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"If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war." From a 1982 study by the National Commission of Excellence in Education entitled "A Nation at Risk."
The problems inherent in American education are clear and there's been enough finger-pointing as to who is responsible. The problem isn't that there aren't educators intelligent to teach, the problem is that they're not allowed to do so. So the question arises- why? The answer, as is usually the case, lies with the government. The government doesn't want citizens that think, the government wants citizens that obey. Simply put, the government doesn't want citizens, they want subjects- subjects that accept unquestioningly whatever they're told by the government controlled mass media. What they've discovered is that there's no better way to mold subjects than by controlling education. In the words of psychologist B. F. Skinner...
The crisis in American education is less academic than philosophical.
Thomas Jefferson- homeschooled himself- understood the importance of an educated electorate. In a letter to his friend William Jarvis he wrote: ""I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their
control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it away from them but to inform their discretion by education." Jefferson was one of the first proponents of a public education system- the outcome of which was that every citizen be able to read his own Bible. How things have changed, both educationally and culturally where in contemporary schools reading the Bible might get a student expelled.
Thomas Mann, widely called the Father of American Education wrote in 1837 of a day when education would become a, "new religion with the state as the new church and education as its Messiah." Mann went on to write: "What the church has been for medieval man the public school must become for democratic and rational man. God will be replaced by the concept of the common good... The common schools... shall create a more far-seeing intelligence and a pure morality than has ever existed among communities of men." Apparently Mann was a much better writer than a philosopher... where he left off, John Dewey picked up.
Dewey was a humanist who despised and ridiculed the idea of God. For Dewey, the ultimate religion was "state consciousness." He wrote: Every teacher should realize the dignity of his calling; that he is a social servant set apart for the maintenance of proper social order and the securing of the right social growth... In this way the teacher is always the prophet of the true god and the usherer [sic] of the true kingdom of god." Not one word about educating or teaching, only the humanist agenda. In this next statement, he is even more explicit about his disdain for religion: "There is no God and there is no soul. Hence there is no need for the props of traditional religion... There is no room for fixed, natural law or moral absolutes." Without moral absolutes, there is only chaos. Contrary to the humanists, morality isn't something you can make up on the run.
The goal of the humanist run school has never been to educate. In fact they applaud the decline in academic accomplishments. Paul Blanshard a frequent contributor to the Humanist Magazine sees this decline as a sign of victory. He wrote: "Our schools may not teach Johnny to read properly, but the fact that Johnny is in school until he is 16 tends to lead toward the elimination of religious superstition."
John Dunphy, another writer for the Humanist goes one step further: "The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and the new- the rotting corpse of Christianity, together with all its adjacent evils and misery and the new faith of humanism." And what a splendid job they've done, I'm sure they're very proud. Since the humanists have gotten prayer out of schools they have been turned into arenas of conflict... Drugs are commonplace as is violence. Before prayer was removed, school shootings were unheard of. Homosexuality and abortion are pushed on children as young as kindergarten. In the late 1980's Dr. John Goodland wrote a report for the NEA (who is behind this agenda): "Our goal is behavioral change. The majority of our youth still hold to the values of their parents and if we do not resocialize them to accept change, our society may decay." Once again, not one word about education. The US Department of Education, who formulates the national curriculum and how it's taught, is run part and parcel by the NEA. As it is with the FDA and other agencies, there is a revolving door where school administrators and union officials take positions with the Ed Dept.
Maybe professor S.L. Pressy of Ohio State University outlined the humanist position best when he wrote: "People are what the world made them. In character, in usefulness, in happiness, they are the product of forces which can be controlled. And the chief agency for such control must be education." Another professor at the same institution, Dr. Boyd Henry Bode, reinforces Pressy's position, "authoritarianism places these values in the acceptance of certain habits for the guidance of belief and conduct."
That fairly well sums up the goals of the Authoritarian philosophy that drives American education today, no focus whatsoever on teaching even the basics... in fact, there isn't even the pretense of education, only indoctrination. Since 1979 the US Dept. of Education have been in control of education on a national level and what a mess they've made. Public schools are a cesspool of immorality where every tenet (with the exception of Christianity) has been given credence. With what result?
(From the NEAA "Nation at Risk" study at the beginning) "The educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people." This was in 1982! Things have gotten much, much worse. "One of the most shocking findings is that only one-fifth of seventeen-year-olds in public education can write a persuasive essay... and 13 percent, by the simplest tests of reading, writing and comprehension, are functionally illiterate, with only 29 percent functioning at a 'basic' level."
This has been an overview of the current state of education and the philosophy driving it. Tomorrow- a differing philosophy, the original one that was purposely destroyed.
Curated for #informationwar (by @wakeupnd)
Relevance: Sharing the truth.
I totally agree schools and churches are indoctrination camps. People who can't think for themselves go to church because they can't read and decipher a bible themselves. Kudos to you for stating that we aren't citizens; but subjects that are dumbed down by tap water and essentially we're just tax mules. I wish I was home schooled. I know for my children I'll make my own school or home school them. The moral of the story, schools reward obedience not intelligence.
