Children Create Messages of Peace, Tolerance
A world away from the skyscrapers of Manhattan, near cow pastures and vineyards on the outskirts of town, students gathered last Friday at Old Adobe School to commemorate the events of Sept. 11, 2001 by placing messages of peace and tolerance on their school's peace pole.
White paper doves were distributed to every student at the elementary school to be colorfully decorated. Those who could write inscribed the doves with poignant messages about the outside world.
"I wish no one would be lost," whispered one first grade girl, who hadn't yet learned how to put her thoughts on paper.
On the length of ribbon next to her dove were written the wishes of the fifth grade class: pleas for world peace, the end of hunger and education for all.
Friday marked the third anniversary of Peace Day at Old Adobe. It originated as a way for staff and students to observe the terrorist events of Sept. 11 in a pacific way.
Throughout the day, each class took turns attaching their doves to long, white ribbons that stretched from the pole to the ground.
"I wish to stop the war" was the most popular wish among the first graders, although one did express his desire for a new swimming pool.
The peace pole, already a fixture on school grounds in 2002, was revived with a new coat of paint and the tightening of the wooden dove at the top. Illustrating the idea of world peace, the word is carved into the pole in four languages.
"Most children have the right idea about what peace is," Principal Kimberlee Wilding told the crowd at a school-wide assembly. "It's when we become adults that we often forget these key things we learned as children."
In reverence to the innocence of her audience, Wilding avoided referring to the horrors of terrorism and war and complex matters of foreign policy. Instead, she used gentle language, referring briefly to "incidents" and "people that didn't survive.
"We didn't want to make it morose," she explained. "For the most part, we are removed from world events."
Though the subject of war comes up in the upper grades as students begin learning history, Wilding described elementary education as the "luxury of a bubble of innocence."
Last Friday, however, even Old Adobe's youngest students seemed vaguely aware of tragedy and loss.
"Are the flowers for the people that died?" a first grader inquired about the two flower pots placed at the foot of the pole.
"They are for peace and friendship in this world," replied her teacher Linda Brown.