Don't Blame Youth For Being Insensitive About Remembrance

IT'S NOT THE FAULT OF OUR YOUTH THAT THEY KNOW LITTLE ABOUT THE WAR YEARS

THE EDUCATION SYSTEM HAS BEEN FAILING IN THIS REGARD FOR DECADES - AND I'M SORRY TO SAY THIS, AS MY WIFE IS A TEACHER

     IT'S WHAT HAPPENS TO UNSUSPECTING HISTORIANS. WE GET ASKED TO FILL IN, WHEN THE PREFERRED SPEAKERS BACK-OUT OF PRESENTATIONS. I'M A THIRD STRINGER, SO WHEN I GET A PHONE CALL, ABOUT GIVING A SPEECH, WHETHER ON HOCKEY HERITAGE, OR ON PIONEER LIFE AND TIMES, I JUST ASSUME THEIR FIRST CHOICE GOT A TOOTHACHE, AND THE SECOND CHOICE GOT THE FLU. IT'S SURPRISING HOW MANY PUBLIC SPEAKERS BACK OUT AT THE LAST MOMENT. MOST OF MY HOCKEY CAREER WAS SPENT RIDING THE PINE, AS A BACK-UP NETMINDER, SO I'M USED TO LAST MINUTE PREPARATIONS. A REMEMBRANCE DAY PUBLIC SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT IS TODAY'S CASE IN POINT. I HAD TO MAKE A MAD-DASH TO RESEARCH A WAR AND PEACE PRESENTATION. I WOULD HAVE AN AUDIENCE OF ABOUT NINE HUNDRED IN A MATTER OF DAYS. GADS, WHAT WAS I GOING TO WRITE ABOUT?

     A FAMILY FRIEND, AND LONG TIME TEACHER ASKED ME TO MAKE A REMEMBRANCE DAY SPEECH, AT THE ANNUAL MEMORIAL ASSEMBLY AT BRACEBRIDGE AND MUSKOKA LAKES SECONDARY SCHOOL. IT WAS QUITE A FEW YEARS BACK, IN THE OLD SCHOOL GYMNASIUM, AND I DIDN'T EVEN ASK HER HOW MANY CALLS SHE MADE FOR GUEST SPEAKERS, BEFORE SHE ARRIVED AT MY NAME. I'D LIKE TO THINK I WAS IN THE TOP THREE, BUT IN THIS CASE, I'M PRETTY SURE I WAS THE BOTTOM OF THE PROVERBIAL BARREL. SO THINKING THAT THIS WAS A NEAT OPPORTUNITY, AND ONE THAT I'D NEVER DONE BEFORE, I WORKED LIKE A MADMAN, COMING UP WITH A UNIQUE STORY-LINE, AIMED AT THE STUDENTS…..NOT THE SPECIAL GUESTS IN PARTICULAR. AND THIS INCLUDED VETERANS AND THE LEADERSHIP OF THE BRACEBRIDGE BRANCH OF THE ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION. IT WAS NICE TO SEE THEM THERE, BUT I TOOK MY TASK THAT DAY, AS EDUCATING THE STUDENTS ABOUT THE STRESSES OF WARTIME……..A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN THE TRADITIONAL PRESENTATION, ABOUT THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE OF WAR, AND HOW WE SHOULD BE FOREVER INDEBTED FOR THEIR SACRIFICE, IN THE MISSION TO PRESERVE FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY FOR HOME AND COUNTRY.

