Baghdad Schoolyard No Haven From Fear

[RedEarth]

Children are hustled into and out of fortified facilities and know of dangers. A blast nearby sends them screaming into a courtyard.
By Ashraf Khalil
Times Staff Writer

October 26, 2004

BAGHDAD — Day's end at the Faraqid Elementary School comes off with the speed and precision of a well-rehearsed evacuation.

Just before noon, about 325 children stream through the briefly unlocked side gate onto a street bracketed by barbed wire and concrete barricades. A crowd of parents and drivers quickly hustles them into waiting cars, and by 12:07, the area is deserted, except for security guard Haidar Mohammed. "After they leave here, they go straight home to their houses and stay there until school tomorrow," Mohammed said. "It's like they're in jail."

For the estimated 4.5 million Iraqi schoolchildren, the world outside their classrooms and homes has all but disappeared. A landscape littered with threats both targeted and general has left parents struggling to shelter their own — with some wondering if an education is worth the risk.

Just 60% of students attended the first day of the school year on Oct. 2, and even that exceeded Education Minister Sami Mudhaffar's expectations. Attendance levels rose sharply after the first two days, Mudhaffar said, and now stand at more than 80%.

Still, the free-floating dangers of contemporary Baghdad were brought into focus on just the third day of the term at Faraqid school. A nearby car bombing thudded through the building and shattered a window. Screaming children rushed out to the courtyard before teachers could herd them back to the classrooms and instill calm. A frightened instructor was sent home so she wouldn't panic the students. Only one child, whose home was damaged in the blast, stayed home the next day.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/complete/la-fg-school26oct26,1,6000908,print.story?coll=la-iraq-complete

[Moderator]

1. Reason for move

This is a feature article and not breaking news.
( As a mod, I use this guideline: Could this have been written last week or next week and would we as readers know the difference?)