I'm reminded of the time when I was in third grade, & our teacher, Mrs. Yamashira, mentioned having been interned during World War 2 (this would have been 1966 or so when I was in 3rd grade) because she was Japanese-American.

Titters of laughter erupted in the class.

"Oh no," she said gently. "It wasn't funny."

All these years later I remember that day, & I don't think some of us laughed because we thought it was funny. I think her experience—in the land we were taught was strictly a place of the free & the brave—frightened us a little & we didn't know how else to respond. I think kids are like that sometimes.

I wonder if something similar happened to your 6th grade counselor, & it seems to have unnerved her. Hopefully she'll develop the skills to help her students understand history in the fullest.