education?

[Ken Gargett]

i post this report in the knowledge that i suspect we would do no better. sadly. the irony of religious festival is fightening.

HUNDREDS of British school children believe Auschwitz is the name of a beer, religious festival or type of bread instead of the infamous Nazi death camp, a survey reveals.

More than 1000 high school students aged between 11 and 16 were asked what they knew about Auschwitz, where about 1.3 million people died during World War II.

Ten per cent said they were unsure, while eight per cent believed Auschwitz was a country bordering Germany, two per cent said it was a beer, another two per cent said a religious festival and one per cent said a type of bread.

Six in 10 students also had no idea about Hitler's Final Solution - a plan to exterminate all Jews - with a fifth saying they thought it was the name of peace talks to end the war.

[Tampa1257]

That is a sad issue

[cigargirl85]

Considering that it's often said that History teaching in British schools amounts to nothing but 'Hitler and the Henrys', it's pretty worrying that so many kids don't even seen to know much about these bits. And also worrying that, as the saying goes, those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it.

I majored in history at university - this sort of thing makes me really depressed.

[Jimmy2]

Like this everywhere hell the young kids over here dont even know who Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd are !!

It really is kind of bad that they dont know any kind of histroy across the board..

Must be the parents fault for not talking more to their kids and talking about their experiences in life when growing up.

[Padrino]

It's like that pretty much everywhere and in every country.In these supposedly modern and advanced times 90% of kids are more worried about what the latest PS3 game is and what brand of clothing is in fashion or being worn by Britney and co. Magazines tell them how to dress, moronic reality shows such as Pop Idol infuse them with the aspiration to be some cookie-cutter popular music icon......

Few kids ever get out anymore and do much of anything, preferring to play some kind of simulated sports on their Wii at home while they chomp down on potato chips and guzzle Mountain Dew. Assuming they can tear themselves away from their Facebook or My Space pages. And don't get me started on the Mall-rats, tribes of over-painted and under dressed teeny boppers prancing around like Paris Hilton clones....

It appears as if the majority are being dumbed down and they don't even realize it.

These are weird times.