An Instagram influencer is facing backlash after suggesting that millennials not be taught about World War II in school, but instead learn about topics such as Brexit.
Freddie Bentley, a 22-year-old reality star, appeared on Good Morning Britain to discuss the topic after Apprentice contestants revealed they did not know the dates of the war during Thursday’s episode.
According to Bentley, while he acknowledges the war that claimed millions of lives was a “hard situation,” he argues that it is not worth being taught in school.
“It was a hard situation, World War II, and I don’t want anyone to think I’m being disrespectful in that way whatsoever,” Bentley said. “However, I will stand by the point that I don’t think it’s educational in the way - there’s so many problems going on in the world at the moment like Brexit that’s not taught in schools. And climate change, which is a situation that I feel like we should be aware of.
“When I left school it hit me like a ton of bricks. I didn’t know anything about general life.”
Bentley’s comments prompted criticism from GMB viewers who pointed out the importance of teaching history to young people.
“How can he constructively vote when he has no knowledge of history?” one person asked on Twitter.
Another said: “It is an integral part of world history, if you don’t know what happened in the past, how can you be aware and stop history repeating itself?”
Others questioned how Bentley could compare Brexit to a World War.
“Dear God, what is he talking about?” someone asked. “How can he remotely compare Brexit with a global conflict that resulted in the deaths of over 50m people? He seriously needs to grow up.”
The debate first began after a team of Apprentice contestants revealed they were unaware of the starting date of the war, after being tasked with finding a pre-war copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
