ANZAC DAY OBSERVANCE IN THE SCHOOLS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22505, 25 February 1935, Page 11

ANZAC DAY OBSERVANCE IN THE SCHOOLS

TO THE EDITOK Sib, —Two of your correspondents have given their reasons for the observance, or otherwise, of Anzac Day. Another aspect of this commemoration that .needs drastic revision is that of the services in the primary schools. There is no need to recapitulate the order of service, but merely to emphasise the large part devoted to an address from one connected with the Great War. During the whole service the main theme is war, and terms like "shafts of strife and war" or " dissension, envy, hate," are used. The story of the landing at Gallipoli is then told in as vivid a manner as possible in order to emphasise the sacrifices that were made. Throughout the service the child is obtaining a vague idea of a war—a something that never happened in his lifetime. Perhaps there is a number of returned soldiers present, each wearing his medals.. The child admires these, and looks forward to the time when he may deserve such honours. Now, what does the child learn from these services? Instead of gaining the ideals of peace and goodwill, the child

.will learn that war is a necessary part of his life, that just as in the past there was a necessity for men to lay down their lives, so, in the future, there will be the same necessity, and that he, too, .will have the same opportunity of displaying his courage, of showing his loyalty, and of wearing medals. If the Returned Soldiers' Association consider the child at all. they should give him something better than this.

The children of to-day inherit a priceless social heritage. Each succeeding generation gains something on its predecessor. What are our children gaining if, year in and year out, they are being told again and again the ghastly horror* of the Great War, which even now is regarded as a gigantic mistake? The only way to point a child to the ideala of peace is to tell him some of its many advantages, to give him a talk on the value of the League of Nations, to interest him in foreign peoples, and to show hint that the foreigner is not a foe, but a friend. I trust that this year, when the Otago schools are having a. 10-day holiday over Easter, and therefore will not be in session for Anzac Day, the observance will be reduced to a lesson talk of the type indicated, and that peace, friendship, and love will be our relationship to all nations. —I am, etc., Peace on Earth. February 24.