     AS IS MY TRADITION, I LIKE TO SURPRISE THOSE WHO EXPECT A CONSERVATIVE MESSAGE. SOMETIMES A CONSERVATIVE, LOW KEY, MAUDLIN PRESENTATION WORKS…..IF THE AUDIENCE EITHER COULDN'T WITHSTAND ANY EXCITEMENT, BECAUSE OF HEART CONDITIONS, OR WERE CONTENT TO JUST SLUMBER IN THEIR SEATS. I ONLY HAD A FEW DAYS TO PREPARE MY SPEECH, AND A PRETTY LIVELY AUDIENCE TO ENLIGHTEN. I THINK MY TEACHER FRIEND WOULD HAVE LIKED TO SEE MY NOTES, BEFORE I GOT ON THE STAGE, WITH OTHER DIGNITARIES ALSO MAKING PRESENTATIONS. SHE BIT THE BULLET, SO TO SPEAK, AND INHALED DEEPLY WHEN I WAS CALLED TO THE MICROPHONE BY THE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL. I LOOKED IN HER DIRECTION, AND GAVE HER A RE-ASSURING LOOK…..WHICH DIDN'T SEEM TO RE-ASSURE HER AT ALL. I KNOW THE LOOK OF FEAR WHEN I SEE IT. SUZANNE WEARS IT CONSTANTLY WHEN I'M BLOGGING, AND SHE'S TRYING TO KNIT…..BUT UNABLE TO IGNORE THE MUTTERING AND SMOKE COMING FROM THE KEYBOARD.

WE SHOULDN'T BLAME OUR YOUTH FOR MISUNDERSTANDING WAR

     I offered a few coughs and trademark stutters in my introduction. Then I recited a little preamble explanation, about what I really wanted to talk about…..which was going to be a little unconventional, even in the midst of what was traditionally sombre and seasonally routine. I began by offering an apology to the student body. We often hear and read criticism of our youth, stating rather bluntly that they aren't interested in knowing more about the war years, and our country's role with allies, in the defense of democracy. I offered the explanation, that time itself, was ever-distancing our younger generation from what involvement in World War meant. How could we criticize them, for being disinterested, when in large part, curriculum in the instruction of history, doesn't require a lot of time on either World War. It's been a decreasing situation in the classroom, since I was a student back in the 1960's. We were taught very little about our place in world war. Some teachers did more than others, not simply because of curriculum, but because they insisted, of their own accord, that we know more about this aspect of Canadian heritage. A lot of teachers just assigned us "war research" for class projects, and sent us off to the library to work independently. Not much in the way of classroom instruction. I got twice as much in university, but then I was paying for my education, to be in a specific area of history I was most interested.

     If you were to ask war related questions, of your youngsters, or grandchildren, right now, would you really be surprised, if they couldn't answer more than twenty to twenty-five percent of those asked? I think it would be damn fortunate if they could answer ten percent correctly. I was one of those kids. I had a father who was in the war. He didn't want to talk about it. Neither did most of my teachers. There were exceptions. If it was lightly taught in the 1960's, what can we really expect from the curriculum of 2012? I think most of us would be pretty pissed-off to find out just how modestly this important aspect of our history is taught, and for what length of time, totally, over the years of public schooling. Yet we think to ourselves, mistakenly,…… especially when we don't see youngsters at the cenotaphs on the morning of November 11th, that it's a matter of disrespect…..when in reality, it's a matter of unacceptable ignorance, due to diminished instruction. My boys are the same, although they've had a lot of in-house upgrading. Still, I would only expect from these recent graduates, that they could only answer with about the same percentage……and that's not acceptable. Not for the sons of an historian. And a mouthy one at that. But it's reality. It's our fault as parents as well, to have let the matter worsen. There's the root of the problem, and unless the Ministry of Education changes its protocols…..which isn't likely to happen…..our youth….our leadership of the future, will continue brushing by our war years, as whistle-stops but not much more.

     So getting back to my presentation, I offered students an apology. I told them they aren't to blame, for their lack of knowledge, about what it was like to land in a war zone, having never killed anyone. Winding up on a Destroyer on the North Atlantic, looking for signs of U-Boats that were trying to kill you and the crew, from the black depths of the ocean. I told them it would be hard to appreciate, what it felt like, as a tail gunner in a Lancaster Bomber, to see the Luftwaffe coming out of the clear blue sky, trying to shoot your plane into a ball of fire. I told them that they shouldn't feel bad, because they felt so seriously distant from the realities of war's brutality. You can't learn everything from a book, a film, or discussion in a classroom. They are often made to feel guilty, unfairly, for purposely disconnecting from history, and refusing to extend their studies past what the curriculum demands. There are a lot of judgements placed on our youth, and wrongly so…..as it has been all the generations since those world conflicts, that have failed to correct what the education system has only modestly delivered. I find it disrespectful to young people, that their elders would feel this way…..especially knowing that even in their own school days, the study of war was a diminishing necessity of getting a passing grade. Let's be honest, and accept responsibility. If you don't believe me, do some research on your own. Find out how much classroom instruction a student will receive generally from elementary school to high school. Even those who choose history as a course of study, when they have an option, spend only a minor amount of time studying the war years. Parents might be shocked to know just how little focus is directed this way. Yet we accuse them of being disrespectful, based on their lack of knowledge, and sense of Remembrance protocol….even wearing poppies, while at the same time, we allow the Ministry of Education to do whatever it wants…….without much in the way of public challenge.

