In my 40 years of life, there are definitely some things I’ve heard that are good, and some that are not so good, and some that are just outright ridiculous. When I think about this new generation of millennials coming up, I don’t want to come across as an old fuddy-duddy like my Gen X counterparts or our Baby Boomer parents, but YIKES! Some of the ridiculous ideas these millennials come up with! Here is one glaring case in point:
A young Instagram “influencer” recently responded to the fact that many viewers on The Apprentice were outraged that the contestants didn’t know when World War II began, basically saying that well, we shouldn’t teach that to the kids anyway because it’s too “intense” of a conflict. Indeed, the fact that World War II killed millions of innocent people and had Nazi thugs putting people in concentration camps was a very terrible thing, but this “snowflake” says that even the very mention of it would damage him and other millennials’ mental health and harm their collective psyche.
The young millennial appeared on television to share this controversial view regarding educators teaching about World War II, and he was met with a lot of flack as a result. However, 22-year-old reality star Freddie Bentley kind of wanted that to happen anyway, otherwise he wouldn’t have appeared on Good Morning Britain. After arguing that many of the schools across the wonderful land of Great Britain should stop teaching about this deadly conflict and “go easier” on them, he did acknowledge that it was a violent war and that all of Europe was affected. But not teaching it at all? Seriously, did this kid just come out of a millennial clown car, or what?
“This was a terrible situation, World War Two,” Freddie Bentley said. “I’m not wanting any one to think that I’m trying to be disrespectful, but I just remember as a child learning it and thinking, ‘My God, it’s so traumatizing and intense.'”
Terrible situation-ya think? Of course, Bentley is a popular reality TV among social media addicts and others, but many people attacked his position that the war shouldn’t be taught at all, with one person saying, “You should learn some respect, young man!”
“Are you even serious?” another person commented. “Not talking about this war in school? Not educating them on how things went wrong so we can learn from the mistakes later? Oh brother, so much for common sense.”
Another person got even more harsh. “This boy on (Good Morning Britain) is not very bright. What does teaching about the Second World War have anything to do about mental health.”
“This made me furious!” another individual commented. “Without our veterans fighting in that war, this kid and other idiots like him wouldn’t have the freedom to spout this drivel or to do or be what they want! These people fought for our freedom, and they died for his freedom of speech! You should learn about it, you cretin!”
Of course, like other millennials who think they know everything, Bentley just continued to dig himself an even bigger hole during the interview: “I don’t think that encouraging death and dying or telling people about the death toll during that world war is going to make this word any better.” Well, duh! But just because we talk about the catastrophe that was World War Two doesn’t mean we are “encouraging death.” Oh brother.
What does this “instagram influencer” think we should encourage instead? In a nutshell, he thinks we should replace the topic of World War Two with things that could influence in their real life. Bentley believes that people should learn how to get a mortgage or understand more current political issues such as Brexit instead of learning about the mistakes of the past.
“There are all kinds of things going in the world today, such as Brexit, and those things should be taught in schools instead of World War Two,” he said. “It hit me like a ton of bricks when I left school. I didn’t know what to do with my life.”
Well, all I’ve got to say is hopefully we don’t ever get into a conflict where the world has to bring back the draft. With all due respect, this current generation is woefully unprepared for that.
What do YOU think about this millennial’s comments regarding teaching World War II in the classroom? Do you think the schools should update their curriculum or do you agree with others and think that this kid is woefully ignorant? Let us know either way!
