We Don't Need No Education

[Emu]

http://www.citypages.com/databank/26/1275/article13267.asp


by Brett Stursa
May 11, 2005

Aaron Campbell gets excited when he talks about how the use of trenches defined the combat of World War I. Between working at Gander Mountain and practicing rugby, the 16-year-old Minnetonka High School student is learning history that once was unavailable to him. Campbell says his European history class, which covers the neo-classical age through the Great War, is "awesome" because he's learning from a perspective not uniquely American.

"It's a lot better than learning about the Revolutionary War for the 10th time," says Campbell, a junior.

Campbell's history class is one of about a dozen that Minnetonka High School offers through its new affiliation with the International Baccalaureate program. The IB classes, with their intercultural focus, are at the center of a fierce debate incited once parents got wind of the program's cost and philosophy. They question the need for IB in a district that already has Advance Placement, a successful college-level curriculum, and wonder why the district is spending $46,000 for a new program in the midst of cutting $3.2 million for the 2005-2006 school year. The debate grew more contentious when parents began claiming the program is propaganda for the United Nations, giving kids an anti-American, anti-Christian education.

The accusations are not lost on Susan Campbell, Aaron's mother. "I'm a Christian," says Campbell, "so I was very concerned about the controversy." So concerned, in fact, she asked her pastor about the program. "He's really sharp, and he said it is anti-Christian," she says, with resignation. "I guess I have to accept that as his opinion."

...

The petition gives seven reasons why the program's elimination is needed, one of them being that "the International Baccalaureate rejects the Judeo-Christian values held by the majority of families in our district and instead promotes the atheistic Secular Humanist principles of multiculturalism, pacifism, one-world government, and moral relativism."

...

I found that last part particularly disturbing. I can understand an objection to a one-world government, and maybe multiculturalism in a "We like other cultures but we don't want to lose ours" kind of way, although I'm sure that's not what these idiots were thinking of.

Particularly Scary Quotes:

The anti-Christian critique was brought to the forefront during a January school board discussion about the required reading for the "Theory of Knowledge" course. Objections were raised about including Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World without the inclusion of a book to counter it.

I"m curious, just what the fuck would a book to counter The Demon Haunted World say? "Hey kids, believe everything you hear. Authority is supreme, and if someone better than you says something, you better get down on your knees and suck his dick to his satisfaction."

From Borowski's view, the program is anti-American in the sense that it teaches students that the United States is equal to other countries. "My fear is that my kids are going to be taught America isn't better than any other country in the world," Borowski says.

Next they'll be selling Chinese wares at Wal*Mart! ...oh, wait

But most of the concerned parents simply don't trust the district's counterarguments, and they complain about the heavy hand of the district's superintendent, Dennis Peterson.

Which is exactly the point of the Theory of Knowlege class, to teach kids to look at arguments critically rather than just blindly distrusting them because they disagre with your moronic beliefs.

[Sethomas]

Yesterday I saw a shitty pickup blotched with rust, swerving between lanes without signaling, with an icon on the back of a Darwin fish being eaten by a fish that says "TRUTH". This country makes me nauseous sometimes.

[FS]

From Borowski's view, the program is anti-American in the sense that it teaches students that the United States is equal to other countries. "My fear is that my kids are going to be taught America isn't better than any other country in the world," Borowski says.

This is sickening. :x

[Helm]

Are you people supposed to believe the United States are 'better' than other countries, really?

That stuff just blows my mind. Honest, I'm not trying to be ironic, I just can't wrap my head around it at all.

[Emu]

Yes. They actually teach us this. I remember in school that we went over the American Revolution and Civil War as if they were the only fucking wars that ever happened EVERY SINGLE FUCKING YEAR.

I thought the Cold War was a war in the Arctic all my life until about 9th grade, and even then, I didn't learn otherwise from school. I didn't even know we ever had a war with Korea, and we spent a whole two weeks on Vietnam my junior year. We did go over the World Wars in some depth in 7th grade, but they really downplayed the casualties in WWI and almost utterly ignored Japan's involvment in WWII, even from an American perspective. Fuck, as far as I knew, Japan only attacked us because they were pissed at us for being so great. It seems like we went over D Day seven times an hour and talked about how great it was that America decided to get into the war and rescue those poor Jews, as if that were the sole reason. But if we weren't talking about a war it was always memorizing the state capitols or what states raise what crops and where the Mississippi ran.

