Social media videos about Putin and photos of Ukrainian refugees: there is a lot to read about the war in Ukraine on social media. This raises questions among young people of the Carmel College in Emmen. History teacher Richard Zuiderveld believes it is important to take these questions by the horns. In his lessons he talks to the students about the war.
At school, students learn about history, but what if history is happening right now? Zuiderveld teaches students from mavo, havo and atheneum and did not let this subject pass them by: “In all my classes I talk about the war in class.”
Mix of worries and interest
“The war in Ukraine must be on your mind, who wants to say anything about it?” Zuiderveld starts his lessons with this question. “You know that the war will become part of the history books, just like the corona pandemic, there will be a chapter about this in fifteen years.”
He fills in his lessons based on what is going on in the class. “In every class, students come to me who see the war on TV or social media. Students are afraid that the third world war will break out or simply want to say something about it.” Zuiderveld provides a suitable interpretation for each of its classes. “I go into less detail with the freshmen, topics such as nuclear bombs and NATO I use less. With the third-years and exam classes I do go into these topics.”
“Sir, have you seen this meme?”
Young people have just got rid of all the measures and are now concerned about the war: “It is quite intense for the students. There is of course a war that we experience on TV, but there is a layer for young people in the form of memes ( social media videos) and pictures about the war on social media, which adults often don’t see.” Zuiderveld encourages students to talk about it “Find a person you trust and talk about it, don’t walk around with your fears for too long.”
fundraiser
Students also want to start a fundraiser to collect ‘thick clothes, good shoes and medical products’. “We think it’s great that these initiatives come from the students themselves, then we’ll see if we can facilitate that.”