You're an inspiration Rich. I'm taking my year end tests today and needed some reafirmation for sure. It's tough on a homeschool kid, I wish I could explain that it's more of an elvaluation of me than him but that would add to the kids' pressure I think. The fact that my kids are learning real knowledge, and not being taught to oppose God, make everything worth it.
You're doing a lot better than you think. When my wife and I broke up, she put the kids back in school and every last one was #1 in their class. Trying to teach kids information like "What year was the Battle of Concord Bridge?" is Ok, but teaching them how to find out what they need to know, is something that will stay with them forever.
I never lectured, except a little in math. What I did was to give out reading assignments where the kids had to look something up, read it and then write a paper on it. Then we'd go over what they wrote correcting for grammar and spelling as we went. By the time my boys were 12-14 they were reading Plato and Aristotle. Just guide your son toward what you want him to learn and teach him how to think about it. I'm always here if you need me!
That's great to hear thanks. I wish I had come to social media right at the beginning, I was so against it for years I got left in the dust. I'm seeing the benefits of reaching out faster than I expected. I was holding out for this site I suppose ;)
This really is the only social media site worth going to... Once you wade through the scammers and spammers, most of the people here are pretty decent. It's set up more for content creators than cat memes lol!
we should oppose all endeavors to coform our youngsters to state run servitude. Everybody must screen what goes on effectively in their children schools and have self-teach as a reinforcement design. They're battling back yet we should win
I taught my kids at home!
Only 29% of today's students functioning at 'basic' level? That is shocking, at least. Well.. Unfortunately, the poisoning strategies do work quite efficiently.
So it seems- I'm a big advocate for homeschooling, that's how I taught my 4 kids.
Awesome. Good for you and them!
You are so correct. The government teaches through the education system obedience rather than the ability to think, I do believe there is a connection between the absence of God in the schools and the epidemic shootings and drugs in our schools. Humanism has replaced Christianity in our schools and our society. Well written article. Now how do we fix this? Thanks @richq11
I don't see any fix coming from government- they're the problem. My advice is homeschooling, that's what I did (and it was a fight the whole time, but worth it). I'm going to do a post tomorrow from the other side and then a homeschool post with a lot of sources for support for homeschoolers.
We must resist all attempts to coform our children to state run slavery. Everyone must monitor what goes on actively in their kids schools and have homeschool as a backup plan. They're fighting back but we must win, we have to
I look at homeschool as the primary plan, it's gotten so bad. I'm going to do a post about it. I just got a list of all of the state homeschool associations.
I feel that as technology is growing, it has some disadvantages which are now affecting children studying time there spend more time online this days. The bad thing about all this is that pornographic content are ready available online without restrictions, that may be the reason why the rate of even rape and homosexuality is on the rise.
I'm sure there's a link, between the schools pushing it and the availability online (not to mention cable). It's hard to avoid. I tried to watch a movie yesterday about a guy that moves closer to his family and finds his wife living with a lesbian heroin dealer! You can't avoid it!!!
Hmm, the world has gotten to bad place, this is what was referred to as end time in the Bible. I wonder how the year 2030 would look like.
Great post!
...and common core.
Are you familiar with the writings of Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt? A former Senior Policy Advisor to the U.S. Department of Education, and author of "The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America", she speaks to this issue in a shockingly informative interview called "The Secret History of Western Education" (which can be viewed on youtube. That was painful to type.)
It's well worth watching the 3+ hour interview, as she lays out, in no holds barred fashion, the truth of the NEA's agenda.
She also wrote a book called "The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America". It is available for free online. http://deliberatedumbingdown.com/ddd/
I think I've seen it... I've watched most of the video's Miss Charlotte has on Y-Tube. She worked in the Reagan WH and I think was a part of NCEE that I quoted.
I think you'll like tomorrow's post better when we get the other side- you know, they one that worked for over 100 years!
thanks for this information..
A number of quotes I haven't read before, great contribution. Restoring education to actually educate, not indoctrinate, is essential to restoring the freedoms that have been lost to the encroaching ideology of statism and coercive collectivism. I just finished up my series on Towards Voluntaryism where I discussed doing exactly that, see chapters 2 and 4.
Over here in Nigeria we suffer similar problem. If only they will listen. Great one
The problem of education suffers from many countries
But these problems must be resolved until a generation of educated generation emerges
Conscious and educated
Well done publishing
it is a great post sir and the point is very good
i am not from America that's why i do not create my advice for this system.
its very informative....thanks for sharing it with us
Purpose of education, whether state run, church sponsored, or homeschool, is indoctrination. The idea that "critical" thinking is beneficial to man is itself a dogmatic doctrine. The important consideration is not whether indoctrination is evil, but which indoctrination benefits man more.
The doctrine that every citizen read the Bible resulted in 30,000 fragmented so-called "Christian" sects bickering amongst themselves regarding which piece of "god" is the true piece. From Christian theological perspective, such "educated" populace has been an unmitigated disaster. Even in Western representative sociopolitical system, the citizens, first,must accept the superiority of their sociopolitical system, prior to discussing any policy positions. Anti-Western propaganda can only be neutralized in a society indoctrinated in its cultural heritage and value system.
Very well put.