To think this is an inappropriate topic for a Y1 assembly?

[GirlInTheDirtyShirt]

Honestly willing to be told I’m being unreasonable here. DD5 came home from school today talking about a little girl who had a bomb fall on her and then got very sick and to get better she tried to make 1,000 paper cranes but only managed 644 before she died. Google tells me it’s the story of Sadako, a girl who died as a result of Hiroshima. I’ve found the assembly resource here: peace-education.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Script-8-NM.pdf and showed the picture to DD and she’s confirmed this is it. The thing is, I now have a very anxious and worried DD who thinks bombs will fall on her. AIBU to think this isn’t an appropriate assembly topic to gove to five year olds?

OP I would complain, this seems designed to be of use to the adults present not the kids.

There is a story told every year in Spring to children about a man being tortured, wearing a crown made of horn, having big nails hammered through his hands and then let to die painfully on a cross, said death maybe accelerated by a spear in his chest.
Yet nobody find that story inappropriate?
War is a reality in 2018. If hearing a story about bomb falling is scary, imagine being in a house with bombs falling on you, or being in a bus hit.
Just teach some compassion. Yet it is scary but we are so lucky to be safe in UK, Australia, France or wherever you are.

YANBU.
There's plenty of time for that kind of lesson, in a few more years.

What's the rush? What good does it do to needlessly frighten children? It won't help other children who have the misfortune of living with the effects of war. There are ways to teach compassion without making them worry for no reason.

I was terrified of Hiroshima for about 10 years after I found out about it she 5. If I heard a plane outside I would worry ‘what if it’s an atomic bomb.

The Easter story isn't relevant. It didn't happen to a child. The man came back to life.

The Easter story isn't relevant
So torture is OK to teach a five year old about, as long as the victim survives?

If Sadako was reincarnated would the story be more acceptable? Given this was in Japan it is very likely Sadako was reincarnated.

So the world has to stop for children or adults who suffer with anxiety italiangreyhound?yes, that sounds shitty of me. But seriously? You want all children’s education to be changed because it may be triggering for some?

And the OP does not know that the subject wasn’t handled with sensitivity or age appropriately.

Noughts and Crosses is an absolutely amazing book, please give your time to it. It could be argued that To Kill A Mockingbird is unsuitable, but I read and appreciated this novel in year 8. I personally think some people are just deliberately and needingly arrogant to adverse experiences of others.
In reply to the OP, what happened to the young girl is devastating. But I think the moral of the story is penetrating for all ages. If the account was given in full it would have been traumatic, however I doubt that it would have.
I would not complain, given the attitude of a previous poster ‘first term is meant to be rainbows’ - no, anytime at school is education, even if it is the tiger who came for tea or learning about the plague, it is all for a reason.

We have the duty to teach our kids about the reality of the world. Not a in " I need to tell you something" but if they see a story during the news or in the papers about another shipwreck in the Mediterranean, or the bombing of a market and ask questions, then it is the right moment to tell them, their country is at war, and we are very lucky not to live in fear.

Otherwise, when is it right? and who should them about the world we live in, with its immense beauty but also its crude injustice. Kids in Africa who can't go to school because they don't own a pair of shoes , or die of Malaria because they are too poor to buy a mosquito net?

And you are worried about a child being upset by a true story. Use this opportunity to teach compassion.

Lots of children's stories have very sad themes. And sometimes they cause anxiety. And other times not at all. They revel in the peril! Children often lose their parents in Disney films. Its just normal but even as an adult Frozen upsets me because the two sisters are kept apart. I dont like it because of that.

My point is most of the kids probably shrugged it off but in this case yours didn't. Maybe next week you will gave a play date and watch monsters Inc and your dcs friend will be scared of monsters for the next month.

It’s vitally important not to shelter kids from stories that address war, death or discrimination. The legacy of these things is all around us. There are refugee children in primary school, there is ongoing racism and poverty and there is so much danger in promoting a single story. Kids are really strong and resilient and we do them a disservice by not discussing challenging and emotionally fraught topics. My DD is 5, and has Japanese heritage. The horror of Hiroshima is often not taught early enough - this really can be done age appropriately.

I agree, OP. It would have made DD1 upset and anxious and worried that a bomb was going to fall on her also, as they don't have the perspective on things at that age.

I'd have a word with the teacher- not by way of complaint but to let her know it has made your DD upset.

Totally Agree with you OP.

There is no way a Yr1 child will understand that radiation can cause cancer years later.

That pdf is terrible, it doesn't mention there was a war on, why bombs were dropped, what was different about this one etc.

Surely you could just do a 'lets be nice to each other' assembly for year 1 and then 'in Japan children make these' and a bit of paper folding?

I've just had a look at the website, the assembly is aimed at KS2.

"So the world has to stop "

yeah that is exactly what I said!

DelilahandDaisy I do not want all education to stop it the world to stop buy we fully recognise some facts to be too much for young children which is why we mark film and games as age approproate5 for some not others.

Will telling these kids ensure war ends?

Of course it will not.

They need to know the facts st the right time and in the right way but they also need the facts and skills to make the world s better place. An overload of horror or sorrow at a young age is not healthy.

OP I'm sorry to contradict you, but not sure where you are getting your info from - Sadako DID contract Leukaemia 10 years after being exposed to the radiation of the bomb. I've been to Hiroshima and seen the monument and the cranes. www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2018/08/01/issues/60-years-sadakos-death-story-behind-hiroshimas-paper-cranes-still-unfolding/#.W7NdVi-ZOL4

On the broader point, I agree with pp's that the realities of the world shouldn't be sheltered from small children, but it is in the way that education is handled that matters - and perhaps the school hasn't done a great job here.

Sadako's Story holds a message of life transcending time. It’s ultimately about the hope for peace.

Approximately 10 million cranes are offered each year before the Children's Peace Monument in Hiroshima.

Anyone may place paper cranes at the Children's Peace Monument in Peace Memorial Park.

www.city.hiroshima.lg.jp/shimin/heiwa/crane.html

Send paper cranes here:

Peace Promotion Division
The City of Hiroshima
1-5 Nakajima-cho Naka-ku,
Hiroshima 730-0811 Japan

Maybe encourage the school to make a thousand colourful paper cranes to be sent to the Children's Peace Monument in Peace Memorial Park in hope of lasting peace.

I think its fine. My 5 year old watches the news and has been to museums that include quite realistic recreations of the effect of WW2 Bombing for example.

He asks a lot of questions and I explain what happened in an age appropriate way.