The Indoctrination of our Children
It seems that a certain propaganda book by a current political candidate has made it into an 8th grade textbook and is classified as an example of “literature”. There is no inclusion of other “literature” by opposing candidates or views. To top it off, in the section about this book, it instructs the children to discuss what makes them “proud”. Wow! That certainly sends a message to the children, let alone clearly indoctrinates them into a certain political ideal. So much for teaching children how to be well rounded and think for themselves. Out the windows goes the concept of looking at all sides of an issue and making a stance that best fits them as an individual. Instead, we are teaching them to blindly accept the ideals put before them.
While reading this article, I couldn’t help but be reminded of another instance in world history when a political leader with a religious like following indoctrinated children into his ideal by making his work of “literature” a required reading. So what comparison am I trying to make here? Simply that blind political fervor and indoctrination tactics haven’t worked out so well in the past. Sometimes we need to take not of history.
This textbook problem you mention here has always been a problem in schools.
This is just another example of it. They don’t write accurate history in any of these books. There is no real story of how bad slavery was in textbooks. I hated history in high school. It was a memorization of facts. No real stories about real people. I mean, who cares about the battle of hastings occurring in 1066? I can memorize that (look at me!), but what did I learn? I didn’t really read in detail any of the history books. So the kids probably still aren’t today. The Obama pages of which you mention are probably being ignored by the students anyway.
Another example, how much time did we spend on Abe Lincoln? That man was a Christian, and that won’t be discussed due to separation of church and state. But it was the foundation of who that man really was. That was the answer to WHY he died for his cause of fighting for every man’s freedom. That was the answer to HOW he was able to find the inner strength to push forward in the midst of great hate and resistance. That man should have been scared to death, but he knew what was right and proceeded forward in spite of gambling this nation’s future of ever uniting. He didn’t have the luxury we have of seeing the results. And yes, it is a luxury to have that perspective. So, Lincoln’s personal life written in diaries shed so much light on so much of our country’s history. Yet we walk around the elephant in the room, delete it from textbooks, etc.
No one had required reading about the holocaust or slavery (at least at Lake Howell High School). Why? Because they didn’t want uprisings in the classroom. Remember, only passive learning is encouraged. And stop thinking for yourself.
The only discussion/teaching that even went close to the topic of faith or church in a history class I found in high school was when I took an AP European History class with Mrs. Sullivan. She went over and over Luther’s attempts and struggle in standing up to the Catholic church in Germany. Besides the 95 theses and the result of the diet of Worms (Luther lived), I didn’t learn much else, just the evolution of the industrial revolution, which we still live with today.
Good grief, they don’t even teach how to do invest money or how to buy a home, or how to be financially responsible individuals in this country. So, of course, the politics being taught are going to be skewed.
But, don’t worry, the teachers are teaching to the FCAT these days. They probably don’t have time to go over the 18 pages of Obama and his life. Not to worry. That alone should assuage your fears. And we have nothing to fear but fear itself. . . . .we learned that from MTV, not public schools. (Please refer to Living Color’s educational video found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ5SVDYBNrY )
The schools push people onto the kids in other ways. Last year, my niece had to sit through a visit by Franklin Covey. The administration in this elementary school were on the edge of their seats, clapping in anticipation of this man’s visit. No one got up in arms about that except me. I had found a site that listed all of his belief systems steeped in all kinds of religions. Yet everyone skips past those points to buy into his “leadership tactics” that he sells. He is a salesman. He makes lots of money selling God’s principles while stripping Him out of the equation. I think we can learn how to communicate effectively in the classroom without being involved in Covey’s agenda. Jesus never made a million from the meek or the children.
We all got out of that institution they call school and realized we weren’t taught anything about real life. It was mostly a lesson on how to deal with peer pressure, a challenge to see if you could overcome peer pressure, a test to see if you were going to get caught eating lunch off campus with your friends, and how to stealthly move around the halls with a badly duped hall pass without being seen by an administrator.
I think i learned more being in band than in school, except for Dee Cottingham’s classes. I can successfully write analytical papers thanks to her.
Now that we are out of school, this looks like a good book to get you back on track with our history lessons: http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0684818868/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224161766&sr=1-15