School kids send soldiers vicious letters
The NY Post reports that some soldiers in Iraq received school kids' letters "strewn with politically charged rhetoric, vicious accusations and demoralizing predictions that only a handful of soldiers would leave the Iraq war alive." Pfc. Ron Jacobs got one.

One Muslim boy wrote: "Even thoe [sic] you are risking your life for our country, have you seen how many civilians you or some other soldier killed?"

His letter, which was stamped with a smiley face, went on: "I know your [sic] trying to save our country and kill the terrorists but you are also destroying holy places like Mosques."

Most of the 21 letters Jacobs provided to The Post mentioned some support for the armed forces, if not the Iraq war, and thanked him for his service. But nine of the students made clear their distaste for the president or the war.

The letters were written as a social-studies assignment [of a middle school class].

The school's principal responded to queries thus:

"While we would never censor anything that our children write, we sincerely apologize for forwarding letters that were in any way inappropriate to Pfc. Jacobs. This assignment was not intended to be insensitive, but to be supportive of the men and women in service to our nation."

So why wouldn't he censor? The assignment was to write "supportive" letters to troops. Presumably, the teacher read what the children wrote as he would read any other assignment. So did the writers of the vicious letters get a failing grade for not being supportive? Why were those letters mailed? This is pretty ratty.

by Donald Sensing, 2/21/2005 10:15:00 PM. Permalink |