View Full Version : History. do you know yours...
I thought i would bring this up as i noticed that one in four brits think that Winston churchill and florence nightingale are ficticious and Sherlock holmes is real...What is happening.History is what makes us and i cant believe that so many of the younger population have no clue to the history of britain...What are they teaching in schools these days.We got most of british history at school...It amazes me it does...:eek:
I saw this article and was horrified at the naivete of our children and the lack of education they must be getting.
I occasionally watch "Are you smarter than a ten year old". I spoke to my cousin (a primary school teacher) and she gets annoyed as what they claim to know is not actually on the curriculum in general unless they are doing a project on the person in question.
IHistory is what makes us and i cant believe that so many of the younger population have no clue to the history of britain...
I can. Mainly because the majority or the younger population are unwashed, uneducated, spotty little imbeciles with terrible fashion senses and a combined IQ similar to that of your average Little Chef waiter.
I can. Mainly because the majority or the younger population are unwashed, uneducated, spotty little imbeciles with terrible fashion senses and a combined IQ similar to that of your average Little Chef waiter.
I see you live up to your org name...:eek:i have to say that was quite a harsh statement all be it true for some..I have teens in my house and i am supprised at the lack of history knowledge they get from school..i had a good education and enjoyed history at school.Mention war of the roses to youngsters these days and they think it is a film..It just suprises me that not thinking winston churchil The best PM that Britain has ever seen, and people think he is fictional...It is down t the school to open their eyes, but then it is down to the kids to want to show an interest...
i have to say that was quite a harsh statement
Oh believe me, I was just getting started. I stopped writing before it got harsh. :Razz
Oh believe me, I was just getting started. I stopped writing before it got harsh. :Razz
Well please dont stop. We do so like honest opinions on here..But i do know where you are coming from...I have never figured out what on earth these teens are thinking today.They dont have much respect for anything, this is not true for all, before i get hijacked here...
I could come up with some sweet words but i will keep them to myself...
Sapphire2803
04-Feb-08, 15:32
You mean Sherlock Holmes isn't real?? What next? I suppose you'll try telling me that there's no tooth fairy either ;)
I suppose it all depends on which children they asked. I mean if you were to go to a city and find a bunch of hoodies on a street corner at 3am, the sort of kids who think they're cool if they're the first one in their gang to get an ASBO. I wouldn't expect much from them at all.
Well please dont stop.
I can't help it, I'm too nice to be harsh online. :D
I can't help it, I'm too nice to be harsh online. :D
I see by your signature that you can have a harsh side but surely you are just a big teddy bear are you not....
So there no way to get you to say atleast one more thing then....:confused
You mean Sherlock Holmes isn't real?? What next? I suppose you'll try telling me that there's no tooth fairy either ;)
I suppose it all depends on which children they asked. I mean if you were to go to a city and find a bunch of hoodies on a street corner at 3am, the sort of kids who think they're cool if they're the first one in their gang to get an ASBO. I wouldn't expect much from them at all.
Of course the tooth fairy is real and my daughter has a letter to prove it.....although she aint lost her teeth yet....
I see by your signature that you can have a harsh side but surely you are just a big teddy bear are you not....
So there no way to get you to say atleast one more thing then....:confused
We all have a harsh side. Mine is strictly reserved, I don't use it online, that would be impolite.
You could get me to say more but I don't really have anything more to say that needs to be said so not really, no.
We all have a harsh side. Mine is strictly reserved, I don't use it online, that would be impolite.
You could get me to say more but I don't really have anything more to say that needs to be said so not really, no.
Fair enough............................................ ..;)
porshiepoo
04-Feb-08, 17:31
History was a subject I dropped as soon as possible when I was at school. I loved learning about history of Great Britain but wasn't so interested in that of America etc so I dropped it in favour of Geography.
It's only now that I'm getting back into the history of Great Britain and I'm absolutely loving it, albeit mainly the lives of our kings and queens etc.
I thought i would bring this up as i noticed that one in four brits think that Winston churchill and florence nightingale are ficticious and Sherlock holmes is real...What is happening.History is what makes us and i cant believe that so many of the younger population have no clue to the history of britain...What are they teaching in schools these days.We got most of british history at school...It amazes me it does...:eek:
As someone who has help at quiz compettions for over half a century I can tell you that the older population are not any better at history than the present one. They knew more dates but that is about all.
