Posted: 5/29/2017 4:09:00 PM
Author: Benjamin Dyck
Source: This article originally appeared in THE EXPRESS (UK)
UK Textbook tells kids to respect terrorists, compares them to suffragettes
by Benjamin Dyck
A new British teaching aid says children as young as seven should “write a letter to a terrorist” to understand their beliefs.
According to The Express, “Talking About Terrorism,” a book published weeks before the Manchester Attack, describes the mass murder of innocent civilians as a “type of war.”
According to the book, which is aimed to teach kids as young as seven, terrorists kill people because they think they’re being treated “unfairly and not shown respect.”
It also compares today’s terrorists with the Suffragette movement.
“The Suffragettes used violence and were called terrorists,” the book states, trying to give examples of ‘terrorist’ ideas that turned out to be positive.
“Today many people think of them as brave women and admire their struggle for the right to vote,” it says.
For students aged seven to 11, the book recommends that teachers “invite children to write a letter to a terrorist. If they could ask a terrorist six questions, what would they be?”
Reaction to news of the book’s existence is especially harsh in light of last Monday’s terror in Manchester.
Critics have justifiably slammed the book, calling it dangerous.
The chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, Chris McGovern, has said that the letter writing would confuse students.
“This a crackpot idea based on the misguided notion that primary school children must engage with, and show ‘respect’ for, religious fanatics who are seeking to kill them.”
“It is part of the “British Values” agenda that is being forced on schools by Ofsted and the educational establishment.”
“The primary school classroom is not the place to humanize terrorism by ‘pretend dialogue,’” he said.
