A PACK on the conflict in Kosovo has been prepared for teachers to brief them on the region and help them answer children’s questions about the war.
The authors say the television pictures of the conflict are frightening young children.
Cathy Midwinter, of the Development Education Project, Manchester Metropolitan University, said: “Some younger children are asking whether the bombing is going to start here. The images can be very upsetting. Although Rwanda was distressing, it was far away.
“Children are now seeing refugees who wear the same clothes as us and who look just like their grandparents.”
The pack will help teachers receiving refugee children from Kosovo. But it is also designed to inform all teachers as an aid for assemblies or lessons, and answer pupils’ questions on the war. Sponsors include the Department for International Development and the European Union, and all schools will receive a copy.
It contains exercises where pupils are encouraged to imagine they are NATO representatives or Russian negotiators.
There is a fact-file on the Balkan region and a section giving definitions of the language of war and the issues, for example nationalism, ethnic cleansing, diplomatic solution and racism.
The authors examine the part the media plays in the war and how to analyse the news coverage.
The Kosovo pack is one in a series by Global Express, which provides information on other world events, such as the Colombian earthquake.
Frances Rafferty TES readers can receive a free copy by sending an A4 SAE to Global Express, Development Education Project, Manchester Metropolitan University, 801 Wilmslow Rd, Manchester M20 2QR.
