Today, 3 days after the the first atomic bomb was dropped in Hiroshima 60 years ago, is the anniversary of the second atomic bomb was dropped over Nagasaki. As we remember the event which claimed over 150,000 lives within the span of 3 days, I was trying hard to educate my children on the effect of war.I threw them a question, "what important world event happened this week 60 years ago". I told them to watch the news and find out for themselves. Their reply, at the end of the day was "Hiroshima!". My elder daughter could of course explain in some detail the historical detail. I on the otherhand tried to tried to insert the morals of war (rather the immorality) of war. I even managed to get them to watch (part of) the movie "Hiroshima" which detailed historically (at least that's what the CD cover claimed) the events leading up to the dropping of the atomic bombs which directly lead to the end of the second world war.
While watching the movie, my dad gently reminded me not to forget the incidents that happened before the atomic bomb was dropped - namely the atrocities the Japanese imperial army generated over the years. In Nanjing in China in 1937, the Japanese Imperial army captured Nanjing after grave atrocities were conducted. ABout 200,000 civilians were killed in the space of just 6 week. And throughout the Sino-Japanese war (1937-1945) over 7,000,000 Chinese civilians lost their lives. The damage and distruction by the atomic bomb pales in comparison to the atrocities of the Japanese Imperial Army over that period. One should not forget that the Americans came into the war with after November 1941 when the Japanese launched an air strike at Pearl Habour.
Yet, the challenge in educating our children is to teach non-violence is tough. There is not right and not wrong. Trying to tell tham that revenge is not the way and that war can be complicated affair.
After all this information communication over the past week, their response was a simple "okay, understand" and off they went to whatever they wanted to do - perhaps WW2 was too far away and cannot relate at all.
What are your thoughts and how did you talk about war with your children?
K V
Some references
http://www.bergen.org/AAST/Projects/ChinaHistory/rape.html (caution: graphic images)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre
http://users.rcn.com/mwhite28/ww2stats.htm (data & stats of casulties)
2 comments:
Let's not forget that the Nazis did kill several million people they'd considered not of Aryan stock like them (primarily Jews as the Jewish community never did let us forget about it). I am sure that people of other religions were affected by the Nazis' purge.
I've not broached the subject with my boys yet as one's too young (2.5yrs) and the other's still having difficulty understanding Year 2 stuff. I, too am having some trouble imagining how all those victims died. I saw the second plane plough into the other tower...I'd watched the towers collapse. It seems unreal but I didn't feel anything at all. Perhaps it's due to too much violent programs n games or maybe I'd never believed anything on paper or TV or on the radio unless I was there myself.
TIll today, I feel nothing. Maybe one day, it'll all come in one humongous wave. My mum witnessed it at the same time but she just went off to sleep after the second crash. Possibly thought that it was just another TV show.
regards n goodnight,
kevin
The NAZI and Europe is another big things I am not prepared to bring it up unless that ask.
Perhaps the time with the NGO did give me a perspective and some feeling of the suffering. Right now, not matter what they ask, we answer it is just (probably a little more than) good guys bad guys.
Just go on talking....
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