A Very Weak Point

     There are many weak points in American life, by which I mean areas or subjects of vulnerability that afflict the majority of American families. These past two years, one that has come under the spotlight – and for more reasons that one – is the education of our children.

     The nationalization of education began a long time ago. Thomas Jefferson, one of my heroes, was actually in favor of it. Well, nobody’s perfect, though I’m sure that if Jefferson were aware of what’s happened to education since he advocated the creation of public schools, he would be horrified. Today, the “public” school is an institution over which the public has effectively no control. Moreover, it’s actively hostile to the parents whose children attend it.

     Two links are of interest today:

     The current contretemps is, of course, Critical Race Theory. This odious set of notions seeks to institutionalize the Left’s longtime weapon against American harmony and norms: undeserved white guilt. Its premises have been stealthily infused into every aspect of public schooling. However, until recently, parents were largely unaware of it.

     It isn’t the first time parents have learned that the public schools are force-feeding their kids something disturbing or outrightly un-American. When “sex education” was first introduced into the schools, the hue and cry was considerable. We were told to sit down and shut up then, too. There have been a myriad changes since then. None of them have been “educational,” and none of them have been good.

     I don’t intend merely to rail against the public schools. That doesn’t require a Certified Galactic Intellect, and anyway, there’s a lot of it going on already. What I’m here to do this morning is merely to reinforce a single, critical point:


Today’s public schools do not exist to educate.
Their masters have no desire to educate.
They’re a weapon the Left uses against American values and norms.

     It’s likely that, having read the above, a fair number of Gentle Readers are shaking their heads and muttering “that’s not the case in my kids’ school.” And perhaps that’s so in a few school systems even now. But they’re exceptions, growing ever nearer to extinction. Moreover, many parents who think well of their local public schools are woefully misinformed about what goes on in them…sometimes with their children’s collaboration.

     An institution that’s funded out of Americans’ taxes, but which exists to turn our kids against American values, is about as horrifying a notion as it’s possible to imagine without adding actual violence. Yet there is violence, and plenty of it. The students are exposed to it. The teachers, staffs, and administrators are exposed to it. In the great majority of cases the police know, but have been told to butt out. The administrators would rather endure the violence than have their schools’ records blighted. That, after all, would cause a reduction in funding.

     So in the public schools, we find danger both to the body and the mind. There’s danger to the soul as well, but that’s a subject for another time.

     There’s no saving them. The combined forces of the “educators’ unions” and the educational bureaucracies have an indissoluble grip on them. Yet people continue to call for “reform” – which, for those interested in lexicography, is really just a synonym for “reorganization” – and putting their faith in the nebulous promises of the “educators’” front men. Note that such promises always come with an elevated price tag.

     That’s it. That’s all. There’s really nothing more to say. With the above spread out on the table, and well supported by copious evidence from public schools across the land, all that remains is a question. It should be asked of any American parent of minor children who voluntarily subjects his kids to the public schools:

WHY?

     With that, it’s back to fiction. Have a nice day.

1 comment

  1. The good thing is, some families have accidentally fallen into home schooling/virtual schooling, due to Covid circumstances, and some will continue.

    The bad thing is, many – not having an in-home family member able to direct the children’s education – will continue with the government schools, and lose out on opportunities to negate that influence.

    One of my grandchildren graduated from a virtual school (left her private high school due to bullying and difficulty with the standard ways of teaching). Continued virtually for the rest of her education, graduated, and is now attending college. She did MUCH better without government school input.

    Another is doing well at a Catholic high school (although he is struggling somewhat socially, having missed out, due to Covid, on the bonding that others – having chosen in-person – were able to take advantage of). But, academically, just fine.

    The other two are being home-schooled/virtually schooled. I expect to have some opportunity to assist with that effort.

    This is a generational game-changer. Those kids who are now of school-age will likely be affected by the discussions that have sprung up. Unlike the previous generation (now young adults/college age), they will not be as eager to conform to the crowd.

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