Editorial: Contest Drags Schools Into Controversy
	From the April, 2000

By Lisa Parker
Silver City Sun-News editor

Our children are our future ... We hear that all the time. And, when you think about it, it makes strategic sense that the civic battles of today can be won by involving and influencing the voting, taxpaying citizens of tomorrow. But "strategic" and "ethical" aren't necessarily the same.

The Center for Biological Diversity's "contest" to name Mexican gray wolf pups is an example of how those two concepts can diverge.

The Center has announced that students -- kindergarten through eighth grade -- can enter their suggestions for "names" for wolf pups soon to be born in the Apache National Forest and Gila Wilderness. The children are encouraged to enter a drawing, name suggestion and essay on "why wolves are important."

Wonderful. This is an ongoing topic with a lot of importance to residents of our area. Increasing children's awareness on this current event -- or any other -- is commendable. If children (probably based on their families' background and beliefs) choose to enter the contest, good for them.

But the winners of this contest won't be receiving an award. Instead, the Center will be giving wolf prints to the teachers of children who win in this contest. The prints are to be displayed, according to contest publicity, in the teachers' classrooms -- possibly unbeknownst to the teachers, however.

That's right -- the Center is telling children that their prizes will be given to public school teachers, to be displayed in their classrooms -- but didn't get permission from the schools. The Center apparently sent flyers to elementary schools throughout New Mexico and Arizona inviting participation, but didn't contact or coordinate with school administration. Children are also encouraged to enter on their own.

Likely, this is because the Center knows this highly charged topic will be avoided by many publicly funded schools -- who have to walk the tightrope of neutrality that their taxpayer funded position demands. It appears the Center is attempting to sneak into the schools through the back door.

(According to a Center spokeswoman, five classes of students have entered the contest so far, which is great, because those schools, teachers and students have made the decision to participate.)

Other teachers and administration potentially face an uncomfortable situation, though, when the "prize" arrives. Do they display the special-interest-group-provided wolf print and offend one end of the polarized public, or refuse the "prize" and offend the other side, while personally disappointing the proud young "prize" winner?

It's understandable that the Center wants to involve and influence children -- because today's youth will be tomorrow's decision makers. That's strategy. But potentially involving schools in controversy, without their consent -- and disguised as a child's prize -- is, at best, careless. At worst, it's manipulative, crummy and unethical.

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