I teach at a metropolitan university. I have a group of freshmen for a GE lit class. This week we came across a passage that said war demands more decency than times of peace. I asked them to think about that in light of what's been going on in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I got blank stares.
So I said, you know, specifically Abu Ghraib. Can someone comment on that? More on the flip...
Blank stares.
OK, who knows what Abu Ghraib is?
Blank stares.
You're kidding me. Not one of you knows about this? One student says she's heard the word but doesn't know what it's connected to.
I ask my students if they've heard anything about our soldiers committing war crimes, crimes in general, breaking the Geneva Conventions, etc, etc. None had heard anything.
You should have seen their faces when I said, "You really should read the news because when the draft comes, they'll be taking you long before they come after moms like me." That got their attention, and then I gave them a mini-lecture on the Abu Ghraib situation. They all looked like I couldn't possibly be telling the truth about our troops--we're the Good Guys, you know.
I'm struggling with this.