what the what?

the students at school are participating in an extension of poetry week.  they are all responsible for memorizing poems and reciting them to several people in order to receive a grade.  one student chose the “Confederate Anthem.”  another one of my students today asked if I had heard it and asked if liked it…i answered honestly, and i don’t like it…and not just because i am a yankee.  it talks about wishing the confederacy had one, and that they should have killed more people than they did.

i did not appreciate the “poem”.  my student could not believe that i did not like it.

we continued to have a conversation on war and and people’s lives.

it was so hard for me to understand him, and he was astonished that i did not agree with his point of view.  i understand that i live in a country where people have fought for my freedom and lives have been lost…however, i will never celebrate or rejoice over lives being lost at the hands of others, despite justification.

meanwhile, this student was triumphing over the loss of life when he felt it was justified.  the student then progressed to talking about how the atomic bomb was necessary.  and when i asked whether or not he felt that a weapon that causes people to be disintegrated on the sidewalk was necessary…he responded “it stopped the japanese didn’t it?”

what the what?!

taken aback

am i wrong for not understanding why people may think that taking another’s life is acceptable based on circumstance?  i understand that it does happen, but i will never triumph over it.  am i close-minded in thinking this view is wrong?  am i wrong in thinking that this student’s concept of truth is skewed?  am i wrong in thinking that i have to get this kid to change his mind?

Advertisement