Q&A of the Day –Should we have a national Holocaust Day?
Each day I’ll feature a listener question that’s been submitted by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
Twitter: @brianmuddradio
Facebook: Brian Mudd https://www.facebook.com/brian.mudd1
Today’s entry...
We need a national Holocaust day to remember, included with mass killings and terrorism. Our educational system is untrustworthy for history would have and still could repeat itself.
Bottom Line: I’ve continued to receive feedback from the fallout regarding former Spanish River High School principal William Latson. This suggestion is on back of the research I shared recently indicating that 66% of Millennials had so little knowledge of the Holocaust, that they didn’t know Auschwitz was a Nazi concentration camp. I’ve emphasized the importance of us taking responsibility for the decisions we’ve made that’d led to this happening. From school board elections, to meetings and parental responsibility to ensure our children are being properly educated – it's clear that we’ve failed younger generations. So, to the suggestion of this note, is a national “Holocaust Day” the answer?
I could see the value in it if it were applied purely for educational purposes. Realistically, I’m not sure that anyone other than the already informed would take notice. Take Memorial Day for example. Harris research of Memorial Day this year showed the following...
Percentage of those who correctly identified the purpose of Memorial Day:
- Only 55% of all adults
- Only 40% of adults aged 18-34
Only 4% more Millennials know the purpose of Memorial Day (most commonly it’s confused with Veteran’s Day and yes, some think it’s a summer kickoff) than are informed of the Holocaust – despite it being a federal holiday. That leads me to believe that having a separate national holiday to recognize it wouldn’t likely move the information needle meaningfully either. I don’t think there are any shortcuts here. It all starts with education and we’re responsible for making sure it’s happening. It’s also clear that even having mandated Holocaust education, as we do in Florida, doesn’t guarantee that children are being thoroughly educated.
I’m reminded of something my dad would do with us as kids after church. He’d go around the car asking us what we took away. We were generally reluctant, but the point was taken. Pay attention or dad would know and he’d make sure we knew what was covered afterwards. Same was true with federal holidays as he’d sit us down to insure we knew the purpose of the holiday. And that’s the bigger point. Engaged parents play a critical role for education. The question is how many are really engaged these days?