Current Events in the Classroom

[Serenity]

Hey everyone. I need some advice from teachers, parents, or anyone else who works closely with children.

As some of you may know, I am an English teacher. As such, my students are required to write a journal entry in my class each day. The journals ask the students questions relating to current events. In the past, I have asked my students to give their opinions on a variety of subjects: raising the driving age for teens, criminally charging children as adults, teen parenting classes in schools, etc. Because my students are asked to express their opinions on these topics, there is no right or wrong answer. I just check for grammar, punctuation, clarity, and whether they answered the question.

However, after the terrorist attacks a lot of my journal topics have focused on the attacks: reactions to the attacks, airlline safety, rebuilding the World Trade Center, and the like. Well Wednesday the journal topic asked about their reaction to the taped messages from bin Laden and the Al Qaeda. Most of my students didn't know about the tapes. So, like I do with all topics they are unfamiliar with, I asked for volunteers to explain it to the class and then I briefly and generally discussed the messages with them. I also discussed the warning Condoleeza Rice issued to the news media reguarding the airing of these messages. The looks on my students' faces still haunts me. They were scared. We spent most of the period discussing their feelings, fears, etc.

After getting this reaction from my first period class, I told my other classes that if they did not understand the journal question, they were to go home and ask their parents about it, watch the news or pick up the newspaper (which they should be doing for my class anyway) and then form their own opinion about it and complete their journal entry. I just could not go through that experience again. So, I have several questions:

Should I go back to only focusing on topics not related to the attacks?

If I do ask some questions related to this new war, should I discuss them with my students if they are unclear about them? Or, should I continue to require them to go to their parents, etc?

Like most teachers, I really try to educate my students. And, not just about English but about everything. The point of my journals is not to use them as an excuse to get on my soap box and shove my opinions down their throats. I give them the facts and require them to form and express their own opinion. I really feel that I would be doing my students a disservice by not addressing these issues. Especially because most of my colleagues are taking that route. However, is it my place to be discussing such sensitive issues in class?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.