I believe you, it just seems odd how our history can be forgotten..Winston churchill of whom i am a great admirer, how can they think he is not real...i am baffled. As for remembering the dates good on them, i normally dont know what day i am on...
northener
04-Feb-08, 20:13
I believe you, it just seems odd how our history can be forgotten..Winston churchill of whom i am a great admirer, how can they think he is not real...i am baffled. As for remembering the dates good on them, i normally dont know what day i am on...
Bear in mind that the younger generation have no direct link to WW2, we older ones were brought up with people who fought or suffered at home. Churchill was a very large part of our and their lives and that knowledge was passed on to 60's kids like me.
The kids at school today will have no direct knowledge of Churchill unless it is taught to them. So who's at fault, really?
Think about this - it is now 63 years since Germany and Japan surrendered, when I was in school in the late 60's and early 70's it was around 50-60 years since the end of WW1.
I could not, as a kid or teenager, have possibly named the Prime Minister of Great Britain during WW1.
But we are all 'shocked' that after an equivalent period of time, todays youngsters cannot name the PM during WW2? Hmmmm....
I'd be more concerned about the endless and banal surveys that are churned out by cretins purporting to show us who we are ( or aren't) and what we do ( or don't do).
How about a survey to find out how many of us would like to string up anyone with a clipboard asking stupid and pointless questions?
.
IIt is down t the school to open their eyes
what about education from the parents at home? Most of the education a child gets comes from the home, not school.
what about education from the parents at home? Most of the education a child gets comes from the home, not school.
I agree. with you.I tell my children all about the history that i learnt at school.Right from the bayeaux tapestry to the war of the roses and the likes.They also get world wars aswell, as that is a great part of our history. I am not saying it is down to the teachers particulary but i do know that they are not teaching them all..
Many parents may not know about the history, they may not have enjoyed it at school and never listened.How would they help their own kids except say "look on line I dont know"
Not much help if parents dont know either...so then that leaves the schools....and the childs own willingness to learn it...
Bear in mind that the younger generation have no direct link to WW2, we older ones were brought up with people who fought or suffered at home. Churchill was a very large part of our and their lives and that knowledge was passed on to 60's kids like me.
The kids at school today will have no direct knowledge of Churchill unless it is taught to them. So who's at fault, really?
Think about this - it is now 63 years since Germany and Japan surrendered, when I was in school in the late 60's and early 70's it was around 50-60 years since the end of WW1.
I could not, as a kid or teenager, have possibly named the Prime Minister of Great Britain during WW1.
But we are all 'shocked' that after an equivalent period of time, todays youngsters cannot name the PM during WW2? Hmmmm....
I'd be more concerned about the endless and banal surveys that are churned out by cretins purporting to show us who we are ( or aren't) and what we do ( or don't do).
How about a survey to find out how many of us would like to string up anyone with a clipboard asking stupid and pointless questions?
.
i was not about during the wars but my parents were. I had it from them what it was like to grow up in war torn britain...I am sure there are many teachers of the older generation who grew up then and would not mind telling the children what it was like but then it is probably not on their curriculum....
I agree about the surveys but they are done for a purpose...I imagine quite a few would be strung up for it, but it is part of our lives, Unfortunately...Some of them are interesting some not.The strange thing is i dont do surveys myself, but caught this in the news about the reason for my thread....
northener
04-Feb-08, 20:39
You're right about families and friends helping to educate children, Justine.
But I think part of the problem is also information overload. There is so much relevant information that we could help our kids to understand, but unfortunately some things that we hold dear may not always be passed on the the next generation.
I'm sure education evolves like all other things, maybe not always for the better (don't get me started on that;)).
I'd prefer our children to be aware of the legacy of WW2 in Europe and to understand the challenges we face today as a result of that conflict rather than be 'genned up' on the major players - and unable to understand the reasons for the problems and challenges facing Europe in the 21st century.
Who was PM in WW1 anyway?:confused
.
You're right about families and friends helping to educate children, Justine.
