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On Thursday February 24, 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine. The ongoing conflict is heartbreaking and has left us all dismayed. During this deeply distressing time, many children and young people will be struggling and feeling increasingly anxious as they watch from a distance the suffering faced by so many families across Ukraine.
The Department for Education (DfE) has published a blog with the aim of helping schools and families talk to pupils about the conflict.
What if anything can we say about it in class especially when one or more students come from one of the two countries at war?
Will you take the position that Russia is at fault? If so on what grounds? What has gone wrong that Russia has resorted to war?
Willl you discuss the rights and wrongs of war as a means of resolving disputes between nations when diplomacy fails. Can war ever be right when innocent people get killed and the fabric of a state is damaged?
Who should look after the refugees of whom by March 25, 2022 over three million left Ukraine's eastern border entering Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary? What can the UK do to welcome them? There has been a delay in issuing visas for Ukrainians wanting to enter the UK. Should we do as the EU is doing namely accepting applicants without going to the trouble of getting a visa?
And what about the recently announced scheme of paying UK families £350 per month for each Ukrainian accepted for six months into their homes? If you had the space in your home might you be willing to take a Ukrainian refugee or family of refugees? What are the risks?
In many areas of the country there are people collecting clothes and other basic essentials to ship to one of the countries receiving refugees. Suggest to students that they might find out if there is a collection point near where they live where they can take a few things that perhaps they no longer need. Also discuss with them whether it might be better to provide money rather than for example clothes that might not be needed and go to landfill.
For an update as of August 2022 see Migratory Watch.
There are voices calling for a boycott of performances of Russian music while this war continues. Guardian December 8, 2022 (Close your ears to Tchaikovsky. We need you to boycott Russia). Boycotting the music of Wagner who was a well known antisemite and influenced the thinking of Hitler is perhaps easier to defend. Should we stop listening to Russian music or reading Russian novels? What does that achieve? We can't know what these musicians, writers would think of this war.
December 23, 2022