Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2001 13:14:30 -0600
From: Dawn Hogue 
To: tnellen@iris.host4u.net
Subject: your web page

Hi Ted,
Here are my thoughts:

First of all, it looks nice, very subtle design and easy to navigate. What
is the resolution of your graphics? The letters are a little slow to load.

Now, to what you're worried about (and I'm guessing here): this page
presents a very different view from the American "flag waver." The letters
represent the concerns of children who have not lived protected lives as our
children have and who have had to face war more directly. We forget that as
Americans we bomb them sometimes or help others in violence against them or
their neighbors. This web page and these letters are not going to be easy
for some people to read. I felt uneasy reading a few of them. It's easy for
us to blame Bin Laden and the Taliban's connection to terrorism, but are we
sure we are right?

I'm not sure how to say what I'm thinking, so as I ramble, please forgive
me. These letters are sometimes unsupported by facts, as are some of the
beliefs that we hold and that our own students hold. Is there anyone who
really knows the truth? And the truth of history comes to us through bias
and point of view. So what we believe is true is not true for others who are
not Americans.

These letters do reveal the thoughts and feelings of children who do not
share our point of view, and in that regard are extremely valuable as a way
to open dialogue and to prompt exercises in perspective taking.

You mention peer review as a goal of this web page. Will your students be
reading and reviewing? Will there be letters written in response? Will there
be a discussion? Who will moderate the discussion?

The most serious concern I have with this and with all of the "news" is who
is telling the truth and how do I know. I see in these letters the same
influence of propaganda that appears in conversations I have with my
students and even my colleagues.

The piece you include by David Thornburg is good, though if people interpret
it to support dissenting views, the entire web project may be seen as an
attempt to dissent instead of an attempt to share ideas without qualifying
them as dissenting or otherwise. I don't think that is your intent.

What will the future of this project bring? There seems to be a strong
negative bias towards the Jews. Could you link up to Israeli and Palestinian
schools too? Shouldn't American children express views, too? (you have
through your son's poignant expression).

I guess my advice would be to stand behind what you believe is right and
proceed. You've always done that anyway from what I can tell. There may be
some who criticize, but if no one criticizes, you haven't really done
anything worth doing anyway.

Good luck with this. I don't know if I've helped or not, but then again, you
were a little cryptic. : )

Talk with you soon,
Dawn