But I think part of the problem is also information overload. There is so much relevant information that we could help our kids to understand, but unfortunately some things that we hold dear may not always be passed on the the next generation.
I'm sure education evolves like all other things, maybe not always for the better (don't get me started on that;)).
I'd prefer our children to be aware of the legacy of WW2 in Europe and to understand the challenges we face today as a result of that conflict rather than be 'genned up' on the major players - and unable to understand the reasons for the problems and challenges facing Europe in the 21st century.
Who was PM in WW1 anyway?:confused
.
He we go...Arthur Balfor 1902-1905
Sir Henry Bannerman 1905-1907
Herbert henry Asquith 1907-1916
David lloyd George1916-1922
Stanley Baldwin 1923-1924
James Ramsey Macdonald 1924
Stanley Baldwin 1925
James Ramsey Macdonald 1926
Stanley baldwin 1927-1928
Neville chamberlain 1929
Winston Churchill 1930-1945
Hope this answers your q...I was brought up in the army so ww1 and ww2 are in me as such>all my relatives were in the army and so i love anything to do with both wars.I always wanted to know why innocent men women and children died..Unlike wars today i understand the world wars...
northener
04-Feb-08, 21:04
Asquith? Wasn't he in the "Confessions of..." films?
Blimey, PM and Actor - who'd have thought that possible?
.
Please leave the kids alone. Ignorance can be bliss.
Ideally all history books should be locked up in a Gothic Tower somewhere in the flow country and then the keys should be flung away.
(I dont believe in burning history books, just in making them inaccessible.)
At best history is harmless gossip - but it is healthier sitting on a bench in Sir John's Square chatting with your pals, puffing away at some Bogie Role, discussing whose doing what and with whom, because at least you get some fresh air.
Just consider for a moment the amount of bloodshed, slaughter, bigotry, disasters of every kind that are the fault of history.
In Canada in the 19th century booze stores used to operate an "Indian List" of folk who could not be served because strong drink made them mad.
History books are the strong drink of the nattering classes. There are people on this message board - and you know who you are - who should not even be allowed in the same room as a history book. Because you will; go out and attack the neighbours or the people in the next village. As for selecting a volume to read where can we start - Mein Kampff? or anything by the German Treitshke who figured the Teutonic race was due some living space at the expense of the Slavic subhumans. Shall we head nearer home and discover the 19th century Dr. Hurrel Froude who figured the Irish deserved the potato famine. Or the Irish like Pearse and co. who despised the English because they were a coarse gang of insensitive Saxons, just clods.. Or lets go to Scotland and sample Blind Harry who has dreaful things to say (and do) to the Englsih. And so it goes...the trouble just builds and builds.
Of course there is the occasional history book that contains good sense but these are honest intellectuals who write to redress the balance (Conor Cruise O'Brien for example) I am sure such historans would be happier writing detective stories. Mind you, I'm not sure that most people should even be allowed detective stories for fear of a rash of poisonings and stabbings in the vicarages of the county. (What do you mean we don't have vicarages? Use your imagination!!!)
The only thing that is likely keeping Caithness on the strait and narrow is that most people can't read. And that is the only reason I can think of to justify the school system. It turns out harmless illiterates. Keep up the good work.....
cuddlepop
04-Feb-08, 21:47
Please leave the kids alone. Ignorance can be bliss.
Ideally all history books should be locked up in a Gothic Tower somewhere in the flow country and then the keys should be flung away.
(I dont believe in burning history books, just in making them inaccessible.)
At best history is harmless gossip - but it is healthier sitting on a bench in Sir John's Square chatting with your pals, puffing away at some Bogie Role, discussing whose doing what and with whom, because at least you get some fresh air.
Just consider for a moment the amount of bloodshed, slaughter, bigotry, disasters of every kind that are the fault of history.
In Canada in the 19th century booze stores used to operate an "Indian List" of folk who could not be served because strong drink made them mad.
