Commentary: Pupils' Script on Workers Is Ruled Out

By EVELYN NIEVES

RIDGEWOOD, N.J. -- On the last day of school, with a party scheduled, Maria Sweeney's fourth-grade class at the Hawes School was still brooding over the demise of their final project.

"This was our first really serious play," Jessica Greco said.

"We thought we could make a difference," said David Mishler.

And so it went as 19 students sitting in a circle in the bright, new-looking suburban classroom tried to figure out why their play on Nike and Disney sweatshops had been canceled.

They had planned to perform the piece about conditions at Nike and Disney factories (with one skit about the McDonald's Happyland toy factories in Vietnam) for the whole school. But just before their final dress rehearsal, the principal scrapped the performance. The students could not possibly grasp the issue, she said. The play was not "age appropriate."

Censorship! the students cried. They fired off letters to district officials. But the decision stood: They could perform their play for their parents, in their classroom, and that was it. "Performing for our parents is not like teaching anybody anything," said Larry Fitzmaurice.

Even in Ridgewood, consistently described as having one of the best school districts in the United States, it could be argued that 10-year-olds still learning long division can't understand the complexities of corporate exploitation of labor. But Ms. Sweeney's class, which chose the issue after reading an article on Nike in Time for Kids, delved into the subject for a full month.

"They chose this subject even though we hadn't studied it in depth," said Ms. Sweeney, who each year asks her students to choose a current or historic social-justice topic for an end-of-year play.

Under her guidance the students watched reports on sweatshops on "48 Hours" and "Dateline." They read articles on the Internet and in daily newspapers and news weeklies. They wrote to Michael Eisner at Disney (and to Michael Jordan about Nike). They gathered information from the corporations and from workers' advocacy groups. They wrote letters from the point of view of corporate presidents to better understand them.

Ms. Marino, the school principal, remains convinced that the sweatshop issue is beyond the students' level. "They were just going around saying 'Don't wear these clothes, don't go to Disney,"' she said. The play, she added, didn't strike a balance, didn't show "all the good things these corporations do."

The play became controversial when a parent of a student in another fourth-grade class raised objections in a letter to the district superintendent. Ms. Marino said she heard from other parents and some staff members and students.

"Maria is a fabulous, fabulous, teacher," Ms. Marino said. "She goes way beyond what's required." But, she added, this play did not work for fourth-graders, let alone children in lower grades, who would also see it. With all the anti-Nike talk, she said, Maria Sweeney's class was "hurting students' feelings."

Ms. Sweeney's students said they had gotten heat from other students who could not fathom criticizing Nike, lord of all labels.

Some students said their parents were a little wary about the idea of the play being performed. But two mothers visiting the class said that most parents were upset that it was canceled. "The school could have limited the play to third-, fourth- and fifth-graders," said Andrea Mishler, David's mother. "Or parents could have signed a form if they didn't want their children to watch."

Jeanne Russo, whose daughter Josie is in the class, helped gather props and edit the script. "There is not a child in here who does not know what they're talking about," she said. "For Josie this has taught her how to be a thinker and not take something for granted.",

Students agreed. "I know what's happening out there now," said Han Park.

Han was so upset by the play's cancellation that he poured his heart out in his letter to the district: "We were learning about this for a month, learning it inside out. Three days until the actual play ... then you stopped everything. Every single person in the class is even sadder than sad. Tears ran down my face. The world seemed to have ended. It's like I live in a world with no heart."

What upset him so much? "These workers are not being treated as humans," Han said quietly. "They're like dolls being bitten by dogs who are the bosses."

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