Should 8th Graders Study The Holocaust Essay

762 Words4 Pages

Should 8th Graders Study the Holocaust? The Holocaust was a devastating event that happened in 1933 that affected many Germans. Should such an tragedy even be taught to eighth graders? I believe eighth graders should study the Holocaust because it helps them understand what it would be like at that age and helps combat Holocaust denial, and teaching them at a younger age could be bad because they are more immature about this sensitive topic. When studying the Holocaust, many teachers like that their students read about Anne Frank and her diary. It is important that eighth graders learn about the Holocaust at this time because it allows students to think about what it would be like if they were in the situation and how difficult it might be …show more content…

Unlike younger children, kids who are around an eighth grader’s age could read the Diary of Anne Frank and feel what it would be like to go through the Holocaust at that age. "You know the way I’m going to think of it here? I’m going to think of it as a boarding house” (Goodrich and Hacket line 637) this shows how a kid around the age of Anne might feel when they go through something like this. Students who are that age might understand more how hard Anne’s living conditions were and how terrible it would’ve been to be in the conditions that she was in. But if they are taught in eighth grade why not wait until ninth …show more content…

Children who are in sixth or seventh grade might not react to the information as well and they might be immature with it. Additionally, eighth graders are most likely going to high school and should have a sense of learning that the world is not perfect and that bad things can happen. “The best known of the war crimes trials held after World War II was the trial of “major” German war criminals held in Nuremberg, Germany” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, paragraph 1). This quote shows how important learning about the Holocaust is and sixth or seventh-graders might not react well to such information. This topic is sensitive so some kids who are younger may take it as a joke. So kids should be taught about the Holocaust in eighth grade and not younger because younger students would be immature about this serious topic. So, students shouldn’t be taught too early or late or not at all because the Holocaust is important for students to