History books are the strong drink of the nattering classes. There are people on this message board - and you know who you are - who should not even be allowed in the same room as a history book. Because you will; go out and attack the neighbours or the people in the next village. As for selecting a volume to read where can we start - Mein Kampff? or anything by the German Treitshke who figured the Teutonic race was due some living space at the expense of the Slavic subhumans. Shall we head nearer home and discover the 19th century Dr. Hurrel Froude who figured the Irish deserved the potato famine. Or the Irish like Pearse and co. who despised the English because they were a coarse gang of insensitive Saxons, just clods.. Or lets go to Scotland and sample Blind Harry who has dreaful things to say (and do) to the Englsih. And so it goes...the trouble just builds and builds.
Of course there is the occasional history book that contains good sense but these are honest intellectuals who write to redress the balance (Conor Cruise O'Brien for example) I am sure such historans would be happier writing detective stories. Mind you, I'm not sure that most people should even be allowed detective stories for fear of a rash of poisonings and stabbings in the vicarages of the county. (What do you mean we don't have vicarages? Use your imagination!!!)
The only thing that is likely keeping Caithness on the strait and narrow is that most people can't read. And that is the only reason I can think of to justify the school system. It turns out harmless illiterates. Keep up the good work.....
Your in good form tonight.;)
bobandag16
04-Feb-08, 22:01
I thought i would bring this up as i noticed that one in four brits think that Winston churchill and florence nightingale are ficticious and Sherlock holmes is real...What is happening.History is what makes us and i cant believe that so many of the younger population have no clue to the history of britain...What are they teaching in schools these days.We got most of british history at school...It amazes me it does...:eek:
lack of knowing was due to parents not telling .what they did in the wars.my own father ww1. my self ww2 .only time was a school project . the live of an old man in 1934. iam now 88 this year. history must be past on by word of mouth. not films tv .media.
Please leave the kids alone. Ignorance can be bliss.
Ideally all history books should be locked up in a Gothic Tower somewhere in the flow country and then the keys should be flung away.
(I dont believe in burning history books, just in making them inaccessible.)
At best history is harmless gossip - but it is healthier sitting on a bench in Sir John's Square chatting with your pals, puffing away at some Bogie Role, discussing whose doing what and with whom, because at least you get some fresh air.
Just consider for a moment the amount of bloodshed, slaughter, bigotry, disasters of every kind that are the fault of history.
In Canada in the 19th century booze stores used to operate an "Indian List" of folk who could not be served because strong drink made them mad.
History books are the strong drink of the nattering classes. There are people on this message board - and you know who you are - who should not even be allowed in the same room as a history book. Because you will; go out and attack the neighbours or the people in the next village. As for selecting a volume to read where can we start - Mein Kampff? or anything by the German Treitshke who figured the Teutonic race was due some living space at the expense of the Slavic subhumans. Shall we head nearer home and discover the 19th century Dr. Hurrel Froude who figured the Irish deserved the potato famine. Or the Irish like Pearse and co. who despised the English because they were a coarse gang of insensitive Saxons, just clods.. Or lets go to Scotland and sample Blind Harry who has dreaful things to say (and do) to the Englsih. And so it goes...the trouble just builds and builds.
Of course there is the occasional history book that contains good sense but these are honest intellectuals who write to redress the balance (Conor Cruise O'Brien for example) I am sure such historans would be happier writing detective stories. Mind you, I'm not sure that most people should even be allowed detective stories for fear of a rash of poisonings and stabbings in the vicarages of the county. (What do you mean we don't have vicarages? Use your imagination!!!)
The only thing that is likely keeping Caithness on the strait and narrow is that most people can't read. And that is the only reason I can think of to justify the school system. It turns out harmless illiterates. Keep up the good work.....
What a load of twoddle..........:(
northener
05-Feb-08, 00:17
Please leave the kids alone. Ignorance can be bliss.
Ideally all history books should be locked up in a Gothic Tower somewhere in the flow country and then the keys should be flung away.
(I dont believe in burning history books, just in making them inaccessible.)
At best history is harmless gossip - but it is healthier sitting on a bench in Sir John's Square chatting with your pals, puffing away at some Bogie Role, discussing whose doing what and with whom, because at least you get some fresh air.
Just consider for a moment the amount of bloodshed, slaughter, bigotry, disasters of every kind that are the fault of history.
In Canada in the 19th century booze stores used to operate an "Indian List" of folk who could not be served because strong drink made them mad.
