Should we forget the World Wars?
According to an article in my local evening newspaper on Wednesday 29 March 2006:
"History lessons in schools could lead to more football-related violence at this summer's World Cup, researchers said. A report claimed hooligans were influenced by lessons about the First and Second World Wars".
Is this a reason to stop giving history lessons about the World Wars and perhaps forget all about them?
Comments invited. For further comments about my personal views, see 'Comments'
"History lessons in schools could lead to more football-related violence at this summer's World Cup, researchers said. A report claimed hooligans were influenced by lessons about the First and Second World Wars".
Is this a reason to stop giving history lessons about the World Wars and perhaps forget all about them?
Comments invited. For further comments about my personal views, see 'Comments'
posted by ritsonvaljos at 10:36 pm
6 Comments:
Below are some views about history lessons of the World Wars and football
Personally, I would have thought that learning about what happened in the World Wars should lead to less violence and more tolerance between different nationalities. As someone who spent many childhood and teenage holidays in continental Europe, sport generally and football in particular has been something that I always found was something I had in common with those of a similar age from other nations. On many occasions I can recall playing in unofficial 'international' matches when somebody produced a football. These friendly sporting contests with children from other nationalities actually proved a good way to learn about what happened in several countries including France, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Turkey, and proved a good way to learn about other languages.
During the Second World War in my home county of Cumbria some German POWs worked on local farms. In the village where my father's family lived, the German POWs, the local lads of the village, including my father, and even the prison camp guards played in 'ad hoc' football matches during lunchbreaks. This is one of the things I wrote about for the "People's War" project. In the First World War popular history, if true, recounts that British and German troops played football during the 'Christmas truce' of 1914. If lads from combatant nations during the World Wars could play football together then surely their latter day successors should learn about history and know it is a grand thing to foster friendly relations between people and countries through football matches?
Dare I kick this little football into the field of play? Would learning about the World Wars in history lessons lead to hooliganism between supporters of different countries during a football tournament? It would be interesting to learn what others think.
Some of these reports from "experts" make me want to shake them - by the neck - as I have yet to read of even one of them making what I would call 'common sense'
To say that History lessons of the wars taught them how to be violent is utter nonsense since not a lot of history - of any kind - has been taught for many years in most schools, along with Geography - Mathematics- English Litt - Manners - Respect - Discipline etc and for that we can point the fickle finger of fate directly at Dr Spock and his crazy ideas that youngsters should not be disciplined as it might damage their "egos ".His own son couln'dt cope and committed suicide at an early age.
Have we ever known a time when so many underage - i.e. 12/13/14/year olds are committing murders- kidnappings - rapes and sexual assaults - this is a total absence of discipline which most wars were fought under.
The plain fact is that most of these hooligans - vandals etc when finally apprehended are given a slap on the wrist with the admonition that they should not do it again. When they do - it's another slap on the wrist !
90 days field punishment might change their ways.
Who wrote this report? Are we to suppose that if we wipe out the history of the 20th century there would be no more hooliganism?
If it were true, in a twist of turning swords into ploughshares, we should at once burn all military books and thereby create docile amiable meek youths. Perhaps, in a similar vein, if we get rid of all medical books we might have a healthier population.
I should have thought that the crass stupidity of holding such a view was obvious.
The conclusion reached in this report suggests to me that it is based on a spurious correlation.
Lewis Wolpert, a distinguished developmental biologist, gives an excellent example of wrong thinking based on insufficient evidence. Recently there was a strong suggestion (mainly from sociologists and lawyers) that a game called 'Dungeons and Dragons' should be banned in America. Statistics showed that playing the game might lead to teenage suicide. The evidence in support of this claim looked formidable: twenty-eight teenagers addicted to the game had committed suicide.
But, as Professor Wolpert points out, the average rate for suicide in teenagers nationwide in the USA is about one in ten-thousand. Since three million teenagers played the game, the number of suicides that might be expected among the players was three hundred, so not only was there no valid statistical link between playing the game and suicide, if anything the suicide rate was way below the national average.
Now then Frank - if we couldn't read - how could we support the economy as the advertising would be unknown to us - we would not for example - learn that the MP's would be having their pensions upgraded to the tune of 1.25 millions and their incomes also upgraded at another humungous cost - while the poor British pensioners who decided to settle in the Old Time Colonies still have their pensions frozen - but then that would cost 3/400 million to fix....can't have that cost when the fraud of the social services also cost 1 billion p.a.
God help the future generations who will not be able to understand what others are doing to them.
I did mention a Dr Benjamin Spock as being a perpetrator of this ignorance of common respect - I should also mention Dr Abraham Maslow who pushed the "comprehensive" system of education all over the world and spent his last three years in trying to repeal it - too late it was welcomed by the educators world wide, then of course we have Dr Kervorkin who thinks all over a certain age should be liquidated- he is residing in an American jail at the momemt. and at the other end of the scale we have the Abortion King - Dr Henry Morgenthaler - who as his name inplies - does not bring us morning news - but rather that we should pay him for destroying our future populations - which are now just coming into focus - "that something is wrong" when Latvia will be no more in 23 years - Italy not too far behind etc.
Just four men but what an impact on our morals ??
I thought everyone may have felt this way when I saw this report in the newspaper. Strange what ideas some people will sugggest isnn't it?
Perhaps the next thing I can suggest is that if we stop teaching sport in schools, especially football, then there will be no more hooliganism? Well, it is as daft a suggestion as the one about not teaching about the World Wars in school!
Thanks for all your views on this.
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