"Human Compassion Advised"

I read about Sarkozy's Holocaust education proposal last month with interest - to me, teaching fifth graders about the names and stories of French children lost to the Nazis seemed an wholly age appropriate and non-grisly introduction to the tragedy. But then, I am the product of Hebrew schools that teach Anne Frank with Pat the Bunny, and am less skeptical of Sarko's dodgy motives than a European might be (we really think he's using Holocaust education to deflect attention from his marriage to Carla Bruni? And I thought Americans were cynical about their politicians.)

In any event, I'd largely forgotten about the fracas until stumbling across this piece in Design Observer today that frames the proposal - and its critics - in larger terms. The author shows us an ID card for a seven-year old victim and asks us:

"Now imagine a ten-year-old child examining her identification card — her wobbly little signature, her tiny smeared thumbprint. Is it traumatizing to think about Anny's abbreviated life? Or is it just uncomfortable? Could it be that the very presence of empathy remains an unrecognizable emotion in many a classroom?"

A worthwhile read.