What are you teaching your kids?

[navci]

An interesting reading comes from these Children's drawings. (http://uqmgp.hp.infoseek.co.jp/)

If you want the background information:
Wiki info (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liancourt_Rocks)
If you don't want to read it all, basically South Korea and Japan are fighting over territory. They each claim this place is theirs. Now. What I am going to rant about is not either of them being right or wrong, the Liancourt Rocks should belong to either of them, that kinda thing. WHat I want to rant about is, well, look at the pictures that are drawn. A lot of these look like they are drawn by kindergarten to elementry kids.

WHAT ARE YOU TEACHING YOUR KIDS?
Hatred? SInce when does hatred solve anything? You may say, oh, they are just kids, they are probably just having fun drawing. .. It is exactly because it is little kids that are doing these drawings that is making me so angry. This is propaganda. HATE propaganda. Now. I am not being ignorant of what they might be feeling. China and Japan (and Taiwan, according to Wiki) has the exact same kinda issues over Senkaku Island/Diaoyutai (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senkaku). I understand that it is frustrating that someone is claiming whatever is yours theirs. (not that I have an opinion of whether or not it should belong the either country. I understand the frustration. But honestly what does this do? Is this going to solve problems? Whatever happened to formal political protests, buy up their front page newspaper .. or all those diplomatic stuff rather than have your school kids make up a mural of hateful drawings?

Drilling hatred into kids mind, teach them how to hate whatever that is not "approved" by their government? Honestly, how is that differ from communist propaganda? There is no sense of right/wrong, all there is a list of things that are "okay" and everything else is horrandous? Whatever happened to trying to be rid of hatred and let everyone form their own conclusion?

Politics is adult's games. Leave the kids out of it.

[Uncle_bob]

Politics being adult games? Wow, they have the same problem we have here in America. Too many 12 year olds here think they are Political and Philisophical gods.

Anyway..yea, parents teaching their kids that kind of stuff isn't good. That will just lead to another generation of hate if they all don't nuke themselves before their kids grow up. It doesn't look good. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_mad.gif

[Solstis]

Yeah... that Korea/Japan rivalry isn't going to go away anytime soon.

There's a good thing about telling your kids the brutality of the past, but the prejudices of the second World War should be put aside.

Well, parents will always do this, and I imagine that if Canada had gone through the United States about 60 years ago, trying to stomp out American "culture," parents would be doing the same thing.

*sigh*

[navci]

On 2005-06-26 20:57, Solstis wrote:
Yeah... that Korea/Japan rivalry isn't going to go away anytime soon.

There's a good thing about telling your kids the brutality of the past, but the prejudices of the second World War should be put aside.


I was brought up to think this way. I hated it.
Understanding history is one thing. Start to hate just about anyone because they are from a certain country is another.

Reminded me of this experience when I was a teen.
We were in Japan, and mom was saying that female with loose sexual morals, their thighs all jiggle. I pointed to a young girl, prepubescent, who has jiggling thighs. I said, but she is just a kid! Mom replied oh you never know, Japanese girls are all so loose (in the way saying they are sluts). Not satified with the answer and thinking that she is just saying it because it is a prejudice; I said. My thigh jiggles too. And she replied, "Oh that's different."

wtf.

[PhotonDrop]

off-topic: you sounded so innocent back then, Navi http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif


on-topic: oh the joys of the genocidal future generations, when will you cease?

[GreenArcher]

Nader '08 anyone?

[ForceOfBrokenGlass]

Hate is as natural as any other human emotion. Perhaps rather than being taught, some kids just pick up the frustration from angry adults around them. Being ones to make assumptions kids begin to believe the hate their parents or other adults believe whether they are taught this or not.

You think parents always taught their kids racism? Kids pick things up by watching how adults act. As for Hatred, humans will never be rid of it.

[navci]

On 2005-06-26 21:58, ForceOfBrokenGlass wrote:
Hate is as natural as any other human emotion. Perhaps rather than being taught, some kids just pick up the frustration from angry adults around them. Being ones to make assumptions kids begin to believe the hate their parents or other adults believe whether they are taught this or not.

You think parents always taught their kids racism? Kids pick things up by watching how adults act. As for Hatred, humans will never be rid of it.



Of course. Kids learn from their parents.
But what about reinforcing that hatred? I am not saying it would be eliminated. It isn't possible. But we already hate enough as is, don't need to escalate that by making it "officially something that you are supposed to do".

[Jett_Kakashi]

Its Heritage Navi. And heritage is something you cant destroy either unless you destroy it at the roots. About...fifty years from now, even if Korea and Japan settle their dispute, there will still be people hating the other side, because the family will always hold the grudge. Kind of like, how most southeners in the united states that are still apart of some Klu Klux Klan still hate blacks to the bone.And itll be like that until people learn to just let it go. Which...will never happen. T_T



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Jett_Kakashi on 2005-06-26 22:31 ]</font>

[navci]

I understand the heritage thing.
Brought up to hate foreigners! Especially Japanese.

Ya. I know all about it's human nature, people will never let go. I am really ranting about people instead of trying to work on letting it go, they hold onto it tighter and tighter. Putting more and more focus on it.

