed by the British. In America we need to protest against what we believe to be wrong, and society should support the peaceful protests of these students.

High school students usually cannot vote because of their age and this is the only way they can tell their government what they think. This letter is my form of protesting the ignorance of people who want students to be taught about history but do not want them to take part in making history. If students learn to voice their opinions peacefully, this can help lead to understanding between races, religions and even countries. When young adults learn not to fight, that means a more peaceful future for all of us.

Mr. Friedman says “no sane . . . person is in favor of war, but there are worse things.” I agree with him. Losing your son, brother or father are the worst things in life. These things would rapidly occur if we went to war with a country that boasts about its million-man army. We should all protest this potential war with Iraq because oil is not worth a single human life.

GREG ROA, Laguna Niguel