By Cindy Kranz
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Amelia High School students discuss the war in their Issues in Government class Thursday. From left, they are, Jessica Knepfle, Jazmyn Hart and Julie Reese. In the foreground are timelines the students made showing terrorist incidents against the United States from 1961-2001. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

When Brandon Allen was a kindergartner, he sat in front of a television, watching Scud missiles go back and forth as the Persian Gulf War unfolded.

"I felt unsafe," the 18-year-old Amelia High School senior recalled Thursday. "Not even my parents could do anything about it. So, when I was watching television (Wednesday) night I had a flashback. Only now, I'm an adult. It could affect me personally. That's all I kept thinking. Here we go again."

As the United States fired the opening salvos of war with Iraq, students across the Tristate were filled with emotion and questions. The onset of war triggered another round of spirited debates in classrooms.

Allen, who supports the war, is a student in Shane Heikenfeld's Issues in Government class, part of the School of World Studies at Amelia High School. On Thursday, students completed a timeline of terrorism, read pro and con war articles from Time magazine and debated the war.

"A lot of them watch CNN nonstop," Heikenfeld said. "It's hard to keep up with them. They're so passionate about it. It's nice to have the extreme left and extreme right in the class, and people in between. Then, we get both views."

On one end of the spectrum is Adam Wenstrup, an 18-year-old Navy-bound senior.

"It's about time," he said of the war's onset. "I think we should go in there and liberate them, get Saddam out of power, find his weapons of mass destruction, get a democracy in there, get rid of the threat."

David Clary, a 17-year-old senior, holds steadfast on the other end of the spectrum.

"I don't think there's a strong enough threat,'' he said. "We say we're going over there for liberation purposes, but it seems unjustified to go over there when it's not our country. It's not for liberation purposes. Most Iraqis don't support the war."

Meanwhile, at a Beechwood High School career fair in Fort Mitchell, military recruiters were lobbed a number of questions about the war. The students grew solemn as the Navy recruiter pointed out the gravity of the situation.

"Right now, somewhere in Iraq, there are kids in a middle school sitting at their desks, just like you," said Petty Officer Theodore Keene. "I don't know if you pray or not, but if you do, not only pray for our soldiers, pray for those kids."

At Fairfield Senior High School, Principal Monica Mitter didn't initiate any discussion of war Thursday. She didn't suggest any service projects or recognition of loved ones deployed overseas.

She didn't have to. The students did it on their own.

Before 8 a.m. the Fellowship of Christian Athletes had arranged a gathering for all students at the flagpole after school. Student government members prepared a banner that students could sign during lunch. It lists loved ones in the military and where they are.

And the newly formed Catch the Service Spirit club is working with the American Red Cross to put together packs for soldiers.

"It was a somber attitude,'' Mitter said. "It's best to let things evolve naturally. You don't have to tell people. It's on their face. It comes up in their conversation.''

In teacher Allison Curran's social studies classroom, students talked of democracy, of weapons Saddam Hussein might be hiding, of attacks, whether there should be a war and what might happen in Iraq if Saddam is defeated.

"I'm not scared so much for the troops over there,'' said sophomore A.J. Potchik. "I'm more worried about terrorist attacks here.''

Classmate Josh Peacock said he was glad that the war had begun.

"I'm not jumping for joy or anything. But I hope this President Bush does more than the last President Bush,'' Josh said. "(Saddam) is a major threat to the peace of the world.''

In Warren County, the 265 students at Kings' South Lebanon Elementary wrote letters to soldiers overseas.

"We care very much about you," they wrote. "We want you to stay out of harm's way."

"Every single student will be sending one or two or maybe three letters," said Erick Cook, principal of the K-4 school.

For the past week, discussions in Renee Dickson's classroom at Princeton High School have been spirited. Dickson and student teacher Jennifer Armstrong, from Miami University, have been leading four junior class sections of College Prep American Literature in Henry David Thoreau's essay, Civil Disobedience.

"You've got students who very definitely support what's happening," Dickson said. "You have students who are very strongly against what's happening. It becomes pretty intense.

"I have some students who come from a military background. Those are the ones who are often strongest in their opinion about Saddam Hussein and the situation, and definitely support Bush."

Several schools held staff meetings or got directives from administrators on how much to expose students to the war.

Northwest Local School District Superintendent Kathryn Hellweg, in a letter to staff members Thursday morning, asked teachers to keep televisions off. She told them it's important to maintain normalcy and stability for students. But her letter was also laden with emotion.

"This is a message that I prayed I would never have to write to you. As we are all aware, last night the United States became involved in war. Take care of yourselves throughout this crisis so you have the emotional and physical strength to help take care of others."

Sue Kiesewetter, Maggie Downs and Erica Solvig contributed.

E-mail ckranz@enquirer.com