When politics enter school

Yesterday my study hall was interrupted by an explanation that immediately after following the morning exam we would have a school-wide minute of silence for all of the Palestinian students and children that had died recently. I thought this was interesting - seemed to be completely out of the blue. The merit? Well, maybe it will actually make our students think about how many people die when there is conflict. Maybe it will make them, at least for a minute, appreciate the safety and advantages they often take for granted. I did think it was a bit odd that we were only remembering the Palestinians...what about the other half of the blameless victims? I thought perhaps I had just misunderstood the Turkish (hey, it happens...and quite often). Today I found out that the whole thing had come down from the ministry of education and happened at all school across Turkey at the same time (theoretically - we managed at least to not disrupt our exams with it). That information made me sit back and question again. Clearly there is something bigger going on, and politics just pushed their way into my classroom - without me even being aware of it at the time. Definitely gives a teacher food for thought.