Helping or Harming?

In the poem "The History Teacher",  Billy Collins uses irony to explore how protecting his students innocence is a futile effort.  The protagonist in the poem tries to hide the evil of the world by understating epochal events in history. He does this to such an extent that the events no longer hold even remnants of their actual significance. For example, he transforms a 3.4 million year period of industrial change- the Stone Age- to a mere "driveway" in history. He replaces the atom bomb dropped on Japan by Enola Gay with an atom. By doing this, he is leading his students to believe in an utopian view of the past; this, however, is far from accurate. The teacher's sincere efforts are juxtaposed by the students bullying each other on the playground outside the classroom. The students actions represent that they already understand what the teacher is trying to hide. The idea of leaving the classroom for the playground represents the contrast between a "controlled environment" (the classroom) and "real world" (playground).  And so it is apparent that children, even if they are sheltered from evil in their youth, still have the capacity to perpetrate evil. The better teacher would not hide or "sugar coat" the past. Rather he would teach the students the horrors of the past and explain the horrible consequences it had on the people. This awakening, even at a young age, will serve to show the children to be responsible for their actions. That is the most historically accurate history lesson.

But it is clear that the teacher is still teaching his students. Though it may not be factual history he still provides his students with insight into the past. Many of his students may never have heard about the Spanish Inquisition or the Boer War, but when he references them in his teachings it arouses his students interest. He follow these references with far-fetched depictions that would inevitably lead his students to question the validity. This innovative style allows students to question what they don't understand and further supplement their learning. For example, when we were young our parents would tell us about the alleged tooth fairy that would replace our teeth with money. Personally, I was at an age when I began to question this story. I remember placing my tooth under my pillow and willing myself not to fall asleep. I had a conviction that I would catch the "fairy" and disprove the lie my parents were telling me. At a young age children are able to distinguish fantasy from reality. Many children are this way: it is human nature to want to discover the truth. So before completely rejecting the history teacher's methods, we must take time to appreciate the valuable life lesson he is teaching his students.