Daniel Staechelin is a 16 year-old Chico High student living in Chico, California. He’s a sharp dresser, a pure and innocent lover of life, and he’s got a few things to say about an assignment he has just been given in history class requiring he and his classmates to consider who to kill at war.

My name’s Daniel and I’m going to flat out tell you that high school history classes should be taken with a grain of salt and I’ll tell you exactly why. I don’t know how it is in college but I wouldn’t suspect it to be much different. In November of 2007 I got the opportunity to move to Germany and move in with my father, who is currently still living there. In November of 2008 I moved back to Chico with a very enlightened mindset.

Now before I begin with what’s been troubling me and been on my mind, I’m going to give you some facts about how they teach history in Germany and what some of their laws are about freedom of speech. Typically, when you’re in a German history class you go through one topic throughout the entire year that was a significant historical event in our past as a human race, which really contrasts with the way they teach it here in the United States. Like I said, I’ve been back since November, which means I’ve been at Chico High for five months. It’s now April of 2009 and in my history class we’ve only brushed the surface of five topics. I kind of got to thinking, “How can students really get a good perspective of the materials being taught to us?” Also, In Germany it is strictly forbidden to say positive things about the Germans in World War II and about Hitler. The reason I’m saying this is because some of the information I mention may cause the reader to have reason to believe that I’m a Nazi, but I’m not. (there is a lot of information however that I will not mention that I learned when I was over there because I don’t want to put myself at risk)

When I was in Germany we just learned about World War II and really went in depth, reading literature, watching movies, talking and asking questions to guests who were in the war and many other various things to get a broad perspective so that we can form our own opinion. I sure did learn a lot. Like the fact that the Jews weren’t welcome in any other countries and were stopped at the borders of countries like the United States and Switzerland. Many of the Swiss border patrol actually treated the Jews like shit. Oh and then there’s the fact that the British Navy sunk ships with Jews fleeing to Israel! Isn’t that ironic?! I thought only the Germans were the bad guys who killed jews. Or so I was always taught when I lived in America before moving to Germany. Hmmm, interesting. Why don’t we hear about that?

Anyways, the thing that really caught my attention about my history class here in America happened about three weeks ago. I was sitting in class and my teacher asks the class, “Who was allied with Germany during world war II?” Someone answered, “East Prussia, Albania and Italy”.  My teacher said that that was correct, when I immediately interrupted and said, “No, East Prussia was actually a part of Germany. It was German soil and wasn’t separated from Germany until after world war II, in which it was given to Poland”. He then told me that I was wrong and that it was made its own country in the Versailles treaty after world war one. I then said, “No” again and told him that that’s not true. Schlesien, Posen, West Prussia and Pomerania were the regions that were taken away from Germany from the Versailles treaty, but East Prussia was still a part of Germany. He just told me again that I was wrong. Hmmm weird, why would he lie about something like that. I felt really sorry for the other students because they have nothing else to base their opinion on. It’s their first time learning about it. The day before that he told the class that Stalin only killed 8-11 million people. When it was really 24 million.

But then here’s the thing that really surprised me in this class. Last week we get an assignment that we’re supposed to do in a group. I’m just going to copy down word for word what the assignment says;

Values in Time of War

Instructions: Imagine that members of your group represent the leadership of a democracy fighting a war that has dragged on for several years. Your goals are to win the war quickly and to save the lives of your soliders. At the same time, you want to conduct the war in a manner that is morally responsible and consistent with the values of your democratic society.

Below is a list of potential bombing targets for your air force. Your assignment is to consider each of the targets in terms of its military significance and moral implications. In short, you are deciding weahter the means of aerial bombardment are justified by the ends, or goals, stated above. Rate each potential target on a scale of 1 (completely unjustified) to 10 (completely justified). Explain your group’s reasoning for each rating.

Potential Target

1. Enemy troops in the field
Reason for rating:

2. Military training camps
Reason for rating:

3. Factories producing military supplies
Reason for rating:

4. Homes of civilians working in military forces
Reason for rating:

5. Food supplies for the military
Reason for rating:

6. Food supplies for civilians
Reason for rating:

7. Military Hospitals
Reason for rating:

8. Residential neighborhoods of major cities
Reason for rating:

9. Trains and ships carrying troops
Reason for rating:

10. Trains and ships carrying both civilians and troops
Reason for rating:

11. High Schools
Reason for rating:

12. Universities involved in military-related research
Reason for rating:

Now we were supposed to rate all of those. I felt so violated when I was in class. I just didn’t participate. Think about it, if the students are going to base their opinions on what they learn in class it’s because they haven’t learned anything else and don’t have a second source of information, so they’re going to believe the teacher, and whatever the teacher says is right. Because we as high school students lack the courage to say something against the way a teacher is teaching, because most high school students think that he or she is an educated person and knows more than them. It gives high school students a feeling of inferiority(which by the way causes other problems down the road). So they just go with it and believe what they hear. So if a teacher tells you to do an assignment like the one mentioned above you’re going to think it’s ok. But the truth is it’s a joke!
But even the teacher has been brainwashed, because even he once felt inferior. And that, my dear reader, is why history classes should be taken with a grain of salt.

Much love,
Daniel Staechelin

We here at Everyone Is Going Conscious were appalled when we learned that a 16 year-old conscious kid like Daniel has been given assignments in class that force him to consider bombing targets and who to kill. The phrase “What the fuck?!!!!” instantly came to mind. At this point all we can do is spread awareness. Daniel Staechelin is now our official writer for the Youth Perspective category, and we are glad and privileged to have him.