To Change the Future, Children Need History

[Christine]

I saw this in one of our local papers, and thought it had so many insights into why we teach our children not just the nation's history, but our family histories as well.

My mother was a pro at that, and as a child I did not appreciate the endless hours on vacation spent in old dusty living rooms listening to my mom talk to old dusty relatives. I was raised about 25 hours away from where she and my dad were born and raised and where all the relatives lived - so our vacations consisted of hours in the car to get to all those relatives every summer! I was jealous of friends who got to go to the Bahamas or cool places for vacations! But learning about those family stories taught me so many lessons about our family and gave me a confidence to 'do hard things' as they had done. I learned about their strengths, their weaknesses, their challenges, and their blessings. I wish I had listened better, and asked my parents more questions before they died.

At our family camping trip last week I followed my mom's lead and made ancestor playing cards and we played 'go fish' with our relatives, and laughed as we looked at the pictures on the cards and tried to see who we looked like (or didn't look like!) and felt a connection to the generations before us and hopefully helped the generations after us forge a deeper connection, too.

"The same can be true when we learn of our national heritage. A study of history deepens our sense of connection and identity because it requires us to acknowledge our dependence on the work, sacrifices and devotion of others. As David McCullough said, “the laws we live by, the freedoms we enjoy, the institutions that we take for granted — are all the work of other people who went before us … How can we not want to know about the people who have made it possible for us to live as we live, to have the freedoms we have? It’s not just a birthright, it is something that others struggled for, often suffered for, often were defeated for and died for — for us, for the next generation.” Knowing who they were and what they gave not only teaches us who we are, but what we must do to ensure that what we were given continues on for those who follow us.

"A study of history strengthens our resilience. We learn of times that were harder and darker than our own, when “division and fear” were tearing us apart, when the fight to protect freedom and human dignity appeared desperate. We witness how hope, courage, and faith in the right saw our nation through the darkness, and in John Mecham’s words, “Lincoln’s better angels found a way to prevail,” over and over again."

"A study of history gives us hope for ourselves. We find that imperfect human beings with weaknesses, failings and flaws, “rose to the occasion,” exhibiting character, strength and vision in the midst of difficulty. And because they did, a free nation could live. Inspired by what they show us of courage, patience, determination, truth, virtue, charity and loyalty, we feel hope that we can do the same, that our lives too can enable others to live, and to live better."

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/9000...ation.html