History is quite a boring subject for children and could get even more boring and confusing as governments throughout the world use their terms in office to rewrite history books, so children will lean towards a particular political party or ideology. Here are a few incidents of slightly confused children:
At Khartoum, capital of Sudan, on the banks of the Nile is Gordon College, named for the famous British General Charles Gordon (1833-1885), who was killed there in 1885 while resisting a siege. In the college garden stands a magnificent statue of Gordon mounted on a camel.
Gordon is pictured in full military dress and the camel is wearing rugs and tassels.
A British civil servant who was stationed at Khartoum for many years used to take his son from time to time to see and admire the general. They would always stand together in silence for a moment looking at the imposing statue.
Finally the time came when the civil servant was to be transferred. Before they left, he took his son for a final visit to Gordon. As they turned away, the father’s eyes moist with tears, his son looked up at him and said, “Tell me father, I’ve always wondered; who is that funny man sitting on Gordon?”
And here’s another: A fifth grade class was practicing for the school’s annual Thanksgiving pageant. The teacher wanted to make sure the meaning of it all was clear, so she asked them a few questions on history, “Now boys and girls, who can tell us why the Pilgrims came to America?”
A boy raised his hand, when called upon, confidently declared, “So they could worship in their own way and make other people worship in the same way!”
Now wasn’t that close?
And as children go on getting brain washed with history they tend to get a little numb as this teacher found out: “What did the pilgrims find in America?” she asked and a child either dull or very clever penned this reply: ‘The Pilgrims found land that was hilly and stony. Some places it was stony and hilly. The stones were useful for making millstones and milestones. The Indians sharpened them. They used the stones for scalping and other social purposes! The hills were useful to climb and watch Indians from. The Indians sometimes got there first, then the hills were useless! The winters in America were long. The summers were short. In keeping with the seasons, long underwear was worn in the winter. They wore short underwear in the summer!’
I’m sure that child could have continued to write pages and pages of historical nonsense!
And as world leaders especially in India, tamper with history we may also see the day when our children confused and bored, pen silly answers such as these or look up at equestrian statue of rider and horse, admire steed but wonder who sits astride..!
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