GOP CONGRESSMAN SEES THE LIGHT!!!

[Atrocities]

Only extreme zealots can brain brain wash children. Just look to the middle east for proof to that. Here in the states its much more difficult to affect the minds of the young without the use of TV, Ipods, and Cell phones.

[capnq]

Atrocities said: Here in the states its much more difficult to affect the minds of the young without the use of TV, Ipods, and Cell phones.

What on Earth makes you think that extremists don't have access to all of the above here in the US?

Religious fundamentalists aren't the only pressure group whose political agendas are corrupting the education system.

[Atrocities]

Oh I agree completely. The break down of the moral and ethical standard by prominently promoting anti-family values, gay sex, and free drug use has completely deteriorated the quality of our schools even more so than the lowering of educational standards so the stupid lazy kids can pass barely being able to read "see spot run" and add 2+2.

Thanks to the lax system we now have, more and more stupid kids are being coddled and allowed to pass onto the next grade when they shouldn't even be in the grade they are currently in.

In India and around the world students are indoctrinated into a system of learning that promotes study, excites the child, and results in superior intellectual individuals on a scale never before seen. And here in America most high school graduates don't even know the where the capital of the United States is or on what day the Declaration of Independence was signed.

[Edi]

Atrocities said:
Oh I agree completely. The break down of the moral and ethical standard by prominently promoting anti-family values, gay sex, and free drug use has completely deteriorated the quality of our schools even more so than the lowering of educational standards so the stupid lazy kids can pass barely being able to read "see spot run" and add 2+2.

Hold on, are you saying what I think you're saying? That it's the godless, perverted, promiscuous gays who are behind the moral deterioration? Or did you just get your sentence structure completely mixed up? Because if it was not a mistake, you had better have an asbestos suit handy.

Promoting tolerance, giving kids an actual useful sex education (they will have sex anyway, so it is better if they know about contraception and condoms and use them instead of having unprotected sex that results in teen pregancy and helps spread STDs) and teaching them that gays are people just like everyone else sure as hell are not things that result in moral decline unless one's viewpoint is that of an uptight idiot with a rod up his arse. The thing is that if it does not result in objectively verifiable harm, then I do not see any grounds to call something bad even if it is not something one personally likes. If anything, kids who are taught tolerance and kindness and to treat others as normal even if they are not 100% conforming to the expectations of the majority will generally grow up to be far more ethical people than some of those so screeching about the destruction of moral values and social decay.

Drug use, that's a different thing entirely, and drugs generally have a lot of negative consequences, whether legal (e.g. alcohol and tobacco) or illegal (marijuana, heroin etc), so I'll leave that out. But from what I've seen, promoting free drug use is not something that is very widespread in the US.

Atrocities said:Thanks to the lax system we now have, more and more stupid kids are being coddled and allowed to pass onto the next grade when they shouldn't even be in the grade they are currently in.

That's a completely different issue. The problem there is that the bull**** educational theories that have gained prominence in the past 20 years all adamantly insist that nobody should ever reprimand kids for anything or fail them for anything because it'll damage their precious self-esteem. That's what's mainly responsible for the decline of education, and it's such a heap of manure that it makes the task of cleaning the stables of Augeias that was set to Heracles look like a pile of gnat droppings in comparison. But it's not the only reason. The whole US education system was designed the better part of 100 years ago to supply a substantially different workforce makeup with labor and it hasn't been changed much since. The system is broken on every level and a lot of societal factors go into it as well. The much touted No Child Left Behind law that Bush signed has only made things worse and has no redeeming qualities at all.

[Gandalf Parker]

I disagree that it is due to bull**** educational theories. Maybe in the 70's and early 80's. Now I think its more due to the fact that the schools have become assembly-lines. My son had classes that were larger than my entire graduating ceremony. Im not sure if any of his teachers even knew who he was.

Teachers cannot keep track of every kid and definetly have no desire to make next years classroom even more crowded by keeping anyone back. I blame it on the fact that we are not willing to pay for our kids educations. We dont have small enough classes (schools, classrooms, teachers), not paid well teachers, and they have cut back on nearly every program that isnt state-required.

[Edi]

As I said, Gandalf, it's one reason but not the only reason. According to a couple of American teachers I know, the whole system is broken down and nothing short of razing it to the ground and rebuilding it from scratch is really going to make much difference.

Underfunding, too big class size, teaching rote memorization instead of understanding and knowledge of the subject, incompetent teachers being protected by unions, NCLB, nncompetent administrators and teachers not being able to hold kids back for failing grades (for various reasons,one of which is the bull**** self-esteem argument) are all parts of the problem. This subject is so complex it needs its own thread, really. When I have a bit more time (at work right now), I'll look up a few good threads on SDnet and link those, because they have a far more accurate and indepth analysis of the situation.

[Atrocities]

Edi I was referring to the assembly held at the Bold High School a couple of weeks ago where the guest speakers promoted gay sex, masturbation, and drug use. I was not making a statement for or against gay parenting. A parent is a parent.

As to the Bolder HS issue, while many found the assembly to be a slap in the face of moral and ethical standards, many liberal parents felt that it was a ground breaking event and not only endorsed further similar assemblies, but congratulated the school for holding the first one. Tell me that you as a parent wouldn't be a bit miffed by some stranger telling your kid that s/he should engage in same sex relationships, do drugs, and masturbate? Correct me if I am wrong, but where does this fall into educating our children?