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from
Sunday Express 12 November 2000
Lest we forget? Sadly, many young
people never learned what Poppy Day means
BY SUZANNA CHAMBERS AND EDWARD
BLACK
WE WILL remember them. The words
taken from Laurence Binyon's poem For the Fallen have become synonymous with
commemorating our war dead.
They will again be uttered at
hundreds of Remembrance services across Britain today - but a Sunday Express
investigation reveals the tradition of honouring the ultimate sacrifices
made in war is in danger of fading.
Growing numbers of young people have
no idea what Remembrance Sunday is about and nearly half do not understand
why it is held so close to November 11, Armistice Day.
Our findings, 55 years after the end
of the Second World War, have horrified veterans and sparked fears that in
another 20 or 30 years the remembrance weekend could be all but forgotten by
most of the country.
We questioned 6,348 12 to 16-year-
olds around the country and found a quarter - 1,530 - had no idea what
Remembrance Sunday was for, believing it was to commemorate other historical
figures such as Guy Fawkes.
And despite millions of us proudly
wearing poppies last week, nearly half of those questioned - 2,817 - did not
know the relevance of the date November 11.
Dennis Goodwin, founder of the World
War One Veterans' Association, said he was amazed by the results.
"There is great coverage on the
television and in the newspapers about Remembrance Sunday but maybe children
these days go around with their eyes shut." he said. "What our
soldiers did for our country is significant and they should be remembered.
We owe them a debt of honour."
Mr Goodwin, who fought in World War
Two, as his father did in World War One, added: "My father told me
about his experiences but I guess generations on, there is no such access to
memories and to history."
A spokesman for ex-servicemen's
charity St Dunstan's blamed schools for failing to educate youngsters about
the the two world wars.
He said: "I am a little bit
surprised that schools have not done more to ensure that children know more
about the horrors of war.
"We are only 50 or so years on
from World War Two, so it's import-ant more is done to remind children of
the consequences of war."
Younger children, aged 12 or 13, were
more likely to give the wrong answers in our survey. In some classes of
12-year- olds, as few as 17 per cent answered correctly.
The Department for Education and
Employment said yesterday that children are taught about Remembrance Day in
the national curriculum from the age of seven.
However, some pupils said they did
not start studying First and Second World War history until they were 15.
The survey also showed geographical
disparities.
For example, 93 per cent of
youngsters in Southampton said that they knew what Remembrance Sunday was
for, whereas only 48 per cent of pupils in Coventry could answer correctly.
That figure increased to 57 per cent
in Birmingham, 63 per cent in Cardiff and 66 per cent in Liverpool.
THE SURVEY has sparked calls for more
emphasis to be given to Britain's war years in the classroom. Shadow Defence
Secretary Iain Duncan-Smith said that adults had a responsibility to ensure
that children did not lose sight of the significance of Remembrance Sunday.
He added: "Our schools, youth
organisations and, most importantly, parents have a responsibility to inform
our young people of the debt that this country owes to all those who died
for us so that the past can never repeat itself again."
Jean Procter, chairwoman of the
British Women's Land Army Society, described the survey results as shocking
and called for better teaching about the subject in schools.
She said: "I think schools
should give it more importance. It's everybody's heritage and if it were not
for us, these schoolchildren wouldn't be here today."
Mrs Procter, 81, added: "They
should certainly make children stand up in school and observe the two
minutes silence. Then they'd know what it was all about."
Tory MP Julian Brazier said:
"It's just one more example of how unsatisfactory the history teaching
is in our schools. It is schools who are failing the country. It is sad that
they can't teach them the events of two momentous world wars that made it
possible for them to enjoy the sort of life they do now." A spokeswoman
for the Department for Education and Employment yesterday defended history
teaching in Britain's schools.
"It is an important part of the
national curriculum," she said. She denied that future generations of
schoolchildren would lose sight of the significance of Remembrance Sunday.
"Through the national
curriculum, children will always be well taught about such important
historical events as World War One," she said.
But she admitted that the Government
gave no guidance to schools as to whether they should observe two minutes
silence on November 11, saying it was up to individual headteachers.
Members of the Royal British Legion
said that they were not surprised by the results after carrying out their
own survey earlier this year.
Their poll showed that while a high
proportion of teenagers interviewed felt that remembrance was important,
only 73 per cent observed the two minute silence last year.
A spokesman said last night: "It
is not surprising that almost 50 per cent did not know about the
significance of November 11 as a lot of adults probably don't know
either." But he added: "It is very important that schoolchildren
know the history behind the First World War."
Meanwhile, it was also revealed
yesterday that thousands of war memorials across Britain will be restored
and cleaned in tribute to the war dead.
The Conservatives will this week
pledge £1million for memorials which have been vandalised or allowed to
decay.
They also hope to encourage local
communities to add the names of those who have died in conflicts since 1945
to many of the 50,000 war memorials across the country.
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