Should this movie be shown in school?

Yes it gives a very good idea what war was like in those days and it doesn't treat war as something heroïc.Well 30 years ago at my school if your choosen subject was History(like I did) it was shown by our history teacher when we were learning about World War I and what trench-warfare really was like also he showed us Gandhi when we were treating the subject of Indian independence.The Book is very famous by Erich Maria Remarque original title "Im Westen Nichts Neues"(Only one novel comes to mind about W.W. I that has the same kind of familiarity and that is "A Farewell to Arms" by Hemingway) and was first put on the screen by Lewis Milestone in 1930 most prefer the Milestone version but I always appreciated this version for the performances by Thomas,Borgnine,Holm and Pleasence.(famous scene two hands hanging in barbed wire after a shell impact).

No, this film shouldn't be shown in schools - mainly for the reason that it is extremely lacklustre compared to the 1930 version. We studied the book when I was about 14, and I saw the earlier version then, and I will be honest and say that the memory of the book/film combo was a powerful, powerful lesson for me, about so many things (history/war/patriotism/courage/comp,laince etc etc...) so much so that I have very real and vivid recollections from the book that I havent actually read for around 30 years!

The subject MUST be taught in schools, but for god sake, spare the kids this version. They might end up bored by it, or even, frankly, find it comical (Ian Holm!), which is completely the wrong reaction. The 1930 version was like a punch in the guts. This is like a flicked earlobe.

i saw it when i was at school in the 1980s