The choir at Rockville's Thomas S. Wootton High School, home of the Patriots, sang "God Bless America" and "This Is My Country." The students, wearing red, white and blue, said the Pledge of Allegiance and chanted "U-S-A." An enormous American flag they had made covered one wall of the auditorium. When a school official said some among them would join the "military defense of our country," they cheered.
"I am proud to be standing with the Patriots," said President Bush, the assembly's guest of honor, to a roar of approval from the suburban teenagers. "We're a nation of patriots. . . . We have a renewed spirit of patriotism."
That scene from earlier this week represents the sentiment the White House is seeking to spread among the nation's youth after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The Bush administration has backed a series of initiatives aimed at boosting children's patriotism and enlisting the young in the effort to counter anti-American propaganda abroad.
The administration has thrown its weight behind a mass Pledge of Allegiance by the nation's 52 million schoolchildren, a pen-pal exchange between U.S. children and Muslim children overseas, and classroom lectures by veterans. It has encouraged American children to each contribute $1 for Afghan children and has supported other efforts to abate children's psychological trauma.
Far broader programs are being considered. The White House is considering legislation, to be introduced next week by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), that would quintuple participation in AmeriCorps, the national service program, to 250,000. The legislation directs that half of the new slots would be in the areas of homeland security and public safety.
Psychologists generally endorse the administration's efforts toward children, who are likely to be disproportionately traumatized.
Many people have felt powerless and frightened after recent events, but "children don't have a history of experiences of coping that they're able to borrow from," said Russell T. Jones, a psychology professor with Virginia Tech's stress and coping lab.
At the same time, psychologists said enlisting children's help in a war effort, even through peaceful means, could frighten them further.
The president speaks plainly to children about the conflict.
"You're the first students who've had to learn the reality that we're having to fight a war on our own land," he told the Wootton students.
Former senator Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.), who introduced Bush, spoke of vengeance. "Beware the people weeping when they bare the iron hand," he said, quoting a Herman Melville poem.
Teri L. Elliott, a child psychologist at the University of South Dakota's Disaster Mental Health Institute, said the Bush initiatives could help children.
But, she added, "I don't like the idea of us trying to rile them up into war recruits. Instead of getting our kids worked up with the national anthem, I'd rather see them talked to about creating a peaceful environment in their own schools and families."
Children have long been part of war efforts, often in nefarious ways such as the Children's Crusade of 1212 or Nazi Germany's Hitler Youth.
The Bush administration's role for children is different: patriotic but peaceful.
"We are in a war unlike any previous war, and it will have a profound impact on future generations," said Scott McClellan, a Bush spokesman. "It's important for our children to learn about compassion for those in need, tolerance for those from different backgrounds and gratitude for those who sacrifice at home and abroad defending freedom."
The effort began Sept. 12, when first lady Laura Bush issued letters to American students.
"We can be proud and confident that we live in a country that symbolizes freedom and opportunity to millions throughout the world," wrote the former school librarian.
She urged younger children to "write down your thoughts or draw a picture that shows how you are feeling."
Education Secretary Roderick R. Paige made a more overt appeal in an Oct. 9 letter to 100,000 principals recommending "showing our patriotism by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at a single time and with a unified voice in your classrooms."
An Education Department memo recommended: "Engage in patriotic activities to give your students comfort. Say the Pledge of Allegiance, sing patriotic songs, or read books about courage."
Bush joined in Oct. 11 when, at the end of a televised news conference, he announced a relief effort with the Red Cross in which U.S. children would send $1 each to the White House to help Afghan children.
"Ultimately one of the best weapons, one of the truest weapons that we have against terrorism, is to show the world the true strength of character and kindness of the American people," he said.
The fund has raised more than $1 million.
Two weeks later, Bush visited Thurgood Marshall Extended Elementary School in Northeast Washington to promote an e-mail exchange between American students and Muslim children in Bahrain, Egypt and Pakistan.
"We're here talking about how we can best conduct a war against evil," he told the students. "And you can play a part."
Answer the evil, he said, "by acting in a way that's good . . . through letters and e-mails and pictures and drawings and reaching out to boys and girls."
The president advised the young that "it is very important for us to combat evil with understanding."
Five days later, at Wootton, Bush touted still another program, in which veterans would speak to students about duty and country.
The program, "Lessons for Liberty," would ask those who have seen past wars to prepare "a new generation to set examples of its own," Bush said, "examples in service and sacrifice and courage."