My 11-year-old daughter and I recently watched “Eleanor the Great,” a movie about someone’s experience during the Holocaust, which was highly recommended to me by one of my seventh grade students. While of course sad, the film was also filled with humor and warmth. Our daughter is interested in this topic and history in general, as my husband and I make a point to discuss all things history with her, all the time. 

After the movie my daughter asked, “What drives people to kill so many other people who have done nothing wrong, especially kids?”

I told her it’s not a simple answer and it’s a larger conversation and that we’ll keep talking, but that ultimately, weakness and fear are what often drive people to do terrible things. She followed up with, “But if people are so weak and afraid, how can they have so much power?” This floored me. I loved her question and I love that she challenged me.

Our kids are not too young to learn about history. They need to understand what people are capable of and what we can do to prevent atrocities. They want to know. Children are better off being shielded from endless TikTok reels and mindless YouTube videos rather than not being taught hard history.

Nicole Petit Wiesendanger
South Portland