Gruesome Way to Teach National Education

This year marks the 84th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre

Some young children have been traumatised after watching explicitly violent videos about the Nanking Massacre, that happened 84 years ago.

PLK HKTA Yuen Yuen Primary School in Tuen Mun last Thursday showed footage of brutal killings to pupils, some who were as young as seven, or in Primary Two, as part of activities to commemorate the massacre that began on December 13, 1937 in the city now known as Nanjing.

The video included scenes of rampaging Japanese soldiers burying Chinese civilians alive and shooting them in the head, as well as fields littered with dead bodies, including those of babies.

Primary Two pupils were traumatised from footage

On Monday a Primary Two student told the media outside the school that some of his classmates cried, and some refused to watch the video, which contained "scenes of execution and babies".

Asked what the teacher did after the students cried, the boy said, "The teacher continued to watch the video. Some students did not watch, holding their books."

Presumably in a bid to hide their eyes from watching the gut-wrenching footage that is horrific for anyone at any age to watch.

The school wrote to parents on Saturday after they reportedly complained about the screening, saying it was "distressed and worried" to learn some children felt uneasy after the class. It also vowed to pay more attention to children's feelings and offer counselling to them.

The commemoration was part of the school's drive to follow a bureau call for educators to develop in students "a sense of national identity and a sense of commitment towards the nation".

But perhaps after that horrific experience they will be too terrified and paralysed to do anything for the nation...

Lam says China's history must be taught

While Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor stressed the importance of learning about China's past, she put the onus on teachers to decide on lessons that were age appropriate, as she noted past complaints of officials trying to "control everything".

"It's not for education officials to dictate or... provide very detailed guidelines on what to show, when to show and so on," she said on Tuesday.

Lam hoped the public would recognise that learning Chinese history was "absolutely important for school education".

"If we don't understand history, it's hard to understand the significance and uniqueness of 'one country, two systems'," she said, referring to the governing principle for Hong Kong.

Yes, history is very important, and at the moment the government is trying to control the narrative of the city's history especially two years ago... except millions of people know another version...