Really Sad

November 11th in Canada is very often cold, wet and thoroughly unpleasant to be standing outside for a prolonged period. That was the first lesson my kids got about respecting our veterans and our history. None of us should blame the schools if we haven't done anything ourselves to instill the knowledge in the next generation. I remember vividly explaining to my oldest son that if the frail old veteran beside us who gave up 4-5 years of his life and now, in his eighties, could stand the elements for 90 minutes, he certainly could too.
That was the beginning of his realization that this was something important!

 

An example - more young people will remember Amy Whinehouse dying than the people that died in WW2 - surely that's wrong.

How many 70 something year olds know Amy Winehouse?

My parents, in their 80's, have never heard of her.

 

Andy

As an 88 year old someone who gets the Times delivered 7 days a week and who has five grandkids either in gap year/up at UNI or graduated how could I possibly not know about Amy Winehouse ?

Ron

 

Winehouse? A nice name, but whom are you talking about? :p

My eldest at 19 knows a significant bit about WW2, is revolted by the Holocaust, etc. My youngest, 15, doesn't even want to hear about it. Go figure.

 

I have read this thread with interest, as up until a couple of years ago I was involved with organising ANZAC Day commemoration services for my local RSL (Returned and Services League) Sub-Branch. I have since moved towns and now I volunteer each year to give the ANZAC Day address at a local school.
Over the years I have noticed that every ANZAC Day there seems to be more young people participating in the commemorative marches and services. The crowds watching on and waving flags etc. are also increasing. This is significant as the veteran numbers are slowly decreasing.
I have also found that while the young ones may not know the specifics about WW1 or WW2, or the wars that have happened since, they are generally interested and respectful.
Gone are the days when kids only learnt what the teacher drummed into them and if they didn’t, then it didn’t happen. Nowadays, there are good tools available and there is a lot more interest in finding out “what grandpa did in the war”. If there is no direct family connection then they can be encouraged to adopt a veteran and research their service. So rather than being sad that the 20 year olds didn’t know about Auschwitz, I would be happy to be presented with an opportunity to pass on some knowledge. I would also be interested in how many of them went off and “Googled” it.
I think that so long as there are folks that are interested in preserving, promoting and presenting the history, then future generations will be in good shape.

"Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it." Samuel Johnson

 

I really can't see any paucity of WW2 History in our current times - entire TV channels practically devoted to it, other channels showing no shortage of documentaries or series, growing sector on the Internet, the war film appears to be back in fashion etc. etc.

The world wars are extremely well-served by both formal and popular education in Britain.

The real problem is the absence of wider historical context. There's very little attention paid to the Edwardian period or the Nineteen-Twenties and Thirties, for instance. Andrew Marr's The Making of Modern Britain, while far from flawless, was a breath of fresh air in that respect.

Best, Alan