Schools are dropping controversial subjects from history lessons -- such as the Holocaust and the Crusades -- because teachers do not want to cause offence, Government research has found.

The way the slave trade is taught can lead white children -- as well as black pupils -- to feel alienated, according to the study by the Historical Association.

And a lack of factual knowledge among teachers, particularly in primary schools, is leading to "shallow" lessons on emotive and difficult subjects.

Some teachers have even dropped the Holocaust completely from lessons over fears that Muslim pupils might express anti-Semitic reactions in class.

And one school avoided teaching the Crusades because its "balanced" handling of the topic would directly contradict what was taught in local mosques.

Charles Lee Geshekter - 4/4/2007

This latest, disgraceful capitulation to the tender sensibilities of Muslim students confirms the degeneration and debasement of historical studies in British secondary education.

It comes on the heels of a similar cowardice and appalling spinelessness demonstrated in mid-March by administrators at the University of Leeds.

They decided to cancel (at the very last minute) a public talk by researcher Matthias Kuntzel (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) that was entitled, "Hitler's Legacy: Anti-Semitism and the Middle East."

The facts of a virulent anti-Semitism in the Middle East and the role of Nazi propagandists in spreading such hateful bilge are facts that are not in dispute.

Or as Kuntzel himself remarked, "You can have your own opinion. But you cannot have your own facts."

The same forces that drove the courageous and outspoken Somali activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali out of Holland are alive and well among British educators.

The decline of history-teaching into a morass of feel-good, cause-no-harm coddling are the clear signs of a country that has lost its way.

John R. Maass - 4/3/2007

That the teachers or administrators “do not want to offend children from certain races or religions” is absurd. This notion (which comes up in so many contexts these days) that people–including children–should go through life without being offended or challenged is striking. Obviously, I am not saying that kids in school ought to be offended on purpose to teach them a lesson, but they sure as hell ought to know from a very early age that there are plenty of folks out there who will (as their lives go on) offend them, oppose them, or otherwise ruin their “self-esteem.” Sheltering kids from at least some of this is ultimately harmful. This plan in Britain would be like the US schools saying that we won’t teach our kids subjects including the Trail of Tears, slavery, Jim Crow, or labor strikes because Indians, African-Americans, and the lower classes might be hurt or offended by what happened to their ancestors. There would not be much to teach if we adopted this standard.

Also--if “teachers lack factual knowledge,” then why not (here comes a bold and highly unorthodox suggestion) train the teachers! If the history teachers don’t know history, then what indeed are they teaching?!?! And what did they study? I suspect this is symptomatic of educators being required (like in the U.S.) to have far more training and preparation in the soft, murky field of “education” than in the subjects they teach.

John Uhlar - 4/3/2007

I was sad to learn that it was true that British teachers are editing english and western history based on fear of muslims. That in fact they are eliminating the Crusades and the Holocaust for fear of offending Muslims or "contradicting what is taught in the Mosques."

The Islamification of England has begun. I want to thank you now for what you have given Americans via your old English law, traditions, and culture. We would not be the country we are today with out your history. As you begin to "rewrite" your history to fit within the teachings of "what is taught in the mosques" we as a people will never forget you.

If you'd like to continue your life and your freedom with a culture similar to yours then come to America. You will be welcome. It appears that with the fall of Europe and then England America will be where Western Civilization makes it's last stand we won't roll over easy. Good luck to you.