# Should Children Be Taught About the War and Military **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 24, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-children-be-taught-about-the-war-and-military/582967 "2011-05-24T01:21:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-children-be-taught-about-the-war-and-military/582967/21 "2011-05-24T03:35:22Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > Errmmm… so we shouldn’t teach under-10s anything about history, mythology, religion, ethics, etc, either because we’d just be pushing our propaganda on them? :dubious: I think history is different. You can tell anyone, child or adult (the adult should know :rolleyes:), what happened on a certain date and the circumstances. This history isn’t just about war. You can be unbiased. Well, most people can. 😛 The same for mythology. Religion is nothing but propaganda. You’re hopefully the religion you are because you believe it’s the best or in some way better than other options. So, that would but nothing but forcing your beliefs on someone. Or the opposite. Telling someone all religions are wrong/flawed. Which has affects of its own on a young child. A child can’t understand ethics. Some adults don’t. I’m just saying when you’re not teaching something concrete to a child under 10ish, you’re really just forcing an opinion on them. A child doesn’t understand the full reasons for war. To them, it’s probably the good guys vs the bad guys. Children under a certain age aren’t able to grasp obstract thoughts. When they’re adults, they’ll probably have their opinions affected by what they were told as children. Just as, I know this isn’t the topic on hand, I think children can be too young to know/learn about sex. They’re not at a point to understand such a complex action. I’m sure everyone with kids thinks their genius child can understand every and any concept from birth. Your, the general your, child is a special snowflake. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-children-be-taught-about-the-war-and-military/582967/22 "2011-05-24T03:38:11Z")
> [@YaraMateo](#): > > I think history is different. You can tell anyone, child or adult (the adult should know :rolleyes:), what happened on a certain date and the circumstances. This history isn’t just about war. You can be unbiased. Well, most people can. 😛 The same for mythology. > > Religion is nothing but propaganda. You’re hopefully the religion you are because you believe it’s the best or in some way better than other options. So, that would but nothing but forcing your beliefs on someone. Or the opposite. Telling someone all religions are wrong/flawed. Which has affects of its own on a young child. > > A child can’t understand ethics. Some adults don’t. > > I’m just saying when you’re not teaching something concrete to a child under 10ish, you’re really just forcing an opinion on them. A child doesn’t understand the full reasons for war. To them, it’s probably the good guys vs the bad guys. Children under a certain age aren’t able to grasp obstract thoughts. When they’re adults, they’ll probably have their opinions affected by what they were told as children. > > Just as, I know this isn’t the topic on hand, I think children can be too young to know/learn about sex. They’re not at a point to understand such a complex action. > > I’m sure everyone with kids thinks their genius child can understand every and any concept from birth. Your, the general your, child is a special snowflake. :rolleyes: What about John Stuart Mill who read Latin literature at eight. :rolleyes: Apparently you think kids should be kept stupid rather than challenged to learn and understand something difficult and thus progress. And some wars were really between bad and good guys such as most obviously World War II. ---
**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-children-be-taught-about-the-war-and-military/582967/23 "2011-05-24T03:38:57Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I disagree with this. I teach my students in very small ways about the Civil War and the American Revolution, and I’ve talked with them a little bit about events in Egypt and Libya and Tunisia this year, in addition to very brief conversations about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. > > You’re correct, however, that it’s difficult to do so from an impartial standpoint, and it’s also difficult to provide seven-year-olds with enough background information for them to understand the causes or effects of war in details–if you haven’t tried to do so (especially the impartial part–you can’t just talk about good guys and bad guys), trust me that it’s very hard. I’m good at explaining things to seven-year-olds, but this area is a bit beyond me. > > And that’s why, when we’re dealing with the social studies theme of “People who have made the world a better place,” we left out military figures. There are certainly some military figures who made the world a better place, and plenty more for whom such a case can be made–but, compared to figures like Gandhi and and Curie, it’s a lot harder to explain their contributions to the world in an honest