It must be very confusing for children living through today's war. When I was a child in elementary school during World War II, we knew who our enemies were and what we could do here on the home front to be part of the war effort.

As I compare then and now, I realize that the experience of living through those war years was a determining influence on my values and my work for my entire life. As children during the war, we participated actively in what we were asked to do on the home front, and it was a remarkable educational experience.

There were collection drives for scrap, there were bond drives for money (we saved for and bought war stamps each week), there was rationing of coffee, of butter and of gas. Small things to be sure in the larger picture of war—but very meaningful for children eager to do something. There were, in short, ways to be involved. I realize that the world is different now and that this war is different.

Today, there are few opportunities for a sense of positive involvement, a sense of feeling needed. Instead, children are being advised to be more careful, be safer, be more fearful. World War II was all so clearly defined. Each day my brother and I read the newspapers, listened to the radio and marked on the maps lying across our living room rug the retreat (at first) of the Allies and then the forward movements of the forces both in Europe and in the Pacific.

Heroic Roles to Play

Almost every movie I saw, every song I heard put across the message that this was a heroic time and we all had heroic roles to play. Even when the theme of the film wasn't about warfare, it was about a hero or heroine. I can still see Young Tom Edison and Alexander Graham Bell and Marie Curie. These films made a kid want to discover important things, to come up with important ideas.

And the songs: They pulled our heart strings and didn't get anywhere near our private parts. I can still hear them—the inspiring "Coming in on a Wing and Prayer" and "The White Cliffs of Dover" and the prim and proper, "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree With Anyone Else But Me." These were far different messages from those being sent now to the MTV generation. We were less sophisticated, hardly cynical. We hadn't experienced the Korea conflict and the Vietnam intervention.

World War II, unlike our more recent wars, brought us together as members of a team, part of a unified cause. I was a little Jewish girl in a small town where being different was definitely not an asset. During the war, there were all kinds of contests to motivate homefront spirits. I recall an essay contest, "What It Means to Be an American." My seventh-grade teacher encouraged me to enter. She read my paper, made lots of suggestions, and lo and behold, to the surprise of the class and to her delight and mine, I won. We didn't just win on the battlefield that day. We won at home in the battle on prejudice.

A Chance for Learning

We've long been told that in crisis, there is opportunity. Children today won't be able to mark the map the way I did, but depending on their grade levels, they can learn, for example, where Afghanistan is and what is Islam, what is anthrax, and what may be motivating those who terrorize. This is geography, medicine, history, psychology.

There is concern about democracy across the world. Knowing what it takes to be citizen in a democracy starts right here at home. It's been reported that many of us don't know who our legislators are and what they do. Our children need to learn about democracy and how it works, about Congress, the executive, the judiciary.

And this does not depend on whose politics we support or whether we are for or against the war.

Students can learn about other nations and their agendas. They can start to read the newspaper again or for the first time. They can have the experience of connecting with something outside of themselves and the latest fashions and music. Students can become more interested in school and in becoming educated about the world.

There is a lot to teach, a lot to learn—and while the times are different, there are certain eternals. People want to know what they can do to help, even children. Becoming more educated, hitting the books rather than going to the mall, is one of the strongest answers.

Dr. Dorothy Rich is founder/president of the nonprofit Home and School Institute and is the author/developer of the MegaSkills Programs [1].