     I took the young audience on a memorable trip that day. At least that's what a few told me after the presentation. I suggested that to infill some of their sensory perception, about what it was like in the service of their country, against the enemy, I took them on a flight they hadn't anticipated from my boring opening presentation. I had researched stories told by Lancaster Bomber pilots and crew, from my own archives, and tried to create the sensation for each student, of being aboard one of those huge and spectacular aircraft, and heading out on a mission to Germany. I cheated a little bit, because I borrowed some Hollywood theatrics from the movie "The Memphis Belle," which wasn't even a Lancaster. I took them minute by minute, exploring all the activities aboard the plane, from the body-shaking vibrations and sounds of the engines, to the visuals out the portals, watching the other aircraft in the squadron prepare for the sortie. The smells, the inside noises of communications, lights and explosions elsewhere, to the fear and trembling, knowing that some of the planes in the squadron weren't going to come back, once the bombing was complete. I beat this one for all it was worth, and it seemed to hold their attention.

     As a big fan of the Lancaster, I had a lot of information to share, about the sensations they would feel when the bombs were released, and then when cannons from the ground, exploded around the aircraft, violently shaking the crew, potentially killing the occupants of another plane in formation. I asked them to imagine the intensity of those precarious life and death moments. As you were inflicting death upon the enemy; and the enemy killing airmen by the dozens. I'd pause every now and again, to see if there was any audible snoring. There was none. It seemed they liked the opportunity to have some sensory stimulation.

     Some on that improvised mission didn't come home. Of those who came back, in often badly damaged aircraft, some died in hospital from injuries sustained. Many had burns to ninety percent of their bodies. Others had been pierced by shrapnel…..metal from the plane imbedded in their flesh. There were those who had to be carried from the just-landed aircraft by stretchers, while others embraced crew-mates, and those from other planes, now safely on the tarmac. Maybe now and again, a crew member felt the necessity to kiss the ground, or rub the cross hung around his neck. There were those who laughed nervously, at their success, while others cried from fear realized. From what they had witnessed. The scent of war. The intrusive, wrenching truths, of what war represents every second of every day.

     I didn't receive a pat on the back, after that presentation, from a single teacher on that staff. I wasn't thanked by the members of the Legion, or by special guests of the Remembrance Day assembly. I just kind of disappeared into the shadows that morning, and spent time that whole week, wondering if I had been wrong, to be so blunt……and aggressive, criticizing the education system while I was its guest for that special event. Before I left the building, a young lady called after me, as I retreated from the auditorium. She asked if she could shake my hand, as she had been moved by my presentation. There wasn't a tear in her eye, or a tremble in her hand shake, but she confessed to me the one thing I had been hoping for. "I want to study history at university, and especially the war years." I got a tear in my eye. Her subtle, modest message to me, was all I needed, to forgive myself for being the way I am…….outspoken and hard to corral.

     I was never again asked to give a Remembrance Day presentation. I'm okay with that. If I was asked again, it would be the same deal. I will be respectful but don't scorn me for being honest. We must not blame our youth…..for being disinterested in the sacrifices of war, when we are part of the reason for their shortfall of education. Yes, it's that simple.

     Please pause for Remembrance on Sunday morning, at 11:00 a.m. Lest We Forget.

     Thanks so much for spending this time with me. It's greatly appreciated.