Teachers across the country are facing tough questions from students about events in the Middle East that unfolded on Feb. 28.
The United States and Israel launched targeted attacks against Iran’s missile infrastructure, military sites, and senior leaders. The attacks, which continued on March 2, killed the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with dozens of senior political and military figures, the Associated Press reported.
Iran responded to the attacks by launching missiles and drones across the region, targeting neighboring countries, including Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, and ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the AP reported. Lebanon’s Iran-backed militia group Hezbollah has also joined the fighting, attacking Israel from its bases in Lebanon.
The death toll is rising—a handful of U.S. troops were killed during the attacks; Israel, Iran, and other Middle East nations also confirmed civilian deaths, according to the AP.
To help educators explain the conflict and guide students in how to talk about emotionally charged, violent events like this in measured, respectful ways, Education Week has collected advice we’ve reported on to educators on how to talk and teach about volatile topics.
Here are some select stories and resources describing strategies that are working for educators:
Let students’ questions guide discussions
See how schools have addressed war-related issues with students during past conflicts:
Students Are Bringing Up the Israel-Hamas War in Class. Here’s How Teachers Are Responding
In this article, one school provided space for students to have an open dialogue with their peers and social studies teachers about the Israel-Palestine conflict. It discusses how the social studies department put together the event, why it was important for students to have that conversation, and the challenges social studies teachers face when discussing controversial topics. The main advice: stick to the facts, give students the historical background, let students’ questions guide the discussion, and allow students to draw their own conclusions.
How to Talk With Students About the Russia-Ukraine War: 5 Tips
This article provides 5 tips to help educators talk to students about what is happening in Ukraine. These tips are also relevant for talking about the conflict in the Middle East. The main advice: keep conversations developmentally and age-appropriate, explain why it’s important to pay attention to world events, pose nuanced questions about the crisis, share stories of what regular people are experiencing in the area.
How to Help Students Cultivate Hope When Worrisome News Is Stressing Them Out
This Q&A with the former executive director of the National Association of School Psychologists discussed how teachers can support students emotionally when discussing frightening or troubling news and what teachers can do to help students stay hopeful. The main advice: Know who your kids are. For instance, if they have connections to the Middle East, be careful about what kind of stressors they might be experiencing.
Tap into resources about how U.S.-Iran relations got to this point
Following are resources educators can use to help students understand the context and history of this conflict:
- What we know about the U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran: PBS, which creates “Daily News Lessons,” has released one about the U.S-Israel attack on Iran, with a summary of events, warm-up questions, and open-ended “essential questions” about what’s next.
- The Secret CIA Operation That Haunts U.S.-Iran Relations | Retro Report: This is another PBS resource for high school students that discusses the United States’ role in the 1953 Iranian coup and how it affects U.S.-Iran relations.
- Aug. 19, 1953: U.S. and Britain Topple Democratically Elected Government of Iran: This is a resource from the Zinn Education Project about the 1953 coup in Iran.
- Iran’s Conflict With Israel and the United States and The Background Students Need to Think Critically About U.S.-Iran Relations: These are resources from the Council on Foreign Relations that provide historical context behind the conflicts between the U.S., Israel, and Iran.
- Revolution in Iran: This resource from Junior Scholastic includes an interview with someone who experienced the Iranian Revolution in 1979.
Use age-appropriate strategies for how to talk to kids about war
See tips in the following resources for how to support, comfort, and inform students when issues about war are dominating the news.
- How do I talk to my kids about violence in the news? and Explaining the News to Our Kids: These two guides from Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that examines the impact of technology on children, provide age-appropriate tips on how to talk to kids about what’s happening in the news, especially when it involves violence.
- How to talk to your children about conflict and war: This guide from UNICEF provides 8 tips on how to support and comfort children when war dominates headlines.
- Handle With Care: Supporting Young People During Crises: Learning for Justice, a social justice and activism program for schools, provides ideas to support “meaningful” discussions about emotionally charged topics with young people and potential follow-up steps and responses.
- Fostering Civil Discourse: How Do We Talk About Issues That Matter?: This guide from nonprofit Facing History and Ourselves gives educators ideas for how to prepare students to engage in reflective conversations on controversial topics.
- Teaching Controversial Issues: A Framework for Reflective Practice: This guide from Judy Pace, a teacher educator at the University of San Francisco, provides a research-based framework for teaching about controversial issues.
- In brief: Misinformation: This infographic from the News Literacy Project provides an overview of the pervasive use of misinformation and how people can be more critical readers of news and other information, especially during times of war.