[ItalianStereotype]

wow, you must have gone to some crappy schools. I didn't have any of those problems.

[Emu]

My school was rather sub-par in most departments. But a lot of people I've talked to from all over the country say they've had similar, if not worse problems in their schools when it comes to history. I think it mostly depends on where you live. My area is yon midwestern conservative whiteytown.

[Immortal Goat]

Hold up a second. Is it just me, or is the school in question a public high school? If so, then why the FUCK is Christianity a goddamned issue?! These people may be Christian, but if it is a public school, then this petition is not only stupid, but illegal.

[Emu]

Yes, but parents do have the right to look after their children's moral beliefs, and if they feel the school is teaching immorality then they have a right to voice their opinion. Now, whether the school is teaching immorality is up for question, and it's a debate these idiots are bound to lose.

[AngPur]

"My fear is that my kids are going to be taught America isn't better than any other country in the world,"

And we'll be reading more about this moron in a soon-to-be Darwin Award.

Do people in this nation understand that teaching things like "Our nation is great", "Our government is perfect" and "Our sufferings in war are the only sufferings that matter" are the same things young Soviet children were taught for years and years?

[The One and Only...]

There are idiots on both sides of the fence of the multicultural issue.

The article quoted a professor of social anthropology at the University of Oslo (note: her name is Unni Wikan) as saying that "Norwegian women must take their share of responsibility for these rapes" because Muslim men found their manner of dress provocative. The professor's conclusion was not that Muslim men living in the West needed to adjust to Western norms, but the exact opposite: "Norwegian women must realize that we live in a multicultural society and adapt themselves to it."

Source: http://fjordman.blogspot.com/2005/02/muslim-rape-epidemic-in-sweden-and.html

[Emu]

Wait, what?

[AngPur]

Teaching kids America isn't #1 leads to a big Muslim raping someone, apparently.

[FS]

I'm afraid I must agree with OAO here.

That's when Bala decided he'd name the monkey 'Jeffrey.' Jeffrey is fluent in over six forms of simian communication using a variety of symbols and sounds. Friends of Bala have constructed a megaknaoife fjoeioi ahioeh iebfboieba obeoaoiioawyy iioo

Source: http://squarepenis.org/smack/poop/yippee.html

[Helm]

haha yes, that was irrelevant, oao

[Emu]

I think what he was trying to say is that multiculturalism can be bad because some cultural values just don't mix, like horny Muslim men and Norwegian skanks. But I still don't see how it's relevant.

[AChimp]

It's not. He's just upset that we stopped responding to his "I think I'm gay" thread.

[Cosmo Electrolux]

I knew he was a cock smoker, but he's really gay???

[kellychaos]

This is precisely why I was glad I was able to travel to parts of Europe and Asia while in the military. I know a lot of people who have never left my state and are human clay to these kinds of idiots. Friggin' fascist "these colors don't run", Toby Keith listening to mullets.

[Chojin]

The sentiment that America is the best country in the world is definitely taught to you in school. Every time I look at a world map, I keep getting blown away by how small America is in comparison to other countries, because the majority of our school maps either didn't include them or didn't include both.

[ItalianStereotype]

we're still the third largest country in the world :o

[Emu]

I've noticed a lot of school maps and geography books tend to either not present a picture of the entire world (as opposed to sections at a time) or are fashioned to/deal with topics that make America look bigger and better. One of my highschool teachers had an economic output map that sized the countries according to their output. Most of Europe and Japan were huge, but America covered nearly the entire page.

[Raize]

The only reason fundamentalist Christianity is against a one-world government is because they know that in order to get one, they'd have to establish a world religion, and Revelations talks about how if one is accepted, it's the end times. Thank God that the disciple John smoked weed on Patmos and put that in there, or we'd have had a one-world government long ago.

And yeah, I consider myself a Christian. Not a fundamentalist one, though.

[The One and Only...]

I was trying to point out that there are dumbasses both in favor and against multiculturalism. Pointing out one idiot either for or against it shouldn't go against everyone holding that viewpoint.

[AngPur]

I was trying to point out that there are dumbasses both in favor and against multiculturalism. Pointing out one idiot either for or against it shouldn't go against everyone holding that viewpoint.

You're likely to find a dumbass for or against any issue. What point are you trying to make?

