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Corinne A. Seeds University Elementary School teacher Judy Perlmutter posts students’ respo

Since the outbreak of war in Iraq, administrators and teachers at the university’s elementary school have taken the time to react and reflect on the conflict with some of the youngest members of the UCLA community.

Located on the outskirts of the UCLA campus, Corinne A. Seeds University Elementary School offers a unique educational experience as the self-proclaimed “laboratory” of UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and Information Studies.

The UES philosophy statement emphasizes incorporating real world experiences and events into the classroom. Ascertaining how to make this synthesis is harder, however, when the real-world experience is war.

“We deal with these types of situations on an ad hoc basis – if students are expressing concern, then we figure out the appropriate way to respond,” said UES Principal Donna L. Elder.

In the classroom, teachers have incorporated current events into their lesson plans and discussions.

“The day before bombs dropped we spent all morning discussing the situation with students,” sixth-grade social studies teacher Judy Perlmutter said of her main discussion with students.

Perlmutter’s talk included a review of the history and geography of the Middle East, a topic studied earlier in the year, as well as an open discussion about students’ feelings toward war.

According to UES writing teacher and safe school specialist Ava de la Sota, teachers take care in remaining neutral and stressing respect for differences during discussions of such hot topics.

“We want our students to be empowered to use their own words and make their own decisions,” de la Sota said.

Reflecting on her students’ backgrounds Perlmutter commented, “Because we’re part of UCLA, our parents tend to be a pretty well-educated, left-thinking group, and our students seem to be echoing what their parents are thinking.”

While much student sentiment appears to be a reflection of their parents’ thinking, they are beginning to see the world outside themselves, Perlmutter said.

One way students have expressed their personal feelings is through art and poetry.

“Art and literature provide a good medium through which teachers, parents and children can examine and make sense of the war,” said Virginia Walter, associate professor and chair of the information studies department.

For Perlmutter’s class poetry assignment, several students chose to write about war and peace. As part of his poem entitled “Peace,” sixth-grader Joshua wrote, “War rages around me/ but I think nothing of it.”

In his poem “The Longest Word,” sixth-grader Jake said, “The longest word in the world is war/ because it lives on with its action long gone/ in the hearts of the people/ and the world and beyond.”

Upon return from a two-week spring break coinciding with the first two weeks of the war, Jacobs sent a letter to parents explaining factors that could affect their child’s reaction to the war.

“How children respond will depend on a number of factors, including the level of exposure they’ve had to the violence, the responses of others, the nature of what has been seen or heard, and each child’s temperament and current emotional state,” UES Director of Psychological Services Dr. Jeffrey Jacobs said.

“While we have seen a few cases of kids displaying signs of mild anxiety, the situation in Iraq does not appear to have caused any kind of serious distress,” Jacobs said. The school saw more cases and more acute anxiety following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, he said.

Perlmutter agreed that war is not a priority on the minds of most students, describing her students’ feelings as being “personally disconnected” from the war.

“At this point, the kids no longer have any immediate concerns ... I think that these issues are just in the back of their minds,” Perlmutter said.