Students raise questions about war against Iraq

Thursday, March 20, 2003 | 10:57 a.m.

Vanessa Anderson's mother called from the Virginia naval base where she awaited orders overseas to ask her daughter, an eighth grader at Bob Miller Middle School in Henderson, what she wanted for her upcoming birthday.

Chances are by the time Vanessa turns 14 in two weeks, her mother -- Petty Officer 2nd Class Maria Howard -- will have been deployed as part of America's fighting force in a war against Iraq.

"I said all I wanted was her to come down here and get me," said Vanessa, who moved to Henderson a month ago to live with relatives because of her mother's expected deployment. "I didn't say I was scared or worried because I didn't want to upset her."

Anderson, along with many of her classmates, had plenty of questions Wednesday when geography teacher Paula Woods decided to skip the day's planned lecture and instead talk to her students about the looming possibility of war.

Students asked pointed questions about the charges leveled against Saddam Hussein by President Bush, including allegations that the Iraqi leader has chemical and biological weapons.

"If we go over there and start a war and kill lots of people aren't we just as bad as him?" Josh Mishler asked.

Michael Norris wanted an explanation for Bush's 48-hour ultimatum, which expired Wednesday.

"We're just giving them time to plan," Norris said. "If we think Saddam is the bad guy we should just go in and get him, not say so ahead of time."

Students also asked why the United States was waging war with Saddam instead of Osama bin Laden.

"All we've talked about since Sept. 11 is Osama," Isabelle Casanova said. "Now we're switching to someone else and we don't know where bin Laden really is."

Woods, who is in her third year teaching in Clark County, sought to reassure students' fears and put the possibility of war into context.

The ultimatum was a final attempt at diplomacy, Woods said. It also put Iraqi civilians on notice and gave them time to prepare, Woods said.

"To some people, that says we don't really want to go to war but we will if we have to," Woods said.

After class Woods said she was impressed by both the level of interest and the knowledge the students had demonstrated.

"Obviously, they're paying attention to what's going on out there," Woods said. "At this age they try to act disaffected a lot of the time but when it comes down to it they do care."

Talking to students about the war has been a tough balancing act for some educators, said Tam Larnerd, principal of Bob Miller Middle School. While the war can be an understandable distraction, the school has an obligation to keep as much of the focus on academic instruction as possible, Larnerd said.

"We try to leave a lot of the discussion to the parents and put our kids' learning at the forefront," said Larnerd, whose brother is a naval commander. "We've asked our school counselors to be aware there may be students who want to talk about the situation, and to make themselves available."

Anderson wasn't the only Miller student with family facing deployment to a potential war zone. Miller student Judy Kim said she's frightened for her 19-year-old sister, Kyoung, an airman who has already been called up to active duty.

"I wonder if she'll actually have to hold a gun," Kim said.

Dave Arvizu, who came to class in a junior ROTC uniform, was anxious for the school day to end so that he could call his father, a Navy reserve medic.

"He said he would probably hear today whether he was going or not," Arvizu said. "It's hard to think about anything else right now."