In the last few years months, the news has featured stories on the divisiveness of humanity. In recent days, I’ve heard about the alt-right “It’s okay to be white” posters posted during Halloween, the cultural appropriation inherent in the border wall costumes of a group of Idaho teachers and US President Trump’s consideration of narrowly defining gender so as to remove protection for transgender people.
I’m also struck by the history of this week a century ago. This Remembrance Day marks the one-hundredth anniversary of the end of World War I. WWI was called “the Great War” and was said to be “the war that ends all wars” … and yet less than thirty years later, World War II broke out. Although we haven’t had another “world war” since then, we’ve had multiple conflicts that have involved multiple countries.
So this week, I’m going to ask you to go in a different direction with our blogging challenge. One of the things I’ve noticed in past years is that many students your age – and even many adults – don’t really mark Remembrance Day. They attend the assemblies, but when it comes to November 11, and thinking about the sacrifices that were made to bring us the human rights that are so celebrated in Canada and many western countries and so absent in others … November 11 is simply a day off school or off work.
Your tasks, therefore, are to choose one of the following options:
- Share specific details about one of the World Wars, and make an argument for why understanding the devastation of the wars should encourage reflection on ending conflict.
- Research and write about a current conflict that is wracking the world, and explain why we should know about the conflict.
- Interview older family members and, with their permission, share their experiences of the war(s), linking to why knowing about these wars and respecting their sacrifice is crucial when it comes to ending conflict.
- Come up with another topic, something related to Remembrance Day, and propose it to me.
This is meant to be a thoughtful reflection about Remembrance Day, and I will expect detailed, reflective, well-written blogs. Although I’m not expecting an essay, I am expecting more than a short paragraph or two. Consult the I’m a Blogger page or see this post for advice about writing good blogs.