History books are the strong drink of the nattering classes. There are people on this message board - and you know who you are - who should not even be allowed in the same room as a history book. Because you will; go out and attack the neighbours or the people in the next village. As for selecting a volume to read where can we start - Mein Kampff? or anything by the German Treitshke who figured the Teutonic race was due some living space at the expense of the Slavic subhumans. Shall we head nearer home and discover the 19th century Dr. Hurrel Froude who figured the Irish deserved the potato famine. Or the Irish like Pearse and co. who despised the English because they were a coarse gang of insensitive Saxons, just clods.. Or lets go to Scotland and sample Blind Harry who has dreaful things to say (and do) to the Englsih. And so it goes...the trouble just builds and builds.
Of course there is the occasional history book that contains good sense but these are honest intellectuals who write to redress the balance (Conor Cruise O'Brien for example) I am sure such historans would be happier writing detective stories. Mind you, I'm not sure that most people should even be allowed detective stories for fear of a rash of poisonings and stabbings in the vicarages of the county. (What do you mean we don't have vicarages? Use your imagination!!!)
The only thing that is likely keeping Caithness on the strait and narrow is that most people can't read. And that is the only reason I can think of to justify the school system. It turns out harmless illiterates. Keep up the good work.....
I think you're confusing history with political ideology.
.
The only thing that is likely keeping Caithness on the strait and narrow is that most people can't read. And that is the only reason I can think of to justify the school system. It turns out harmless illiterates. Keep up the good work.....
What a load of old pointless horse keck!!
Metalattakk
05-Feb-08, 03:31
Please leave the kids alone. Ignorance can be bliss.
Ideally all history books should be locked up in a Gothic Tower somewhere in the flow country and then the keys should be flung away.
(I dont believe in burning history books, just in making them inaccessible.)
At best history is harmless gossip - but it is healthier sitting on a bench in Sir John's Square chatting with your pals, puffing away at some Bogie Role, discussing whose doing what and with whom, because at least you get some fresh air.
Just consider for a moment the amount of bloodshed, slaughter, bigotry, disasters of every kind that are the fault of history.
In Canada in the 19th century booze stores used to operate an "Indian List" of folk who could not be served because strong drink made them mad.
History books are the strong drink of the nattering classes. There are people on this message board - and you know who you are - who should not even be allowed in the same room as a history book. Because you will; go out and attack the neighbours or the people in the next village. As for selecting a volume to read where can we start - Mein Kampff? or anything by the German Treitshke who figured the Teutonic race was due some living space at the expense of the Slavic subhumans. Shall we head nearer home and discover the 19th century Dr. Hurrel Froude who figured the Irish deserved the potato famine. Or the Irish like Pearse and co. who despised the English because they were a coarse gang of insensitive Saxons, just clods.. Or lets go to Scotland and sample Blind Harry who has dreaful things to say (and do) to the Englsih. And so it goes...the trouble just builds and builds.
Of course there is the occasional history book that contains good sense but these are honest intellectuals who write to redress the balance (Conor Cruise O'Brien for example) I am sure such historans would be happier writing detective stories. Mind you, I'm not sure that most people should even be allowed detective stories for fear of a rash of poisonings and stabbings in the vicarages of the county. (What do you mean we don't have vicarages? Use your imagination!!!)
The only thing that is likely keeping Caithness on the strait and narrow is that most people can't read. And that is the only reason I can think of to justify the school system. It turns out harmless illiterates. Keep up the good work.....
Bottom, fish, banana, etc., etc., etc...
History is important for our kids to learn but not necessarily sometimes pointless facts and figures. I tell my daughter facts about family members, the jobs that they did, for example in world war two. It gives our kids a sense of identity to a certain extent. History has to be made interesting or they will choose to ignore it.
Apparently a class were asked "What was Churchill famous for"?
The answer given was "He was the last white guy to be called Winston".
[lol]
Apparently a class were asked "What was Churchill famous for"?
The answer given was "He was the last white guy to be called Winston".
[lol]
Well then i must take back all i said as they are probably right.........:Razz
Apparently a class were asked "What was Churchill famous for"?
The answer given was "He was the last white guy to be called Winston".
