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Learning about refugees is first step to helping them

Seventh-grade students in Laguna Middle School teacher Marc Townsend’s world history class had just finished a unit on Islam when the Paris attacks happened. Townsend, with his colleagues, decided to create a new unit on refugee relief. Students are not debating the politics of whether to bring Syrian refugees into the U.S. but are investigating refugee crises around the world. Above, Jacob Edwards, 12, works on the project with teacher, Marc Townsend, during class in December.
Seventh-grade students in Laguna Middle School teacher Marc Townsend’s world history class had just finished a unit on Islam when the Paris attacks happened. Townsend, with his colleagues, decided to create a new unit on refugee relief. Students are not debating the politics of whether to bring Syrian refugees into the U.S. but are investigating refugee crises around the world. Above, Jacob Edwards, 12, works on the project with teacher, Marc Townsend, during class in December. Laura Dickinson ldickinson@thetribunenews.com

What a welcome relief it is to read that — after days of nothing but demonizing and politicking the ongoing terrible events the world over in the newspaper — Laguna Middle School’s seventh-grade world history teacher Marc Townsend and colleague Lauren Knuttila are putting a human face on the refugee crisis (“San Luis Obispo students share ways to help refugees,” Dec. 15).

It is only through learning the root causes of this human upheaval and helping the students understand the awful suffering that they can move on to helping. The students, with their direction, are acting more like adults.

Adults should give it a try.

Bonnie Wamsley, San Luis Obispo

This story was originally published January 12, 2016 at 9:52 PM with the headline "Learning about refugees is first step to helping them."

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