Should historical information such as the Holocaust be kept from children? The following article is about how teachers are losing priveliges to teach historical events because of offences taken by parents and students....

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Teachers are dropping controversial subjects such as the Holocaust and the Crusades from history lessons because they do not want to offend children from certain races or religions, a report claims.

A lack of factual knowledge among some teachers, particularly in primary schools, is also leading to “shallowâ€

These are important lessons for the students to learn. Students shouldnt be babied because they have certain religious beliefs. It is unfortunate for students when their teachers lack the knowledge needed to teach these subjects, but in primary schools the teachers are less likely to have in depth knowledge of the subjects. They are just as likely to have less knowledge in noncontroversial subject as one that is. I think that the lessons that cause controversy are the most important lessons.

In this case I think it is much worse not to teach children about controversial issues. Of course, we as teachers can not and should not include our own personal opinions, we just need to present the facts. Anyway, not presenting information about the Holocaust or any other significant event in our history could be detrimental to our future society. If this information is just covered up, don't you think the same mistakes will just happen again and again? If a student doesn't learn what has happened in history, we will just be creating a person that will emerge from their learning experience from underneath blindfold. They will have missed a lot of valuable knowledge about how things used to be, how things are now, and how things should be.

I can understand the good intentions of the teachers, but events like the Holocaust and the Civil Rights Movement are necassary in the classroom because they can teach students what not to do. What I mean by this, is that it is possible to teach students the warning signs of something like these events... following the masses out of fear/and or uninformed/misinformed, etc. Students must know where they came from in order to know themselvese and where they are going and censoring that is not the way to prperly teach history.

what this really comes down to is the question of who controls the content of "history;" or, who gets to say what really happened. it's also about how history figures into identity, how we relate to what happened in the past and what role past events play in our "selves" today. it's ALSO about the political and cultural dimensions of education--what aspect of a child's identity takes precedence in a classroom and to what does a certain cultural or religious affiliation entitle the child?

it seems that what started as "political correctness" has now come to the point of having made children the rulers of teachers, and individuals more important than information.

teacher: now we're going to learn about the holocaust, which was a massive act of genocide the germans carried out against jews in world war two...
child: (raises hand) my mom says we're german and that the holocaust didn't really happen. it's a story that makes germans look bad.
teacher: well, i know that YOU weren't personally involved in it, but the holocaust really did happen and germany was the chief perpetrator.
child: that's just not true. and you're offending me.
teacher: look, the fact that your ancestors were german does not entitle you to deny that the holocaust was real. it has nothing to do with you. it's just the way it happened, and it's true.
child: IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH ME!! i'm calling my mom. you're gonna be sooooooo fired.
child #2: teacher, i'm a white male. does this mean i don't have to learn about colonialism or slavery or nuclear weapons?

i'm a big proponent of respecting difference, but i have a hard time respecting people who are wrong and insist on remaining so. i think if it offends a child to learn that some group with whom they associate has done something horrible in the past, that child's association with that group might just be too damn strong. a christian child in public school who finds learning about the crusades offensive probably has scary parents ;x

once again, whose version of history should carry more weight--a parent's or a teacher's? what happens when those histories diverge? i have no idea how to answer those questions. but i think it's absurd that teachers--history teachers perhaps most of all--should have to fear their students, and i find it appalling that some are changing their lesson plans (and effectively altering the story of the world) to accommodate those students who may just be wrong, but who would be offended if you told them so.

Wow! First off, this article is just not a very informative piece. It seems to be very misleading.

A lack of factual knowledge among some teachers, particularly in primary schools, is also leading to “shallowâ€