and simplified fashion. Even we disagree, I feel the same as you. I don’t really see the point in teaching students, well anything, if you can’t be unbaised. Especially for teachers, or anyone who’s not the child’s parent. Your last point hits it home for me. I think at a certain age, some topics are too complex for a child to understand in an honest and simple fashion. ---
**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-children-be-taught-about-the-war-and-military/582967/24 "2011-05-24T03:40:45Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > What about John Stuart Mill who read Latin literature at eight. :rolleyes: Apparently you think kids should be kept stupid rather than challenged to learn and understand something difficult and thus progress. And some wars were really between bad and good guys such as most obviously World War II. So, you really think war, ANY war, has no gray areas? Innocent people, on ALL sides, are never killed in war? :rolleyes: Language isn’t an abstract concept. It has rules and it’s not biased. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-children-be-taught-about-the-war-and-military/582967/25 "2011-05-24T03:43:18Z")
> [@YaraMateo](#): > > So, you really think war, ANY war, has no gray areas? Innocent people, on ALL sides, are never killed in war? :rolleyes: No, of course not. But what’s so wrong with a bit of heroic history that has sustained generations of Americans? ---
**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-children-be-taught-about-the-war-and-military/582967/26 "2011-05-24T03:45:10Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > I don’t want my kids learning too much military history before they’re old enough to grasp something of what war really means. I don’t want to pretend that sanitized stories are the truth. There are already too many adults like that. I feel the same way. ---
**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-children-be-taught-about-the-war-and-military/582967/27 "2011-05-24T03:50:29Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > No, of course not. But what’s so wrong with a bit of heroic history that has sustained generations of Americans? If I told you everything that was wrong with it, I’d die at my chair before I was done. Mainly, it makes for uncorrectly informed adults who think ignornantly of the past. It makes for ignornant adults who not how to communicate as global citizens. You know, all Germans are bad nazis. :rolleyes: It also romanticizes war. War is rarely, if ever, the best choice. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-children-be-taught-about-the-war-and-military/582967/28 "2011-05-24T03:53:57Z")
Look, 6-yo’s like stories with good guys and bad guys and they like violence–as long as it’s not too close to home. When my daughter was in 1st grade, we did ancient history together and she gleefully drew illustrations of Shamshi-Adad conquering cities. She went through world history in 4 years, finishing with modern history in 4th grade, and that’s where it got tricky. My second daughter just turned 8 and just finished 2nd grade. We did ancient history this year too. All her favorite parts involve either mythology or violence–which is most of it really. Boudicca is her favorite heroine. She thinks Cincinnatus was great. Alexander the Great is a big favorite because his horse features largely in the story, and also he throws a temper tantrum. She is also very big on Shi Huang-di, on account of the tomb (she was not a big fan of the book-burning). The versions a young kid gets are obviously simplified. But I think they’re very important. As they get older, we do more in-depth study. My older daughter did ancient history again this year in 5th grade, and used a middle-grade series of books from Oxford. In high school she’ll get it again, and she’ll be able to go really deep because she already knows the basics. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-children-be-taught-about-the-war-and-military/582967/29 "2011-05-24T04:49:08Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > And some wars were really between bad and good guys such as most obviously World War II. So what should my niece and nephew be taught about their beloved and still living great-grandfather who fought for Mussolini? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-children-be-taught-about-the-war-and-military/582967/30 "2011-05-24T04:51:40Z")
Teach 'em that War Is Hell. More about it they don’t need. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-children-be-taught-about-the-war-and-military/582967/31 "2011-05-24T05:05:27Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Great. Explain Walter-Reed to me in terms a second-grader could understand. “He’s a doctor who helped find out what was making some people sick, so we could work out what we had to do to stop them getting sick.” ---
