| |
Because of Political Correctness (PC), our schools are failing our
children.
Case in Point: We are currently in the midst of a hotly contested campaign for the presidency of
the United States. Many important issues are involved – the economy, health care, national security, foreign
relations, immigration and more. I discuss these issues with my 12-year old grandson, both pro and con with regard
to the candidates and their respective positions on these and other issues. It would seem obvious to any open-minded
citizen that a major portion of a 12-year old’s education would be an open discussion of these issues and the
presidential candidates’ positions on them. BUT, when I ask my grandson if they are talking about
all of this in his class in school, he tells me that the school isn’t allowed to discuss politics. His mother confirms
that this is indeed true.
My God! How can a public school, charged with educating our young, not discuss such an
important public event as a presidential election, not educate our children on the American political system, not
start the process of training our youth to investigate critical public issues, not train its students to ask the
important and relevant questions, not educate our students on real-life issues, not show our children how to look at
both sides of issues and to reach educated conclusions concerning them? To do none of the above should be a public
scandal.
It is reported that American education is falling behind the education systems in many
other nations of the world. Is it any wonder, when teachers are prevented from teaching because of some misguided
fears that taking on contentious topics may upset someone? Can’t touchy topics be confronted without bias in our
public schools? Since when does ignorance trump taking on controversy? We are failing our children and
grandchildren by letting the PC Gestapo control our educational system. What has happened to the concept of free
speech? Our children will have to face the real world someday. Shouldn’t they be fully prepared for this certainty?
Shouldn’t we teach them to think independently? Shouldn’t we be teaching them how to look at issues and determine
the facts for themselves, rather than blindly accepting the Pabulum being fed them? This country needs trained
independent thinkers - not a bunch of clods afraid to independently confront the critical issues of everyday
life.
Political Correctness, as practiced in today’s schools, is pressure to conform to the
prevailing philosophies of federal, state, and local education officials. It is nothing more than surrender to
activists who insist on their views taking precedence over the view of anyone else. In all too many cases, the
overriding goal of the PC police is to foster trust in a statist dogma, and the submission of personal
responsibility to the advocates of Political Correctness.
Our public schools have devolved into public indoctrination centers for those in political
power. Anti-bullying programs morph into gay lifestyle sensitivity sessions in the name of Political Correctness.
Environmental science becomes U.N. Agenda 21 training. Civics class becomes social justice
indoctrination.
Here’s one example of Political Correctness gone badly astray.
A black newscaster visited a public school in California, a state noted as a bastion of
Political Correctness. The newscaster was well dressed and, to some, bore a resemblance to President Barack Obama.
One fifth-grader jokingly told a fellow student: “Look, Obama’s visiting our school today.” While it may not have
actually been President Obama, the newscaster “did possess a demeanor and countenance similar to the
president’s. . . . what happened next was scary . . . a teacher was summoned, then the principal, . . .
then the . . . School District superintendent, . . . And that very afternoon, {the 5th grader} was kicked out of
{the school} for good . . . for implying that all black men look alike.
- - -
“{The 5th grade student’s father said: ’How can you assume the intent of a child? This is
the thought police. [They're] not God; [their] bureaucratic brain[s have] melted into a mush of Political
Correctness.’” (Ref. 1)
Here’s another example out of an endless stream of moronic Political Correctness issues
concerning our public schools:
“Apparently even mentioning St. Patrick could offend the delicate sensibilities of 5th
graders.” To avoid this possibility and to surrender to the dictates of the PC Gestapo, the annual celebration
of St. Patrick’s Day at a local school was changed to 'O' Green Day'. The elimination of St. Patrick’s Day is
nothing but a heavy-handed attempt to instill political correctness among the impressionable 4th and 5th
graders.
“The school principal . . . reportedly made the move to be ‘inclusive and diverse’ and
ease any discomfort that may go along with celebrating St. Patrick’s Day.” Discomfort to whom? It’s extremely
unlikely that any 4th or 5th grader would be offended. But to some PC fanatic, the mere mention of an historical
Irish priest could lead to the end of the world and irrevocably harm our children.
“Let's be honest: In most public schools where St. Patrick's Day is mentioned at all it
amounts to green-frosted cupcakes, and a few precocious kids wearing ‘Kiss Me, I'm Irish’ buttons. In a really
rigorous educational setting, something might be said of Irish immigration to America.
“It isn't exactly like the average public school teacher holds up a Shamrock and explains
the doctrine of the Trinity, or talks about the evils of Irish paganism.
“Too bad really, the legends around Saint Patrick make for quite an adventurous story.
Patrick is said to have grown up in Roman Britain, been abducted and enslaved by the Irish, from which he escaped
as a young man, only to return as a missionary.” (Ref. 2)
Here’s one final example of out-of-control moronic Political Correctness - the list is
endless. We all know of countless other examples of this type of sheer stupidity. If you have a brain, you know
that Political Correctness is mostly wrong and is doing irreparable harm in our public schools and elsewhere in
our society.
