FOR WHOM DOES THE BELL TOLL?: Gauging Public Opinion about Death During War

April 9, 2003

FOR WHOM DOES THE BELL TOLL?
Gauging Public Opinion about Death During War

Grades: 6-8, 9-12

Subjects: Current Events, Global History, Language Arts, Social Studies

Related New York Times Article
"While Mourning Dead, Public Seems to Tolerate War's Toll, By JODI WILGOREN with ADAM NAGOURNEY", April 9, 2003

Overview of Lesson Plan:: In this lesson, students will conduct surveys to gather and report information on a variety of key issues surrounding the war with Iraq.

SUGGESTED TIME ALLOWANCE: 1 hour

OBJECTIVES:

Develop opinions about the current casualty numbers from the war in Iraq.
Examine the results of current polls focusing on public sentiment about the casualties of the war with Iraq by reading and discussing, "While Mourning Dead, Public Seems to Tolerate War's Toll."
In groups, develop surveys to gather information on a variety of key issues surrounding the war with Iraq.
Individually, poll ten people and analyze the information gathered.

RESOURCES / MATERIALS:

student journals
pens/pencils
paper
classroom blackboard
copies of "While Mourning Dead, Public Seems to Tolerate War's Toll" (one per student)

ACTIVITIES / PROCEDURES:

WARM-UP/DO NOW: In their journals, students respond to the following prompt (written on board prior to class): "As of April 7, 2003, the Pentagon has reported that 88 Americans have died fighting the war in Iraq. Does this number seem high or low to you? What numbers do you think should be expected after three weeks at war, and why? What is the value of knowing this number? Does this number affect your opinion of the war? Why or why not?" After a few minutes, allow students to share their responses, then discuss some of the following questions: Would you think differently if the number of casualties was 100? What if the number was 500? Would this number matter more or less if it were compared to Iraqi casualties? Why? Have you learned about any of these casualties by watching television or reading the newspaper? How do you feel about receiving personal information about these casualties?
As a class, read and discuss the article " While Mourning Dead, Public Seems to Tolerate War's Toll," focusing on the following questions:
1. According to the article, how many American casualties have occurred in the Iraq war?
2. What is Mr. Wolfgag's opinion of this number?
3. What is Mr. Wutke's opinion of this number?
4. How many people were killed each week at the height of the Vietnam War?
5. How many people were killed during the Persian Gulf War?
6. How many people died on September 11?
7. What three factors do pollsters and political consultants say affect the public's tolerance for casualties?
8. According to Mr. Rosner, why do military and government officials have a "misplaced perception" about the number of casualties in a war?
9. According to Mr. Gitlin, what factors help the public accept the number of casualties?
10. According to a poll by The Times/CBS, what is the correlation between support for the war and casualty predictions?
11. According to the article, what was different about the reports of casualties during the Vietnam War?
12. How are the newspapers and television networks cited in the article publicizing the casualties?
13. How did 33 of the 88 casualties die?
14. According to people who had been interviewed, what information is missing from casualty reports?
Divide the class into five groups. Explain to students that they will be working in groups to create surveys to gather information about public sentiment towards the war. As their guide, students should analyze the issues mentioned in the article, "While Mourning Dead, Public Seems to Tolerate War's Toll," and consider how different factors may affect people's views on the war with Iraq.
First, explain to students that, for data collection purposes, it is best not to ask "yes/no" or open-ended questions. From a standpoint of statistical accuracy, better types of survey questions are those to which participants respond "always, sometimes, never," rank comments in the order of importance, or answer close-ended questions by circling responses. Each group should begin by considering how the survey will be analyzed. What mathematics will be necessary? (Younger students may simply focus on figuring percentages, while older students may also determine mean, mode, and standard deviation, as well as determine validity and reliability of individual questions.) In addition, good survey results have answers that provide meaningful insight into the population polled. For example, students should ask each respondent to give their age (or age grouping, such as "under 20," "21-25," "26-30," etc.) and gender.
Next, ask students to brainstorm and discuss topics that would be the subject of questions on their survey, such as media coverage of the war, the end result of the war, body counts, financing the war, longevity of the war, and types of weapons used during the war. How do survey respondents feel about these topics? Do they know how this information is gathered? Does knowing affect how they feel? Groups should brainstorm a list of specific questions and "test them out" on each other to see what types of results they get. Each member of the group should record a list of the questions "that work" to use for completing their homework assignment.
If time allows, students should think and discuss ways their survey results could be visually presented.
WRAP-UP/HOMEWORK: Individually, students should develop a poll based on their group activity, and survey at least ten people that they know, remembering to record respondents' age grouping and gender. Then, students should analyze their results and write a brief summary of their findings.
In a future class, students should meet with their groups and compile their individual survey results and initial analyses into a larger presentation that incorporates the entire group. This presentation should include a visual representation of the group's survey's findings.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Why have so many people died in "accidents" and not in combat with the enemy?
What rules or regulations must the media follow when showing casualties of war?
What is the current number of casualties for Iraq, Great Britain and other countries involved in the war?
How are death tolls reported by the news media consolidated into one number? To whom are these casualties reported? Who puts out the "official" number?
What privacy laws must be considered when profiling dead soldiers in the media?

EVALUATION / ASSESSMENT:
Students will be evaluated based on initial journal responses, thoughtful class participation and discussion, focused group brainstorming and creation of a survey, and individual polling and analysis of results.

VOCABULARY:
casualties, extent, interpretations, statistics, sentiment, poignant, eroded, gourmet, snipers, correlation, magnitude, staggering

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

Write an editorial for your school's newspaper addressing issues concerning the media presence in Iraq. Do you feel that reporters are too close to the battle? Are they providing too much information and footage? How does this type of journalism affect people's perception of the war?
Pretend you are a reporter for The New York Times on assignment in Iraq with a specific division of the Marines. Write a letter to a child explaining why you are there and how your presence will benefit the people back home. Do not focus on the gruesome side of war; focus on the professional goals you have and what the opportunity of war can provide for your career.
Research one of the personal stories of a soldier who has died in the war with Iraq. Locate different sources of information about that person and write an article for your school's newspaper entitled, "Who's Fighting the War on Terrorism?"
Write a research paper on World War II journalist Edward R. Murrow. How did his work help to shape journalism during wartime?

INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS:
Health- Create a poster illustrating some of the major mental health concerns relating to war. Research the Vietnam War, Persian Gulf War and the current war with Iraq. Find examples of side effects of war on soldiers. Consult a psychologist, and include this information in the poster.

Mathematics- Create a series of ratios to analyze the casualties of wars such as World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War. Examples of ratios might include, but are not limited to, the relationship of civilian to military deaths, relations between age categories, relations between casualties inflicted in urban areas to rural areas, etc.

Media Studies- Watch a movie about a war that shows what it is like to be a soldier in battle, such as "Black Hawk Down," "Platoon," or "Saving Private Ryan." What qualities or characteristics does a soldier need? Do you think you could have served as a soldier in the military action portrayed in the movie? Why or why not?