After candidates on Great Britain’s “The Apprentice” revealed they did not know which years World War II began and ended, prompting criticism of them on social media, a British reality TV star told “Good Morning Britain” that schools should not spend much time on the subject of World War II because it would be bad for children’s mental health.
Freddie Bentley, 22, who has appeared on “The Circle,” stated:
It was a hard situation, World War II; I don’t want anyone to think I’m being disrespectful in that way whatsoever. However, I will stand by the point that I don’t thank it’s educational in the way that we — there’s so many problems going on in the world like Brexit, that’s not talking school, and climate change, which is a situation that I thought we should be aware of. When I left school, I felt like, it hit me like a ton of bricks, cause I didn’t know anything in general life.
Bentley also stated, according to The Daily Mail, “I remember learning it as a child thinking, ‘Oh my God, it’s so intense.’” He added, “I don’t think encouraging death or telling people how many people died in the world war is going to make it better.” Bentley suggested teaching the students about how to get a mortgage or how to understand Brexit rather than World War II.
One guest stated, “Millions of people have died; fifty million people died in the second World War, to fight Fascism, to fight tyranny, people who wanted to take away people’s right to freedom, to the vote, to the franchise. That’s why people should know about the second World War, the first World War, the conflicts that have taken place and the fight for freedom that you and I enjoy.”
Bentley responded, “And I totally get that, but I don’t think it needs to be put in such a young way to such young children, mentally — their mental health, to be told that this amount of people died for you.”
The guest replied, “You can’t exaggerate; children need to know that it’s a dangerous world out there. They need to know that crossing the road is sometimes dangerous …”
Bentley answered, “But mental health is on the rise completely and I don’t think that encouraging death or telling people how many people died in a World War is going to help somebody in the future.”
Bentley’s comments triggered anger on social media; one person wrote, “This man just shows the state of this country. How can you not respect war heroes?”
Another stated, “I’m sorry for you as I’m sure this will follow you for years. You need to do some learning about the world and not just how it affects you. You sounded incredibly thick and self absorbed and I’m sure that’s not you, but that’s how you look.”
A third commented, “WWII is it worth educating young people? Of course, it is! OMG if you don’t think it’s worth remembering the millions of people that fought and died for us.”
Bentley seemed unaffected by the furor he engendered, tweeting, “Good or bad tweets I have walked out with a massive smile on my face! I’m buzzing to have been a guest on GMB & couldn’t be more proud of myself.”
Good or bad tweets I have walked out with a massive smile on my face! Im buzzing to have been a guest on GMB & couldn’t be more proud of myself #gmb 😊
— Freddie (@freddiebbentley) November 1, 2019