Letters | Rather than Nanking massacre, teach the best of Chinese culture to strengthen national identity
- Readers comment on the use of graphic footage as teaching material for children, a pandemic Christmas, public access to the Deep Water Bay golf course, and ways to improve medical appointment apps
To foster a sense of national identity among students, teaching them history is a must. But, unequivocally, how it was taught in this case is problematic. Indeed, parents, teachers and the children themselves have expressed distress at the graphic scenes of the massacre.
The video shown recently to some junior primary school pupils was just too violent to be suitable teaching material. It is also nonsense that watching a video that features brutal killings would help strengthen national identity.
In this case, the teachers became scapegoats. The Education Bureau, which had supplied the video and other teaching materials to the schools, said teachers had to use their professional judgment to decide whether and how to use these materials. In my view, it is the bureau that should review the materials first before sending them out to the schools.
Learning our history is not the only way to strengthen young people’s sense of national identity. Workshops on traditional culture and encouraging students to read Chinese literature would help strengthen national identity gradually.
Getting someone interested in culture is always the simpler way, rather than focusing on violent, dark episodes of history.