Crap.......

[Lanie]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/05/05/california-school-district-cancels-lesson-plan-that-involved-holocaust-denial/

Following a storm of criticism – and at least one death threat – a California school district Monday canceled a lesson plan that instructed middle school students to make arguments denying the Holocaust happened.

The assignment, aimed at eighth-grade students in Southern California’s Rialto Unified School District, sought to teach children to learn the nature of propaganda.


“Some people claim the Holocaust is not an actual event, but instead is a propaganda tool that was used for political and monetary gain,” the assignment said, according to a document posted by The Daily Bulletin. “You will read and discuss multiple, credible articles on the issue, and write an argumentative essay, based upon cited textual evidence, in which you explain whether or not you believe this was an actual event in history, or merely a political scheme created to influence public emotion and gain wealth.”

But critics said the assignment risked misleading the 13- and 14-year-old students into believing that propaganda about the Holocaust bears factual legitimacy.

“Whatever (the district’s) motivation, it ends up elevating hate and history to the same level,” Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the associate dean of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, told FoxNews.com on Monday. “We should train our kids to have critical thinking, but the problem here is the teacher confused teaching critical thinking with common sense, because common sense dictates you don’t comingle propaganda with common truth.”

I think this is a bad idea because young people are impressionable. I don't think the average person realizes how "believable" holocaust denial websites can be. When I was a kid, it was like "This is what happened and this is how we know it happened." It didn't matter how anybody felt about the politics of it. That's just what it was.

[Gingersnap]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/05/05...ocaust-denial/



I think this is a bad idea because young people are impressionable. I don't think the average person realizes how "believable" holocaust denial websites can be. When I was a kid, it was like "This is what happened and this is how we know it happened." It didn't matter how anybody felt about the politics of it. That's just what it was.

Most of the Holocaust deniers today are Muslim. In the 1970s it was mostly antisemitic Europeans. Then, those people were laughed out of any serious discussions on the Holocaust. Today, the academic hatred of Israel is allowing non-factual discussions in university settings and that's filtering down to public schools.

Holocaust deniers aren't similar to "global warming deniers". On the one side we have survivors, photography, German documents, the witness of medical personnel, physical death chambers and vast ovens to dispose of bodies, mass graves, letters, intelligence reports, etc.

On the other side we have theoretical views based on the premise that there is an Ur climate that is being changed.

In a post-modern academic world view, there are no objective facts in history. Only subjective experiences. If your experience is that Jews weren't killed selectively and en mass, well.....your view is as a valid as any other.

[Gramps]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/05/05...ocaust-denial/



I think this is a bad idea because young people are impressionable. I don't think the average person realizes how "believable" holocaust denial websites can be. When I was a kid, it was like "This is what happened and this is how we know it happened." It didn't matter how anybody felt about the politics of it. That's just what it was.

Passing up a whole lot of stuff to say/ask:

I think this is a bad idea

What is the bad idea?

[Lanie]

Passing up a whole lot of stuff to say/ask:



What is the bad idea?

I think it's a bad idea to have kids "research" this to come up with arguments for why the holocaust didn't happen. It's suggesting that one perspective
is as valid as the other.

Maybe I shouldn't say this, but I have looked at the holocaust denial websites. I get curious too often about what others think and why. Anyway, it's not just "Jews suck! Blah, blah, blah!" They come up with supposed reasons to believe there were no gas chambers, to believe the amount of deaths were less than six million, and other things. They even get Jews to help them "prove" their theory. A person who doesn't have a lot of education on the subject (like perhaps a middle schooler) could be fooled in my opinion.

[Bob Loblaw 3.0]

I think it's a bad idea to have kids "research" this to come up with arguments for why the holocaust didn't happen. It's suggesting that one perspective
is as valid as the other.

Maybe I shouldn't say this, but I have looked at the holocaust denial websites. I get curious too often about what others think and why. Anyway, it's not just "Jews suck! Blah, blah, blah!" They come up with supposed reasons to believe there were no gas chambers, to believe the amount of deaths were less than six million, and other things. They even get Jews to help them "prove" their theory. A person who doesn't have a lot of education on the subject (like perhaps a middle schooler) could be fooled in my opinion.

It's also planting seeds into young, impressionable minds. In an era where history is selectively taught, I don't have a whole lot of confidence that the teacher will really go through it all in the end and explain why Holocaust deniers are pinheads. In fact, if I were a betting cat, I'd say that the whoever is behind this is a denier.

[Adam]

I think eighth grade is probably a little young for that.

I get the idea as a critical thinking exercise, getting kids to research and come up with evidence to back their argument, but that's probably a little better-suited for say sophomore or maybe junior year.

[phillygirl]

I think it's a bad idea to have kids "research" this to come up with arguments for why the holocaust didn't happen. It's suggesting that one perspective
is as valid as the other.

Maybe I shouldn't say this, but I have looked at the holocaust denial websites. I get curious too often about what others think and why. Anyway, it's not just "Jews suck! Blah, blah, blah!" They come up with supposed reasons to believe there were no gas chambers, to believe the amount of deaths were less than six million, and other things. They even get Jews to help them "prove" their theory. A person who doesn't have a lot of education on the subject (like perhaps a middle schooler) could be fooled in my opinion.

Sort of like the American Truthers.

[Lanie]

Sort of like the American Truthers.

Don't give curriculum developers ideas.