Evil Education

For a long time I was not able to comprehend people who could not admit past events that to me seemed historical. For example, my two Turkish friends differ in a fundamental way: the other one acknowledges the Armenian genocide, and the other one does not. I have always had a really hard time understanding the friend who does not recognize the events of the 1910’s as a genocide, because to me, according to what I have been taught, it is clear as day and night what the acts should be called. However, I read an article awhile back that discusses the issue and talked with my friends, and it really made me think about the topic a lot more and realize that the situation really is not as simple as I might have presumed it to be; maybe there is a reason, other than just ignorance, why it is still so hard for my friend to admit the Armenian genocide. I have come to realize that this reason might be education. School and what is taught in it play a big role in building and reforming one’s believes. I bet you still remember when you were taught that the Nazi Germans were bad, and that Albert Einstein was a great man. More importantly, to this date, you have probably not even thought of questioning these statements. But, did you know that Einstein cheated on his wife and was commonly known as a “ladies’ man?” I am sure you did not, because contradicting what you have learnt at an early age is challenging and almost impossible for most of the people; as it must be for Turks with the Armenian genocide. That is why it is important for people to be critical in not only what they are taught, but also what they have been taught before. As a Finn, for instance, I can look back to my elementary education and see if something I took as the ultimate truth was actually biased. Maybe Russia was discussed in a too bad light in my history classes? Maybe the national heroes were not really that amazing and all-in-all fine people?

Whether it is positive or negative, the environment we grew in has had a significant impact on all of us. It is time to realize the huge effect education has on people, and insist changes in it rather than judge people influenced by it.