Vy Thai, 17, is a senior at the Preuss School on the UC San Diego campus. She is also co-editor of the school newspaper, The Preuss Insider, which has not shied away from covering the Israel-Hamas war.
She said they are not learning about it in class, since teachers are limited to using only a pre-approved curriculum, which is not current.
“It’s just confusing for us to not be able to talk more openly about these controversial topics, because how are we going to become world leaders if we don’t go through these topics at this age, when we’re trying to constantly adapt?" Thai said.
Besides digital articles and editorials, students have turned to social media to educate themselves and to get real-time information. "It's too controversial and there's going to be division. It's our job (to report). We have an ethics code to follow. So, we just have to stay with the facts," she said.
“We’re supposedly taught history — to not repeat it," said Huda Woldegiorgis,16, who is a junior at the Dimensions Collaborative School. Woldegioris said her classes this fall do not include war discussion in history or current events curriculum.
“This is our world that we’re living in, and we don’t have a choice but to live in it. So, if we can try to fix our problems or resolve the issues that we have in our today … then the better.”
Over the past couple of months, KPBS has reached out to numerous school districts across San Diego County to find out how the war is being taught in classrooms. None of them have responded to our request.