**Author:** ![bartleby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bartleby/32/10491_2.png) [@bartleby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bartleby)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-children-be-taught-about-the-war-and-military/582967/32 "2011-05-24T11:41:39Z")
Well, it’s fun taking a 5 YO to the Air Force Museum and explaining what Bock’s Car is famous for, and why it’s always…uncomfortable…when there are Japanese tourists looking at it. I think my daughter was 5 when I explained what the Berlin Airlift was. That was 2 years ago, and she has yet to ask about the Concentration Camp exhibit… (thank goodness, I have a hard enough time getting her head wrapped around the Bob Hope exhibit.) ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-children-be-taught-about-the-war-and-military/582967/33 "2011-05-24T13:26:42Z")
We live near Walter Reed, so it’s not unusual to see young guys with missing body parts out and about. I had the following conversation with my 4.5yo daughter and a kid who’d lost a couple of legs this weekend. QKid (way too loudly): Look at his legs! BetsQ: QKid, that isn’t very polite. Soldier: It’s OK. I don’t mind when little kids like that say something. QKid (with eyes wide): What happened to your legs? Soldier: Um. (Turns to me) How would you explain something like that to a little kid? BetsQ (making a ton of assumptions): Well, he was a soldier in the Army and fighting in the war. There was an explosion and his legs got hurt very badly. How was that? Soldier: That’s about right. QKid: :0 War and the military aren’t just abstract things that can be ignored. They are highly charged topics and I’m sure they’re difficult to teach to young kids, but I think an attempt should be made. ---
**Author:** ![BomTek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bomtek/32/21364_2.png) [@BomTek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BomTek)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-children-be-taught-about-the-war-and-military/582967/34 "2011-05-24T14:04:46Z")
My disdain for this question prevents me from answering it outside of the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-children-be-taught-about-the-war-and-military/582967/35 "2011-05-24T14:16:05Z")
> [@BomTek](#): > > My disdain for this question prevents me from answering it outside of the Pit. I haven’t bothered to go to The Pit in a long time but for this I’ll make an exception. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-children-be-taught-about-the-war-and-military/582967/36 "2011-05-24T14:41:53Z")
When I was asked, “Daddy, what’s a war?”, I answered, “When two countries are fighting.” That was enough to satisfy her, without going into political ideology or ballistics or shrapnel. That’ll come later, I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-children-be-taught-about-the-war-and-military/582967/37 "2011-05-24T14:42:15Z")
Is someone under the impression that children have never heard of war? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-children-be-taught-about-the-war-and-military/582967/38 "2011-05-24T14:48:33Z")
I guess I grew up in a different era where kids played with GI Joe and ran around the woods with plastic guns (before they painted them florescent colors) yelling “BANG BANG I KILLED YOU!” I mean what do you think is going to happen? Your kid is going to find out about war, get PTSD and wind up living under an overpass? That they might get a taste for it and turn into Ghengis Khan or Hitler or something? I always wonder that these “horrible consequences” are that people think will happen. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-children-be-taught-about-the-war-and-military/582967/39 "2011-05-24T15:21:38Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I always wonder that these “horrible consequences” are that people think will happen. FWIW, the OP doesn’t remotely represent what I said in the other thread. I suppose there are some people who don’t think war should be taught to kids; I’m not among them. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-children-be-taught-about-the-war-and-military/582967/40 "2011-05-24T15:30:41Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I guess I grew up in a different era where kids played with GI Joe and ran around the woods with plastic guns (before they painted them florescent colors) yelling “BANG BANG I KILLED YOU!” > > I mean what do you think is going to happen? My kids occasionally play like that now, though they don’t have dedicated toys for the purpose. But they’re aware that that’s a _game_. (As a kid myself, I once explained to my parents that toy guns, or sticks employed as such, weren’t _real_.) The problem I find is when people–many of them adults–seem to see real wars as little different. I don’t worry that my kids will be traumatized by “learning” that, say, “Eisenhower kicked some Nazi ass!” Rather, I worry that they will _not_ grasp the trauma that that wreaked upon millions of people (who were mostly not Nazis). That their response to some future political circumstance might be a simplistic conception of “bad and good guys” and an easy call to go kick the bad guys’ ass. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-children-be-taught-about-the-war-and-military/582967.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-children-be-taught-about-the-war-and-military/582967.md?page=3)