“If anyone needed a single case to point to in order to show that political correctness has
gone completely insane here in the United States, this is it. With the rise of such practices, we also see the
growth of the “nanny state” which seeks to control every aspect of our lives.
“The New York City Department of Education has banned several words in an attempt to be as
politically correct as possible, although I see it as pure imbecilic nonsense.
“There are some 50 words which are officially banned from being used on tests given to
students by the city. Some of the more insane choices are: dinosaur, birthdays, wealth, poverty, Halloween,
dancing, terrorism, divorce, references to disease, slavery, creatures from outer space, and many more.
“In fact, it is not just these words that are banned, but indeed the entire topic cannot
be included on any tests administered by the city.
“This is supposedly because such references ‘could evoke unpleasant emotions in the
students,’ according to the New York Post.
- - -
“Dinosaurs are banned because they supposedly might offend people who do not believe in
evolution, yet this makes little to no sense given that even the most fundamentalist creationists seem to realize
that there were, indeed dinosaurs.
- - -
“Words suggesting either wealth or poverty are banned because they could supposedly make
children feel jealous or saddened. I guess the New York City Department of Education believes that if you pretend
it doesn’t exist, it simply doesn’t exist.
- - -
“This head-in-the-sand approach is also applied to divorces and diseases, since students
might have divorced parents or might be sick in one way or another.
“I guess they believe that if students don’t read the word “divorce” or anything to do with
it, they’ll simply forget that their parents are divorced.
“That makes about as much sense as thinking that if no one says ‘cancer’ or ‘disease’
suddenly no one in the world will have cancer.
- - -
“. . . censoring any topic from a standardized test (within reason, of course, as
explicitly violent or erotic material obviously has no place on a school test) is nothing short of absurd and
represents some of the more troubling ways the American ‘nanny state’ has reared its ugly head.
- - -
“. . .controversial topics, for example, ones that are the subject of political debate,
are exactly what students should be reasoning about {and such topics should be legitimate subjects to be discussed
and investigated in our schools in order to stimulate independent thinking}.
“Birthdays are banned since Jehovah’s Witnesses do not celebrate them; witches and
Halloween are banned since they could be interpreted as pagan; and terrorism is banned because it might be
scary.” (Ref. 3)
The main problem with Political Correctness is that the concept itself is both irrational
and diametrically opposed to the free speech. One of the most common justifications for these nonsensical practices
is that the PC Police are simply attempting to avoid offending people of certain religious beliefs. Restricting
free speech in order to placate the emotional sensitivities of others is not only foolish—it is downright dangerous.
Submitting to the demands of the PC Gestapo that communication can only occur as long as everyone is “comfortable”
is just stupid. Unfortunately, the insidious nature of political correctness goes far beyond stifling legitimate opinions
in the interests of coddling certain groups of people—it can also be used as a means of furthering one political
opinion at the expense of another. stifling legitimate free speech. In addition, political correctness can, and
often does, go far beyond stifling legitimate opinions in the interests of coddling certain groups of people - it
can also be used as a means of furthering the political beliefs of one group at the expense of another.
In pre-World War II, in Nazi Germany, it was politically incorrect to speak favorably of the Jews. By using the
excuse of not upsetting anyone, the politically correct are demanding that people behave like the fool who would
please everyone. Consequently, everyone must become such a fool!
We have allowed ourselves to succumb to the tyranny of the few in the name of Political
Correctness. The great majority must suffer for the sensitivities of a strident few. If I am a Jew, you can’t
celebrate Christmas in front of my kid; if I am an atheist, you can’t mention religion in school; If you are a
liberal, you can’t talk about conservative concepts; if you are Caucasian, yesterday you could say Negro, today you
can’t say Negro or black - now it’s African-American. And on, and on, and on. America was built on diversity. We are
a nation composed of many religions, ethnic backgrounds, and cultures. Until the arrival of the PC nation, we
accepted and enjoyed our differences. Now, diversity is a bad word. Differences must be avoided at all cost. To
the PC police, everyone must look, think and act alike. To accomplish this feat of Political Correctness means
that everyone must stoop down to the lowest common denominators in our society. That is not the America I grew up
in – That is not the America that I want my grandchildren to grow up in. I want them to experience differences
and to learn from everything and everyone that is different from them. Political Correctness be damned! Let’s
educate our children - not skirt the issues that they will face in the real world. Let’s repudiate the bullying of
the ignorant and intolerant few that are trying to control and manipulate our world.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
References:
- 5th Grader Kicked Out School - Political Correctness in Public Education,
Political Forum.com; http://www.politicalforum.com/current-events/217650-5th-grader-kicked-out-school-political-correctness-public-education.html,
18 November 2011.
- Political Correctness Run Amok: School Replaces St. Patrick's Day With 'O' Green Day',
Michael Brendan Dougherty, http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-03-16/politics/31199343_1_public-school-irish-immigration-saint-patrick,
16 March 2012.
- Political correctness or political insanity? New York City schools ban words, topics from tests,
Madison Ruppert, Activist Post; http://www.activistpost.com/2012/03/political-correctness-or-political.html ,
27 March 2012.
|
|