[lol]
If "rich" has his way, Churchill will merely be known as a "Jowly Insurance Hound"
Highland Laddie
05-Feb-08, 16:00
Sorry, don't really see History as any benefit to the kids of today,
Technology has come on leaps and bounds, in the last decade especially
computers, micro engineering technology, nano technology etc etc etc
so what good is it knowing who the prime ministers were during the first or second world war, let them concentrate on global warming next generation fuels or world poverty, something that can help the future, not bury them in the past.
It is called the past because it has past, move on and look to the future.
Sorry, don't really see History as any benefit to the kids of today,
Technology has come on leaps and bounds, in the last decade especially
computers, micro engineering technology, nano technology etc etc etc
so what good is it knowing who the prime ministers were during the first or second world war, let them concentrate on global warming next generation fuels or world poverty, something that can help the future, not bury them in the past.
It is called the past because it has past, move on and look to the future.
Fair enough comment.But what happened during the first and second wars was world poverty.They were starving because there is a war not because there own governments are getting richer and leaving the rest to their own devises....If another war broke out as severe as the two mentioned most would not know what to do other than send in nuclear weopanry..They dont know the meaning of hardships. I dont see any soldiers or civilians having to live off crow pies because there is no food.The have ration pack.history is a vital part of knowing who we really are and the fact that for the survivors of these wars most of us would not be arond today.i can only assume that you forget all once it has past.We all look to the furure but our pasts keep us sane...
Highland Laddie
05-Feb-08, 16:15
Hi Justine, i'm not by any means saying that we should not be thankful and respect those who fought in the wars, what i am saying is, a lot of history is of no real benefit to the kids of today, when i was at school (long long ago) we had to do a project on the ancient egyptians, and on the Incas, still too this day, i have no idea of what benefit it has done for me.
I agree with you their. Luckily i only got british history.I would love to find out what happened to the incas...My family were torn apart because of the wars. I watched my father go off to the falklands my brother go off in the conflict in 1990, wars are devasting no matter when the occur, but histroy is the biggest part of who we are and where we go from here..
Please do not think that i was having a go, but i do think for future generations to understand how precious their own existences are they have to look back to how people rallied together in times of need.We do this today in times of disasters but when it comes down to it we are mainlyy a state of everyman for himself...Kids could learn alot from our history on how to prevent ther likes of world wars. There were no politics as such and no red tape it was lets do what we have to do to survive. I know my kids want to know all about their history, questions like why i dont have grandparent, they bothe died just after ww2 finished. My mother was a 5yr old little girl, so i am soory if i get touchy about this but my life is centred around the british military..It amazes me how so many dont know where the are from truely, from....
The following is from an article in The Times Online:-
"There is a grim and growing sense in schools that history is extraneous to the demands of modern life. The Ofsted report laments: “Some policy developers, senior school managers, parents and pupils do not perceive history as either relevant or important compared to other subjects.” One headmaster spoke of the need for more “functional history”, the implication being that unless history could teach pupils how to program a computer or manage a hedge fund, then it had no point.
But history is about more than imparting life skills: it is about life. It is the skill to collate and assess evidence, to form a geography of time and a sense of our place within that map. This requires not bite-size, easily digestible lumps of historical knowledge – what Gordon Marsden, the Labour MP and former editor of History Today, has called the Yo! Sushi style of history – but a rolling tale with a beginning, middle and end, and a future.
Yes, history is one damn thing after (and before) another, because events and people, periods and thoughts, all have antecedents and consequences, a series of smaller, interconnecting stories within an overarching narrative.
Maths and spelling are useful, but not essential (I have coped without them, just); to live without a sense of history, however, would be a true debility. How could one appreciate the process of devolution without knowing how the kingdom was united in the first place? How could one begin to understand the blowing up of a Tube train without some knowledge of the difference between Christianity and Islam, and the recent history of the Middle East?
Ed Balls, the Secretary of State for Schools, has pledged £13.7 million to teach children to handle their emotions, but that, in a way, is what history already does, allowing one to occupy, emotionally and intellectually, the life of someone else in another age.
