[sputnik]

I agree that it's important to have an awareness of matters of cultural and historical importance, but we need to keep in mind that that awareness will be much more solid if one has actually lived through the experience. Learning about something in school is useful and important, but I just don't think the level of retention is comparable. We'll likely absorb something about the issue through our study, but may not hang onto all the details. Our parents and grandparents lived through WWII, McCarthyism, etc., so of course their knowledge base on those issues will be deeper.

i disagree. i wasn't alive for the french revolution, ancient rome or world war II but i had to study those subjects pretty thoroughly and they sank in pretty well. it all depends on how something is taught - again, if you're only given dates and names to memorise and are just taught random events without putting them in context, then yeah, you'll forget it the minute the test is over, but if you're taught things with an analytical approach, and are shown how these events are relevant and important even today and helped shape modern society, it will create more awareness.
the french revolution was a key moment in the shaping of modern societies, the napoleonic code is still in place in lots of countries, most of our legal systems are derived from roman law, and the consequences of world war II can still be felt today. you can't understand the present without studying the past.