Pupils facing up to war

Children will be marching in London and Glasgow

Children will be among the marchers on anti-war demonstrations on Saturday and schools say pupils have been keen to talk about the growing tension.

Teachers say there are few signs of typical teenager apathy and that pupils are keen to debate the issues thrown up by the crisis over Iraq.

Sixth-former Sam Beste will be among the crowds on London's streets for the march - together with about 50 other pupils from Fortismere School in Muswell Hill in London.

He helped to set up a peace group at the school.

Parents can say that there are bad people in the world and that there are wars, but say that people survive wars

Michelle Elliott, Kidscape

The pupils have been allowed to go to other schools in the area to speak at assemblies and at their own school, they run a peace stand at lunchtime.

"We feel the war is not justified. Bush and Blair are rushing towards it," Sam said.

"The UN says you can only go to war if your country is under direct threat and the United States and Britain are not, so it is illegal.

"Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians could die - and people are taking it so lightly."

Fears

Schools often touch on topical issues in assembly, in lessons on personal, social and health education (PSHE) and in secondary school, in citizenship classes.

Birmingham primary school head teacher Preet Sahota says even young children have concerns which have to be handled sensitively.

CBBC NEWSROUND POLL

8 in ten children said no to war

1 in ten were in favour

CBBC Newsround's guide to the crisis

Mr Sahota, from West Heath Junior School, said: "People think children are not interested but they are.

"Some have said they are worried that we will be attacked or that they are worried about children in other parts of the world.

"We have talked about conflict in our normal assemblies and we try to reassure the children. It is not crisis mode.

"There is a lovely calm atmosphere here and we try to maintain that."

Reassurance

Director of the children's charity Kidscape Michelle Elliott says parents can help their children to make sense of what is happening.

She says parents should watch news reports with their children, answer their questions and reassure them.

"During the Gulf war, children thought that people were going to parachute into their gardens or that Saddam Hussein was going to blow them up.

"Parents can say that there are bad people in the world and that there are wars, but say that people survive wars.

"Children need reassurance that mummy and daddy will still be there and that they will be alright. You can't tell children that everyone's going to be blown up."

A survey for CBBC Newsround found that eight out of 10 children questioned did not want a war with Iraq.

One in ten were in favour.