[Helm]

raize I think there might be some other trivial matters that would stand in the way of an one-world goverment, even if John hadn't put that in. Like the possibility of total war.

[davinxtk]

I hate humans.

[AngPur]

I hate humans.

Are we a furry or a gothic vampire?

[ziggytrix]

It offends my eyes too much; and whether at Court or in town, I behold nothing but what provokes my spleen. I become quite melancholy and deeply grieved to see men behave to each other as they do. Everywhere I find nothing but base flattery, injustice, self-interest, deceit, roguery. I cannot bear it any longer; I am furious; and my intention is to break with all mankind.

[kellychaos]

The petition gives seven reasons why the program's elimination is needed, one of them being that "the International Baccalaureate rejects the Judeo-Christian values held by the majority of families in our district and instead promotes the atheistic Secular Humanist principles of multiculturalism, pacifism, one-world government, and moral relativism."


Motive or agenda aside, why are school districts so dead set on promoting education that reflects only local values? I mean, I know that they pay the taxes for local schools but shouldn't their interests be that the student receive a universal, well-rounded education that promotes critical analysis? How can you compete with your world counter-parts when you don't even know them?

[dreaddi]

OAO is very right. THe IB teaches multiculturalism in a way that is too accepting. This is the same sort of set of mind that causes problems like forced marriage and the discriminating way women are being treated by their families and other people from their country when they come to live in a western country (discriminating still being a severe understatement of what is really going on). Noone realizes this, or at least chooses not to look when it is going on in front of their very eyes, and I think this is to a great part due to the overly accepting attitude of the EU towards immigrants and subsequent multiculturalism.
I don't know what it's like in the US... but I imagine it to be just as serious a problem in the other European countries as it is here.

[ziggytrix]

So how should they teach it, Dreaddi?

Class, turn to chapter 3. Billy, I'd like you to read from Section 1: On the Evils of Multicultarlism, please.

Don't forget Friday we'll have a quiz on the moral failings of Islam.

[Emu]

What is it with people and thinking that kids are utterly retarded robots? Well, I guess that is the fault of the school, but besides that, kids really do think about what they're learning. I imagine the kids who are intelligent and dedicated enough to enroll in the IB at all probably have the critical reasoning facilities to see the faults in some of the things that are being taught.

And about the forced marriage thing: Try asking an Indian woman if she feels oppressed because of it. My sociology teacher was a woman who immigrated from India, and she said that very few people argue with forced marriage over there because it just works for the society, because they don't marry for the same reasons we in the West do. We marry for love (which was an utterly foreign concept to her), they marry for economic stability.

[pjalne]

Actually, a lot of Indians, especially the younger generation, have a problem with forced marriage. And I don't think it's a western influence thing, their culture is relatively hermetic, at least towards countries outside of Asia.

Your point stands, though. You can't look at a culture from the outside and pass judgement on it with your own customs as reference point.

[AngPur]

Actually, a lot of Indians, especially the younger generation, have a problem with forced marriage. And I don't think it's a western influence thing, their culture is relatively hermetic, at least towards countries outside of Asia.

It still has a lower rate of divorce though. So I recommend that in order to save the judeo-christian institute of marriage from the homo invasion, it become a matter of arranged marriages.

See how a multicultural solution can help with moral domestic problmes?

[Zbu Manowar]

This is precisely why I was glad I was able to travel to parts of Europe and Asia while in the military. I know a lot of people who have never left my state and are human clay to these kinds of idiots. Friggin' fascist "these colors don't run", Toby Keith listening to mullets.

Indeed, kellychaos, indeed. I finally broke my state chain in 2002 and have felt better than I ever have. Odd how the 'greatest nation in the world' doesn't really see the need in searching over countries. Oh wait, we're all fucking retarded, that's why.

I mean, I know that they pay the taxes for local schools but shouldn't their interests be that the student receive a universal, well-rounded education that promotes critical analysis? How can you compete with your world counter-parts when you don't even know them?

Probably because that so-called Critical Thinking would make the parents feel inferior and instead of actually trying to learn something, would instead try to gain superiority within the realm of religion. In fact, this whole creationism bullshit is the Baby Boomers screaming about how they don't know has much as their kids know now and feel the need to somehow rejustify their existence now that they're all headed into senileville. Your mileage may vary, however.