President Bling-Bling's Latest Stir

To describe French President Nicolas Sarkozy as controversial would be a vast understatement. His narrow victory last spring may have provided evidence that the French are (somewhat) ready to embrace change, but it’s been a slippery slope since his inauguration. People do not care for his professed love of America, his flashy Rolex and extravagant lifestyle (he’s been dubbed “President Bling-Bling”), and (more understandably) his nearly daily spotlight hogging in the media. As many of my students have expressed (regardless of whom they voted for), in France, the President is usually heard but not seen, and this president is all about the latter.

After causing a stir in the fall with reform proposals (you may have heard about the insane 9-day Metro strike – one of the many backlashes against said reforms), Sarko upped the ante with his volatile love life. His ex-wife’s affair came to light during the campaign (some conspiracy theorists say it was all cleverly timed to gain voter sympathy) and only a couple months after he took office, Cecelia Sarkozy abandoned her husband and her short-lived post as France’s First Lady – no big loss for her, as she has been quoted on the record as saying it’s a “stupid job.”

Sarko then squandered the sympathies of female voters everywhere and gained the meat-headed admiration of hetero men worldwide when he, within the span of roughly two months, courted, allegedly impregnated (emphasis on alleged--she isn't preggo), and then quietly married Franco-Italian supermodel-musician-actress Carla Bruni, who has been photographed in the nude and has gone on record saying she prefers the Italians because they’re not negative like the French (see, it’s not just me!). His approval rating is currently hovering around 40% - getting down into Dubya territory.

The Bruni-Sarko media circus has served as a fabulous distraction from the Prez’s political maneuvers. His economic advisor served up a 300-item list of improvements to be made to stimulate France’s economy (including integrating economics instruction into grade-school curriculum, simplifying the administration-heavy local government system, and deregulating various industries). This resulted in a lot of cynical grumbling and a taxi strike or two, and no doubt will incite further protest down the road.

The latest controversy is quite interesting. Sarkozy is now apparently an educator. In short, he has mandated that every 10-year-old student in France will read a biography of a same-aged French Holocaust victim. I understand the intention, as a Jew and an educator who believes in using such historical connections to help foster empathy and compassion in students – logic that can hardly be faulted, unless it’s focused on 10-year-old kids. Is the shock value of the horrendous realities of the Holocaust too traumatic for a child of this age, even in today’s world? There are intelligent arguments on both sides of the issue. But I’m still left scratching my head. This initiative seems to have come out of nowhere. Why the Holocuast? In a country of burgeoning anti-Semitism, it’s clearly beneficial to spread awareness of what some people flat-out deny existed…but why now? And why is this initiative so specific? It's one thing for a high-profile government official to call for mandatory Holocaust curriculum in public schools, and another for the President to outline a particular grade-level project - and without consulting the department of education to conceptualize it. Huh? My students are divided and the cynics/conspirators among them thing it’s another of Sarko’s ploys to cast himself in a good light, to curry public favor. But as well-intentioned as it may be, to the outside observer, it just seems so random.

So what do you think of this latest initiative? Is it appropriate for upper elementary curriculum? Post in the comments.