Should Jack the Ripper be taught in Ks3 today free essay sample

I am sure you have heard of the unidentified murderer dubbed with the name ‘Jack the Ripper’ who was active around the Whitechapel area of London in 1888. He was well known for killing 5 female prostitutes, the victims were all killed at about the same time and place which led the police to think it was a serial killer. ‘Jack’ was pictured as being a middle aged man living his life alone and wearing a long black coat to cover up any blood stains seeing as he only killed in public places. Still, today investigations have not gone far enough to reveal who was behind the spine chilling name of Jack the ripper, which reflected the violence of the murders. From my perspective I don’t think Jack the Ripper should be taught in ks3 for many reasons, although I do understand why we learn about it today, in the 21st century. We will write a custom essay sample on Should Jack the Ripper be taught in Ks3 today? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It seems that even today, everybody has heard of him and his horrific deeds. The Whitechapel murders are still taught to children in schools, but why? The main cause for this continued fascination is the fact that the true identity of the Ripper has never been determined. Firstly the disturbing pictures and unpleasant stories are the reasons to why I feel as if Jack the ripper shouldn’t be taught. By exposing these images to young minds, children could have varied thoughts or interpretations. Also Jack the Ripper only tells a small proportion of the history from that specific era which could lead to us having the wrong views on that era. And finally public health (another topic ) should be taught separately because Jack the ripper has no relevance to it, and pupils learning about these two topics may find it extremely puzzling, and jumble them up. Of course there is another side to this debate, being that Jack the Ripper should be taught in KS3. ’ After all it is part of history , no matter how gruesome the facts are. Once again there are many points to why we actually learn about Jack the ripper today in our schools. One being it helps us to understand how society has changed by showing a lot of public attitudes eg: the public blamed religious groups for the graffiti and the rich believed it must have been one of the poor who was jack the ripper, showing the divide between these two classes. Also because the victims were prostitutes they were not considered that important. Furthermore it’s good to see evidence so we can actually experience it ourselves rather than being told because by analysing things ourselves, it will help us in the future. And finally historical figures like Jack the Ripper should not be forgotten even if the stories were graphic , because they made history. If they weren’t remembered we wouldn’t be able to learn about our past, we would be stuck in the future. In conclusion I feel fairly strong about my opinion because of the reasons given. Jack the Ripper was a figure in history but not one required to be learnt about, in the same way that todays serial killers will not form part of our history in the future . Therefore Jack the Ripper should not have to be taught in KS3.