Teaching to Change LA's Peace Page

YouthSpeak

No Business as Usual at Schools, Work or in the Neighborhoods

Sponsored by Westside Neighbors United for Peace and Justice, on March 5 Westside students and anti-war activists declared “No Business as Usual at Schools, Work or in the Neighborhoods." The goal of this event was to demonstrate how stopping the war is a democratic commitment and a local imperative.

Photo: Ron Kovic, Santa Monica, 3/5/03
 Ron Kovic, Vietnam veteran, peace organizer and author of Born on the Fourth of July, addressed the students and congratulated their willingness to organize around peace. “This is incredible and amazing. You should all be proud of yourselves. I was wounded in Vietnam in 1968 and was paralyzed from my mid-chest down. I won the bronze star with combat ‘V’ for valor and the purple heart. Then I came to eventually join the anti-war movement and protest the Vietnam War. I have been demonstrating against war and this type of brutality for the last 34 years and have been in this wheelchair for 35 years. . . Realize how important each one of you is. What you are doing today is patriotism and what America should be about. . . Demonstrating against this war—you are not only citizens of this country that we love but you have become citizens of the world because you join with millions of other people who are deeply opposed to this war . . . This war will only make us bigger targets of terror and we don’t want that. We care deeply about this country and we care deeply about this world. We care about peace, life, and love. We are not afraid to say those words or march or demonstrate. This war is getting closer and closer but let me remind you that because of actions such as these today, peace is growing closer and closer too . . . We will fight in the streets of this country non-violently for peace. This is going to grow into something more powerful. Never underestimate how powerful you really are. If this war begins we are just in the very beginning of this movement. We will continue on.”
Vietnam veteran, peace organizer and author of Born on the Fourth of July addresses students.
 TCLA interviewed teachers and students:
Photo: Student Walk-Out, Santa Monica, 3/5/03 Why do you think that it is important that students get involved in this peace movement?

“We are the future leaders of the world and if we don’t do something, who else is going to? We have been working on this event for a month and we had a walkout at 12 o’ clock at our school. We all walked out of our classrooms to tell people that we didn’t support the war.” — 12th grader at New Roads School

Why do you think that it is important that students get involved in this peace movement? How long have you been organizing?

“We are the youth and the future of the world. We have to be interested and can’t be impassive. Dictators should not make all of the decisions of when to go to war and drop bombs. This is serious and this is reality. This is a corrupt system and we can make a difference” — 12th grader at Crossroads School

As a teacher why is it important that you support students in this peace movement? How do you think that this war affects students at the local schools?

“The most important thing that the students learn from this experience is that they are the government. It is a government formed by the people. I teach Government and U.S. History and it is this that has made this country. People need to be engaged. These students need to understand that their voice is essential or otherwise they become victims. The whole obligation that we have as teachers is to create an environment in which the positive aspects of being a student in this country are demonstrated. We started a club onSeptember 12th, a year and a half ago, that focused on a peace student movement and this event was born from that.” — Carol, Teacher at Crossroads School

Click here to read more student opinions & thoughts.
Student speakers at March 5 demonstration.

Read Letters to President Bush from Santa Monica Students (sent 3/15/03)

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