Fourth Graders On World War III
ServiceSpace
--Peter Frank
2 minute read
Aug 8, 2016

 

[What an inspiration to see the ServiceSpace gang in Ventura last weekend. Here is the story I had shared with them, from my 4th grade class.]

Tuesday, March 18, 2003

The US Troops prepare to invade Iraq while my 4th grade troopers march into class. Our discussion turns into the imminent war with Iraq and a child asks, "We're going to war, people are going to get killed over there. Are we going to be killed here?"

Confounded by the question, I didn't how to respond. Rather spontaneously I prayed a silent prayer.

As I waited for an appropriate response, a second child could not contain himself. Typically, in class, no one would speak without asking, but this kid just yelled out, "Mister Frank, Mister Frank." Before my gaze could veer in his direction, he blurted out, "If I had a war, then all the guns would shoot feathers so no one would get hurt. And the bombs would be pillows. Then we would have the biggest World-Wide Pillow Fight. Wouldn't that be fun!"



Almost as if some collective intelligence was unlocked in the room, an arsenal of student arms propelled themselves upwards. "I'd have bazookas shooting hot fudge while planed dropped ice cream, and grenades of whipped cream and chopped nuts. Everyone could eat hot fudge sundaes until they were full and happy."

Imagination went wild. Guns of these kids would have paints, colors, markers to color the world anew. Copters of Cotton Candy, airplanes dropping baskets of cheese, bread, clothing, toys, homes and schools. Their ideas were endless.

What would be YOUR ideal war? How about it -- anyone care to join a 4th grade class for a pillow fight and then a hot fudge sundae?

At the end of all our excitement, a child shouted, "I wouldn't call it World War III. I'd call it World War Peace."

 

Posted by Peter Frank on Aug 8, 2016