KatsumotoKurier t1_iu56xoq wrote on October 28, 2022 at 5:06 PM

Reply to comment by Prax416 in (Canada) House of Commons unanimously agrees to describe residential schools as genocide by EdithDich

I’m from the GTA, which is pretty much determinable as the most left-leaning socio-political reach in the whole country, so I can imagine that maybe influenced why the topic was discussed for me back then. Hbu?

I should mention that this was not covered at great length. I would say probably only a few classes were spent mentioning it. We spent more time talking about Rosa Parks and MLK Jr during black history month (February) the year before in Gr 5.

Prax416 t1_iu57vvc wrote on October 28, 2022 at 5:13 PM

I went to elementary school in the GTA (in Toronto itself) as well.

Maybe it’s a YMMV thing or maybe my school just didn’t bother - I learned about Rosa Parks and MLK too, and we definitely spent a few lessons talking about First Nations (I remember doing a project on Woodland Cree haha) but I can’t remember this particular topic coming up. Who knows, lol.

Anyway, this was 16 years ago, chances are the kids in school today might have a better understanding given access to knowledge, information sharing, social media etc. I think the first time I used Wikipedia was also in 2006, before that I had to use Encarta or go to my local Toronto Public Library.

KatsumotoKurier t1_iu58zh0 wrote on October 28, 2022 at 5:20 PM

Dude! I did my aforementioned project on the Plains Cree people(s) and of the central Canadian prairies! High five!

>kids in school today might have a better understanding given access to knowledge, information sharing, social media etc.

Yes, absolutely. The world is really at our fingertips with the internet. It’s never been a better time to be a curious learner.

>I think the first time I used Wikipedia was also in 2006

Ah yeah, those were the days. Probably the exact same year of first use for me too. Back when every teacher disavowed Wikipedia as being this grossly unreliable source. Funny how it has now become a globally revered one. Even just a few years ago when I was doing my master’s, I occasionally had professors either openly using Wikipedia themselves or referring someone to use it. It is a fantastic and incredible utility — imperfect from time to time, but it is devoutly moderated and a place where one can almost always find substation from reliable source material, especially for larger and more popular topics.