""My advice to our future commander in history is to speak softly and often, be tolerant, have compassion and leave your sticks behind," Rizzo wrote. "War can't be the answer. We must agree to disagree to find other solutions. We must strive for peace and carry no sticks.""
Too Young to Vote, Middle School Students Have Advice for American Presidents
This is how they wash our kids' brains. I can imagine how proud the teachers are of this seventh grader writing: " My advice to our future commanders in history is to speak softly and often, be tolerant, have compassion and leave your sticks behind. War can't be the answer. We must agree to disagree to find other solutions. We have already had two world wars, if we have a third it is likely to end of our world. We must strive for peace and carry no sticks." Hey, this sentence gotta be the main reason for her to win the contest.
I am sure no teacher of hers or any other teacher who discusses this essay with his/her students will ever ask them the consider the fact that we did not start any of the past two wars and we could not have been able to stop them if we had left our sticks behind then.
It is also ironic that Jeep - one of the sticks we use to win those wars - is the one awarding this essay.