Last week, my daughter, a brand new schoolteacher, wondered in an e-mail if she should address Hurricane Katrina in her classes. She teaches English to high school girls and was somewhat fearful of triggering anger over the situation. Many of the girls she teaches are African American, and many of the images on television were of black families left without help.
I suggested she encourage the students to talk about what they were seeing and what they were feeling. She was not sure she was equipped to do this and decided to ask the girls to write about how the experience was affecting them. From the writing will come discussion, and from the discussion, hopefully, ideas for change.
The hurricane and its aftermath coincides with the beginning of a new school year and offers an opportunity to create meaningful discussions on natural and man-made disasters, fear and, especially, the obligation we have in society to help each other. It is a moment in time that, awful as it is, allows everyone including teachers and students the chance to delve within themselves to come up with questions, concerns and answers.
The topic can and should be covered from every angle in every class from religion to math and science. It is something that primary teachers and university professors can certainly use as "teachable moments."
Parents need to be aware that adult reactions and discussions about the hurricane and the dilemma of those evacuated will be picked up by the children and have a lasting impression on how the children's view of the world is formed. Twenty or thirty years from now, this hurricane and what it meant in this country will be explained by parents that are now only young children. What these children of today see and hear will affect the way they view the world and the way they teach their own children.
Over the past week, we have witnessed extreme human suffering due to a number of factors. The hurricane itself was frightening. The inability to properly care for the thousands of victims, however, proves to be more frightening than the incident itself. Around the country many are asking what will happen if their region is hit by a natural disaster the magnitude of hurricane Katrina.
It has been impossible to ignore the fact that many black families lacked the means to get out of town before the storm struck. They begged and screamed into the television cameras, pleading for assistance. Watching the frustration and the chaos was for most of us compelling --- and upsetting. The same question kept being asked, "What is going on?"
It is easy to politicize this tragedy, to blame and point fingers. None of that really matters. What is important is that we learn from this horrible spectacle of people abandoned without food, water, medical care and the very basic necessities of life. It has become glaringly obvious to many Americans and to the world that many people live with little comfort and safety.
The work of the government is to re-build bridges, levees and infrastructures of cities and towns as it assists with re-building lives. Our work, the work of the church, is to pray for the families affected by this disaster and to care for as many of the displaced victims as possible. It is time to be creative in our plans. As one of my friends said yesterday, "It is time to imagine the impossible and work to see that it happens."
It is just as important to pray for guidance in how we will direct elected leaders to create and develop policies that will reverse the numbers of Americans living in poverty. The fury of nature has offered us revelations that are shocking. We have an obligation to see that things are changed. Anne Hansen is a parent education consultant and a parishioner at Blessed Junípero Serra Church, Camarillo. Her e-mail address is familymail@aol.com.
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