The questions I have for the Essex high-school board and staff are: in your recent tournament of world rulers (BFP, 4/14/0) was the kid playing Hitler marching, saluting and wearing a swastika or was he only allowed a small upper lip mustache, a uniform and a pair of tall back boots? Did Ghandi just wear rags or did he dress up a little? What about Stalin he's well groomed right? Those fascists are always well dressed.
I find it in really poor taste that Hitler, Stalin and Franco where matched against Lincoln, Gandhi and Bolivar. What is next Ted Bundy vs. Plato? Pinochet vs. Pablo Neruda? David Koresh vs Darwin? Voldemort vs. Harry? point made. Aside from the obvious idiocy of these contrasts on a more subtle level this approach promotes four fallacies: first, that world domination is a good thing; second, that competition trumps collaboration; third, that an "us against them"mentality has any merit; and finally, what scares me the most, that when looking at history equal weight should be given to good and evil.
History is the backbone of our society and must beconsidered in the proper context and format. Essex's celebrity death match dumbs down our educational process and sends the wrong message to our children. Dressing up and role playing can promote imagination
and creativity but children impersonating mass murderers and war criminals is inexcusable and offensive. What ever happened to the good old fashion blackboard, some chalk and good storytelling? Call me old fashion but I believe that a school is not an
amusement park. Surely more books and less South Park is in order.
