The Churchill Series – July 13, 2007

(One of a series of weekday posts on the life of Winston S. Churchill.)

Something different today: a not good news report from the UK. We read in the tabloid The Sun of July 13:

FURY erupted last night after Sir Winston Churchill was axed from school history lessons.

Britain’s cigar-chomping World War Two PM — famed for his two-finger victory salute — was removed from a list of figures secondary school children must learn about.

Instead they will be taught about “relevant” issues such as global warming and drug dangers. Churchill’s grandson, Tory MP Nicholas Soames, branded the move “total madness.”

The decision to axe Churchill is part of a major shake-up aimed at dragging the national curriculum into the 21st century, it was claimed last night.

But the plan — hatched by advisers — angered schools secretary Ed Balls, who vowed to probe ALL the changes to the curriculum.

The proposals will see traditional timetables torn up, with pupils focusing on modern “relevant” topics such as drug and booze abuse, climate change and GM foods.
Churchill — voted the greatest ever Briton — goes off the required lessons list, along with Hitler, Gandhi, Stalin and Martin Luther King. […]

The rest of The Sun story is here.

Here’s an example of how the story was reported by a non-tabloid newspaper, The Nothern Echo, which serves the Northeast area of England.

And this brief post found at America Thinker makes a very important point.

Your thoughts?

Have a nice weekend.

John