This caught my eye in the LA Times today. I found it quite evocative.
And then I wondered why there was no mention of D-Day on the front page? Especially since President Obama is over there for the event! And then I thought about how you see nothing even in any section anymore on November 22nd. And the Oklahoma City bombing wasn't noted either. There was something about Columbine towards the end of Section one this year. And Jonestown gets a nod every few years, but that is all.
Are there so many catastrophic events that we can't note their anniversaries? Do people just not care? What about the editors and columnists?
I for one believe it is instructive to remember certain events - if for no other reason than to keep them in the collective consciousness so they won't be repeated - hopefully anyway.
I find it disturbing that most of my students only know about Pearl Harbor if they've seen the movie - and as the years go by, fewer and fewer of them have seen the movie. Same with Titanic. (Although since the last survivor died this year, there was a mention - but not on the anniversary.)
"Living history" - that is, keeping memories alive for those who weren't there when it happened - or were very young when it happened - seems like a good way to teach kids.
Thank goodness I subscribe to edHelper - they always have a reading comprehension exercise for every anniversary of events and people in history - past and present - and so I try to teach my students about people and events that can enrich their understanding of history and the country they call home.
If one more student answers my query, "Who knows about the Civil Rights Movement?" with the answer, "That's when Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves right?" I just might stamp my foot and have a tantrum!!
Are there so many catastrophic events that we can't note their anniversaries? Do people just not care? What about the editors and columnists?
I for one believe it is instructive to remember certain events - if for no other reason than to keep them in the collective consciousness so they won't be repeated - hopefully anyway.
I find it disturbing that most of my students only know about Pearl Harbor if they've seen the movie - and as the years go by, fewer and fewer of them have seen the movie. Same with Titanic. (Although since the last survivor died this year, there was a mention - but not on the anniversary.)
"Living history" - that is, keeping memories alive for those who weren't there when it happened - or were very young when it happened - seems like a good way to teach kids.
Thank goodness I subscribe to edHelper - they always have a reading comprehension exercise for every anniversary of events and people in history - past and present - and so I try to teach my students about people and events that can enrich their understanding of history and the country they call home.
If one more student answers my query, "Who knows about the Civil Rights Movement?" with the answer, "That's when Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves right?" I just might stamp my foot and have a tantrum!!
4 comments:
Did you tell them about the anniversary of Tiananmen Square this week? That has also gotten hardly any attention. Look at boston.com/bigpicture for some cool pictures.
I actually was going to do a post on that - since Bonny and Phoebe and I were in San Francisco that year and there was a "sympathy" demonstration going on there. I need to hunt up the pics.
I heard a nice piece on Tiananmen Square this week on my XM book radio.
The Fresno Bee had a small article on April 19 on the OK city bombing.
You are right though, people are not overly concerned with remembering the past it seems.
And you know what happens when you forget the past.
I read something online about Tiananmen suare this week. But I didn't see anything in the paper. Now I need to go back and check yesterday's to see if anything was mentioned about D-day.
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