War Overwhelms Teachers: Information Evenings to Help

Kronen Zeitung, November 22, 2023
German original: https://www.krone.at/3173795

Radical videos and rumors about the Middle East conflict are circulating among schoolchildren. A historian at the Salzburg University of Education has therefore organized a new series of events for teachers.

Rumors like these are circulating in Salzburg schools: "Hamas, that's the Palestinians. They are longing for liberation." Or: "What Hamas is doing in Israel, the Jews are doing to the Palestinians." "Anti-Semitism is currently on the rise. Many teachers feel overwhelmed as to how they should deal with the Middle East conflict," says Adelheid Schreilechner.

90 participants on the first evening

The historian at the Salzburg University of Teacher Education (PH) has organized a series of information evenings for teachers to mark the occasion. Monday evening showed just how great the need for support is. The first online event was attended by 90 teachers of all school types from all districts.

Even teachers from Vienna, Vorarlberg and Styria equipped themselves with historical knowledge about the Middle East conflict for school. "According to the teachers, the mood in the schools is not heated. But the pupils are asking questions. That's what school is for," says Schreilechner.

Asking questions - often not possible at home

In many parents' homes, the position is clear, either for Israel or for the Palestinians. Only at school can these children ask questions about the war that would not be possible at home, says Schreilechner.

Children see gruesome things - parents needed as listeners

Many children watch gruesome TikTok war videos. Their parents can also help them, the historian advises: by taking their children's emotions and fears seriously and asking about what they have seen on social media. War can be explained to young children like a fight. It's also okay to say as a family: "We don't have to take a stance."