Bloody geography teacher

[jennakong]

Son of 12 has a teacher who seems very chatty- one of those teachers who tells the class his life story kind of thing. My son said that today this guy started talking about nuclear war, in response to something one of the children said. He proceeded to describe the consequences of an all -out nuclear conflict (this is a year 8 class). My son is not particularly a worrier, though my younger child would be, and I certainly was myself as a child. I know the story is all over the news but I being unreasonable in thinking that adults should be shielding kids from this kind of thing? I was a teenager in the 80s and remember how awful the fear was during the Cold War. I don't think my life was enhanced by 'Threads' or When the Wind Blows - I think they scared me witless and kept me awake at night. Should geography teachers just concentrate on terminal moraines and ox bow lakes do you think?

@jennakong
I too lived through “ Protect and Survive” , Threads &c and it was a terrifying time.
It gave me and many other people nightmares .
Hopefully it won’t come to a Nuclear Armageddon.
“The Russians love their Children too.”

🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

My ds 6 has just had 'titanic day' in class. They all had to go dressed in their best clothes and learn about titanic, I was a bit my dad told me to send him in trunks and a whistle. It is a strange feeling of uneasiness when your child gets taught things you don't feel they are ready to handle just yet so I understand where you are coming from I'm sure I'd feel the same when my ds gets older.

A lot of people are neurotic.

I go off topic and have never got to the end of the year without completing the specification. As a trained professional I plan my schemes of work to allow for critical thinking skills and to encourage a love of learning through developing their natural interests. I’ve had a positive P8 score every year. Students also retain knowledge if they have a deeper understanding. I’ve also had a look on the geography national curriculum and this topic isn’t far from it.

Ever heard of political geography?

Sounds reasonable for year 8 lesson on human geography… they have to learn about the real world at some point…

Although it's misguided imo, I can at least understand the parental impulse to keep shielding your child from anything that might worry them.

What I find more disappointing is some parents' seeming belief that a teacher is a robot designed to spew out strictly syllabus-related information. I sometimes wonder if parents have forgotten what it was like to be at school, and what kind of teachers had an impact on them, or even inspired them. For most people it probably wasn't the 'never divert for a moment from the topic', 'shut down students' questions unless they relate to the syllabus' ones. Good teachers educate the whole child about the world. And get them through their exams.

Yes; it's appropriate for 12-13 year olds

It is good for children to learn to not dwell on things they cannot change and it sounds like it is a skill your child needs to develop if he is being shielded from information at home that most teens/pre-teens (should) know.

I agree with you!

Sounds like a good teacher to me

Teaching children about Hiroshima, the world wars, Anne Frank and other horrific episodes is different to telling them about a possible nuclear conflict now because it's in the past. As a young teen in the early 60s I viewed the horrors of World War 2 (only 25 years earlier) as history - something interesting but no more than that, even though I regularly visited a family friend who'd been left badly disabled because of the fighting. Now, because of social media and the never ending roll out of news, it's impossible for children to be shielded from the possibility of nuclear war, but we need to tread very carefully here. Their brains are still developing and I do wonder if being exposed to constant fear mongering contributes to mental health problems in our young.

It’s called education.
Some just overprotect their children. Let the child be aware of the dangers.
Smothering children is cruel and not preparing them for life. We may not have another war but we may.

My son y7 would have also been worried. He knows what's going on but he doesn't like to hear too much detail.i also remember being scared.by When the Wind.Blows :(

I was a teenager in the 70's, grew up during the Cold war, my parents were in the Civil Defence Corps. I was very interested in modern history (went on to study it at Uni) had a very good knowledge of current affairs, politics, world events from the age of about 11. I certainly don;t remember growing up in perpetual fear and I don;t recall any of my friends feeling that way either. I think perhaps you were unusually fearful OP, perhaps your parents were terrified of nuclear war, I have no idea. I know that when and where I grew up, I and my friends just got on with our teenage lives, with no sense of impending doom.

It sound like the geography teacher is engaging and stimulating wider interests in the children, good for him. You say your son wasn't particularly worried, so why are you ? Children go to school to be educated in all sorts of ways, they are entitled to learn about the world they are growing up in and not have information censored. The geography teacher sounds a damn sight more interesting than my geography teacher who was all about moraines, ox bow lakes and artesian wells.

This is the type of lesson 12 year old boys loved in my youth.

My sons in year 8. You are being totally unreasonable. Like ridiculously.

So what age do you think it would be appropriate? Not only nuclear war bur Nazis and the extermination of Jews, Gypsies etc, PolPot and the horrors of Cambodia, Gulags, Mau Mau and the war crimes happening now in Ukraine
etc etc. Talk to them calmly without melodrama. Some children/adults are natural worriers and would find anything to worry about. No life can be completely worry free. Give the child a reassuring hug/cuddle and assurance that they are safe. I was brought up when leaflets were sent to all households on how to make a bomb shelter, have a store of longline food water etc and this was in the late 60 early 70s. Also 80s and Doomsday warnings re HIV/Aids.

Year 8, after this year he potentially only has one more year of Geography and/or history education… when would you like him to be taught about such things as it doesn’t sound like you’re keen to teach him and I wouldn’t want him to Google it!

OP you are getting 2nd hand information and you son doesn't sound that bothered. The teacher may have been answering a question/s. And by year 8 I don't think this should be an off limits topic. I think there is a bit of projection from you going on, which I understand, I was a teenager in the 80s too and remember the fear. But it's our fear not theirs (yet)

@Mothership4two
I was also a teen in the 80s and remember the fear. I agree it is our fear, not theirs.

It is interesting to see those commenting, who were older by the 80s seem less effected. We were at the brink of war in 1983 and I was very aware of what was going on. I understand that this also may mean you were a similar age to that of your ds now. But we are not at the brink of war right now whatever Putin said.

I was almost the same age in 1983 as my youngest DS is now and it's not a huge deal to him or his friends or GF @Mummyoflittledragon - I think it is just one of many worries for young people at the moment. I agree with you, I think Putin is just posturing, but it still makes my stomach drop to hear him threaten nuclear attacks. What I really remember more than anything from the 80s is the fear shown by the adults. Their conversations and media info didn't help my own fears much I wasn't allowed to watch Threads though.

Year 8 student: YABVU