[Cin]

I don't think you have to go to a Christian school to be effected by what is going on in the US right now. Education was never all that educational but it seems like it's getting kind of scary.

I don’t know about now but when I went to school they really had odd maps and taught weird stuff. Granted I really didn’t go that much, but still I managed to soak up some of the stuff. I remember how surprised I was when as an adult I saw a map that showed the actual size of countries. I thought they were all tiny and the U.S. was gigantic.

I remember being told things like Newton discovered gravity when an apple hit him on the head and Columbus’ whole trip was about proving the earth was round. In science I learned that plants get their food directly from soil and water is not a good conductor of electricity (which is technically true but I think further explanation is needed). Also I found out that Ben Franklin flew a kite with a key tied on the end in a lightening storm so he could discover electricity (I remember thinking if he did that he would more likely discover that human flesh smelled like pork).

I could cite more dubious or just plain wrong stuff that they taught in schools back in the day but I suppose it doesn’t matter much because while inaccurate and US-centric it really wasn’t terribly harmful. I think what is going on now is much different. Scary really. Certain political and religious fractions of the country seem to be trying to control the information that is taught in schools.

They have a rather different agenda than the old let’s keep it easy for the kids and tell them the primary colors are red, yellow and blue instead of cyan, yellow and magenta cause really what more do they need to mix with and let’s not get too political and upset the kids with too much reality so we’ll tell them the civil war was about freeing the slaves and other various misinformation with a side order of partial truths. While pretty distressing it’s not as dangerous as what we are seeing at this time in history. Now it’s about teaching completely incorrect information to promote a religious/political agenda.

I read a couple of articles today informing me that an educational program called “Building Fluency Through Practice and Performance” is promoting socialism. It has a section called The Promise of America that breaks down the preamble and interprets it thus

-that people’s basic needs must be met in a country

-that labor laws ensure that people work in safe environments and that they are paid fairly for the work they do

-that needs for housing, education, transportation and health care are overseen by our government system.

I can understand not agreeing with that interpretation of the preamble, but the articles I’ve read make it sound like a terrible crime has been committed. People are horrified that kids are learning to read by saying labor laws ensure that people work in safe environments and that they are paid fairly for the work they do. I mean seriously, is that a horrible thing? Is it controversial? Apparently work safety and fair wages is now the definition of socialism. I guess this is the direction we are heading. It’s okay to teach kids that Columbus’ voyage was about trying to prove the world wasn’t flat when it was pretty common knowledge by 400 BC it was round. But don’t let them think their government should be responsible for protecting its citizens with Marxist ideas like labor laws.