European Learning

Educational Issues

A pair of odd educational concepts from our European cousins across the pond.

Adopt the Dead
So President Sarkozy in France has been searching for issues to soften his image, after the country has gotten tired of him breaking off his marriage to sleep around with a supermodel instead of accomplishing anything in office.

You know you're doing a bad job when the French get picky about your mistresses; traditionally, the more the merrier, in Gallic politics.

At any rate, after tepid plans to curb urban poverty, improve mass transit and the like, Sarkozy has decided to move on to educational issues.

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy, facing a tide of criticism over his call for schoolchildren to "adopt" Jewish child victims of the Holocaust, hit back on Friday saying France had to raise children "with open eyes".

In a speech praising faith that also drew fire from secularists, Sarkozy told France's Jewish community on Wednesday that every 10-year-old schoolchild should be "entrusted with the memory of a French child victim of the Holocaust".

The proposal unleashed a storm of protest from teachers, psychologists and his political foes who said it would unfairly burden children with the guilt of previous generations and some could be traumatized by identifying with a Holocaust victim.

More than 11,100 French Jewish children were deported from France to Auschwitz and other Nazi death camps in eastern Europe during the German World War Two occupation.

Hmm. Yeah.

Interesting idea, and it's certainly worth noting that so much of France bowed to Nazi rule with barely suppressed glee.

On the other hand, it's also worth noting that two separate resistance movements fought the Nazis to the bloody death, one in each half of divided France. It's particularly worth remembering in light of the 'Terrorism is Bad and an Enemy We can Beat' rhetoric in the recent past. You know, as the Resistance in the north of France used every sneaky terrorist trick in the book to spill fascist blood.

A cause heartily endorsed by yours truly, for what little that matters.

Anyway, I dunno. The idea isn't as whacko as it sounds, but I think 10 is a bit young. This is more of a junior-high thing at the least.

You could also have them adopt a resistance fighter, and give a report on how their subject killed German occupiers with bombs or what not. That'd be nice. Broaden horizons and all that.

Source: Reuters

Imagine
So there's this guy, Luc Bernard, who's got a slate of independent games coming out for Nintendo consoles. He does what can be called Dark Fantasy, usually with a platforming game element.

His first game, Eternity's Child, concerns an 11 year old orphan, genocide, global warming, the near-extinction of humankind, transgender issues for children, etc. Another game he's working on is about a cellist who kills anything she touches, and her traveling companion, a robotic bunny/children's entertainer who, failing at showbiz, had to turn to cross-dressing prostitution.

So the guy is already going to a pretty dark place with his games. Which is fine by me.

The next one is likely to offend quite a few people though.

Luc Bernard, the mind behind the upcoming Wii-Ware title Eternity's Child is already hard at work on a new and what is sure to be a very controversial game or the DS. Imagination Is The Only Escape is the story of a young Jewish boy living in France during the occupation by the Nazis in World War II. In order to escape the horrors around him, he imagines a fantasy land that becomes the basis of the game's world. The adventure platformer will attempt to educate players on the atrocities experienced by many children during the time of the Holocaust.
"The sad thing is that videogames are still considered toys and not art, I hope that this game can show that games can be just as important as films."

Sounds like a darker version of Pan's Labyrinth perhaps.

To be honest, all three of his games sound like "Dark" reimaginings of previous works; Eternity's Child is A.I. (which was already pretty heavy), the Cellist story reminds me of Alice in Wonderland, and this latest one, as I said, Pan's Labyrinth.

The art is all his and all original though. I'm willing to give EC a try when it hits the Wii.

That being said, I do hope he can get his project mostly intact onto a console. It's a daring concept; I'd like to see if he can make a good game out of it as well.

Source: Kotaku