The debate over what should be on the curriculum is endless and insoluble, as it ought to be. Should there be fewer white men and 20th-century dictators taught in school? More Gandhi and less Churchill? History in school is often depressingly moralising, a set of cautionary tales. Nazis and slavery: bad. Suffragettes and William Wilberforce: good. At the same time, the Government is anxious to instil civic responsibility and a sense of Britishness by way of history.
These are all important considerations, but secondary to persuading a new generation that history has a deeper intrinsic value than teaching morality, patriotism or multicultural awareness. History is about gaining self-knowledge, and knowledge of the living, by getting to know the dead.
This week I attended a book-reading by David Kynaston, author of Austerity Britain, a brilliant new social history of this country after the war. The questions afterwards reflected an extraordinary hunger for the sense of place that only history can impart. Some of the questioners had lived through the postwar period and were exploring the landscape of memory, but many were younger, simply gathering experiences from the past, shared stories within a broader history.
Although the quality of history teaching in British schools is generally high, the study of history is narrowing and dwindling at the very moment when it is most needed. Instead of being corralled into a few, restricted subjects and penalised for straying from the prescribed path, pupils should be rewarded whenever they plunge into the historical undergrowth. History does not teach anything in particular; it teaches everything, and it is worth far more to a schoolchild’s spiritual health than one hour a week.
And for those who see education as a utilitarian business, a matter of employability, there is this to consider: anyone who can get inside the skin of Henry VIII would make a damn good hedge fund manager."
well that just about says it all.I cant top that analasis if i tried but it is wonderful to know that i am not the only history lover about....
Bobinovich
05-Feb-08, 17:56
Part of the problem is that kids today are very much in the here-and-now. The speed of technology development, Internet, world-wide communications, etc. is so fast that it's difficult enough keeping pace with what's happening today, let alone whats happened in the past.
Another is a general apathy which seems to be all pervading thesedays. Kids just can't be bothered with anything unless it is of interest to them. However, as they grow older and take on the responsibilties of life - jobs, family, etc. you will probably find them looking to the past to see what lessons they can learn.
I feel there is also a sense thesedays of "if I need to find out about something, I can just look it up on the Internet" - In other words, why bother exercising my brain to learn something which is of no use to me at the present - instead I can get all the facts at my fingertips if/when I need it.
young_fishin_neep
05-Feb-08, 18:44
I can. Mainly because the majority or the younger population are unwashed, uneducated, spotty little imbeciles with terrible fashion senses and a combined IQ similar to that of your average Little Chef waiter.
I'm sorry but I take great offence to that comment!
I have never don't history ok maybe a few lessons in high school but as soon as I could drop it I did. that doesn't mean I’m stupid, I got good results in my standard grades, and I’m now in college doing well. I may act a fair bit dippy sometimes but I know there’s allot in this world I don't know, and I’m sure that’s the case for you! fashion is fashion, it changes, I’m sure that’s what adults thought of you when you were wearing clothes that were then in fashion, you don't have to wear it if you don't like it but don't judge others for what they wear.
have you ever sat and had an interesting conversation with a teenager?
Someone told me something that is very useful in life - don't judge a book by its cover
maybe you should try and find out what’s inside before you go and judge people!
I'm sorry but I take great offence to that comment!
I have never don't history ok maybe a few lessons in high school but as soon as I could drop it I did. that doesn't mean I’m stupid, I got good results in my standard grades, and I’m now in college doing well. I may act a fair bit dippy sometimes but I know there’s allot in this world I don't know, and I’m sure that’s the case for you! fashion is fashion, it changes, I’m sure that’s what adults thought of you when you were wearing clothes that were then in fashion, you don't have to wear it if you don't like it but don't judge others for what they wear.
have you ever sat and had an interesting conversation with a teenager?
Someone told me something that is very useful in life - don't judge a book by its cover
maybe you should try and find out what’s inside before you go and judge people!
hi there young neep.I would not take things to heart to much.I believe his comments were aimed at alot of teens who have nothing on the minds but fashion, not those that have a willingness to better themselves. Its a pity that you did not enjoy history as it is a fun subject if taught in an interesting way.....I have always been judged by my outer cover, tattoos piercings, loads of kids. People have said i am good for nothing not realising i had a boarding school education and i am brighter than i look...
Carry on doing well at college.The past will invite you when it is ready to do so...
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