Keep saying it will never be stopped, then of course it will never be stopped.

[RoninJoku]

Aww man... that is terrible... To see such hate from such small minds... It makes me very sad... damn...

Hey, mind if I post this on another message board I go to? There are some people I'd like to share it with...

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

Err.
Once while sitting with my grandma in her home she started talking about a story of her youth.

She lived in Okinawa and was a kid during the second world war. My mom told me stories of their family having to give up all their food and housing to the soldiers stationed in the area-or else the (Japanese)government could be allowed to take it by force.

She said once she and some friends had to run away from all the noise and airplanes flying overhead. They ran away into a cave in the beach. Saying it was "funny" for lack of a better word. I could see tears in her eyes starting up as she talked to me about this.

There was nothing I could do but just hold her hand and say its okay now, you're here, its okay. This happened when she turned on the TV and the news talked of the anniversary of the bombing on Pearl Harbor.

These kids have no idea what being in a war is like. I hope they never have to either.

There's already enough wars going on around the world. No need to start another one.

I'd like to think we're all a bit smarter and better capable of living together peacefully than we were back in WW2, but it seems we aren't?

[rena-ko]

its really really sad that they abuse these children for cheap politics. its sad that they support racism and nationalism with actually exposing those drawings at a public place. isnt the station chef ashamed by that? arent koreans in general ashamed by it?

i'm not saying japan should just claim that island or anything and i really dont say that one should forget what japan did to korea, china and the philipines.

but how about starting a joint-venture of some sorts. how about growing up and trying to enforce a friendly co-existence.

[Bradicus]

There's something about school sanctioned drawings of brutal racist gang beatings that makes me uncomfortable.

I may be a sheltered white male, but I really see no excuse for that. Explanation yes, but certainly no excuse.

[roygbiv]

Hmm... yeah... I was writing one of my term papers on this sort of stuff, except from the Chinese perspective. I just don't know what to say. In many ways it seems that while, for instance, Germany was enabled to make amends and come to terms with the holocaust, the war in the pacific never resolved any of the ethnic conflicts between Japan and its neighbors.

I am pessimistic about the situation. To be perfectly honest I feel like it has become a situation in which all of the political parties involved take political advantage from exploiting people's long held racial hatred. And really until that changes, I don't think anything will get much better. The fact that it is even echoed in children's drawing shows how far it has become ingrained.

[Blitzkommando]

Well, history repeats. I don't know if anyone else noticed but there was a Turtle Ship in one of the drawings. Now for those who don't know much about Korean-Japanese history I will give a gist of it:

During the 16th Century Korea was at war with Japan... again. This was a long and tiring cycle of wars that started thousands of years ago and still rages on. Now, Turtle Ships were credited to be created by Admiral Yi-Sun Shin. This would turn out to save Korea during this particular war and help them win against the Japanese. Turtle Ships were armored ships as the name implies.

My point is: Korea and Japan, India and Pakistan, Iraq and Iran, Israel and the rest of the Middle East, and even France and Britain, all have thier rivalries. Some are less known, like Germany and Russia, but all in all, most countries have "arch enemies/rivals". This will not stop, ever. As long as there are fanatics in humanity, which there always will be, things like this will happen.

Also, as another just slight point, Korea has had a really, really tough past. Just like Japan. Just like China and Russia and... The list goes on. There is a difference between knowing the past, accepting it and moving on and knowing the past and wanting vengence for it. The thing most of us here is, we don't have the same history as Korea and Japan. We haven't had wars that have bred thousands of years worth of hatered. And really, is it a surprise that they would fight over a speck of land? Both have had much of their territory taken in the past 60-70 years. Korea's case is their country got split literally in half and has been going through basically a civil war since. Japan lost one of it's largest islands to Russia through a very... very bad circumstances.

I'm not excusing the children, or their parents, grandparents or anyone. What I am saying is, it is very, very tough to ignore a rivalry that has been going on for so very, very long. But something that helps it is simply, fear. Japan and South Korea both are constantly fearing that little dictatorship to the north (or in Japan's case south-west). The fact is nobody know what they will do so harassing them is a nono. South Korea has fear of Japan as well from the fact that Japan has the third largest naval force in the world, and is about to overtake the number two slot from Russia. I would be scared of that too. Japan has not so much fear as a, superiority complex. In history the country that 'always won' against Korea was, Japan. It has been bred into many of the people that they are superior to the Koreans.

I've met many Korean, Japanese, and Chinese people. And many of them are very great people who are just as sick of these rivalries as we are. They find them repulsive and terrible. The problem apparently is, they are here in the US, Canada and other countries, while the primary offenders are still in the homelands.

Just be thankful it hasn't gotten to the point of open fighting yet. Many other countries are much worse in relation, like India and Pakistan. But I will say this: If, and IF, there is a third world war, it will start in south east Asia. I would be willing to bet my life on it. There is so much heat coming from that area of the world it is amazing it hasn't exploded yet (figuratively). As I said, it is very sad state of affairs but getting involved with either nation means alienation of the other.