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THIS WEEK, the countdown to Christmas really begun, with Halloween and Guy Fawkes' night now over (sigh of relief). Only weeks now until the big day. Who was that Guy Fawkes' by the way? Not that famous 16th Century anti-government libertarian blogger was he? A shocking poll conducted by a Scottish veterans' charity has revealed that one in 20 believed that the brutal Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler was a German football coach. 2000 kids polled by the charity Erskine, which cares for brave World War veterans, also revealed the shocking revelation that one in six kids thought Auschwitz was a Second World War Theme Park, (despair). And it gets worse, oh yes, despite some kids knowing what the Blitz was (relief), some thought it was just a European clean up operation. With some worryingly also not knowing when Remembrance Day is. These revelations really do illustrate one point. History really needs to remain on the curriculum. Also this week, PM GORDON BROWN revealed in Prime ministers questions that he was in favour of lowering the voting age to 16. He said a public consultation should kick off on the subject. So If kids don't even know their Hitlers from their Linekers', then how are they supposed to make an informed choice about who or what party they should vote for? Admittedly, some geeky kids know much about general knowledge, but then there are others who really need to be educated. History and politics need to be taught on the curriculum from an early age, compulsory. Not just because it teaches kids about the history and culture of this country, but it helps shape their opinions of now and the future. So 'Twitter if you want to,' kids, but just not in history class.
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Thomas L. Blair is a sociologist and political blogger on the Chronicleworld 'for creative renewal in Black Britain and Afro-Europe'. His work is honoured in the British Library's archive of "social, historic and culturally significant web-based material from the UK domain". He won top prize in the blogging competition on The-Latest.
Sumantra Maitra is a freelance journalist from Mumbai, India. He is a correspondent for All Sports magazine, and a foreign affairs blogger for the Washington Examiner. He has written articles for news website Merinews.com and other regional publications. Sumantra runs a blog at DailyWorldWatch.wordpress.com. He provided exclusive eyewitness reports for The-Latest on the Mumbai bombings of 2008.
Brian Usher is photography consultant for The-Latest.Com. He is a highly experienced editorial and commercial photographer whose work has been published throughout the world, appearing in many well known magazines and newspapers. Brian has featured in several books and has been a writer for the Royal Photographic Society magazine.
Heidi Kingstone has spent time in Afghanistan reporting for a number of publications. Her work has appeared in the Financial Times, The Spectator, The Sunday Times and other international journals. She has also reported from places like Iraq, Rwanda, Lebanon, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kenya. Heidi is The-Latest's Editor at large.
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