Tales of Student Indoctrination, Episode #283,293,191
Dan Hanson ·
Oct 13, 2011 at 9:01am
Today my daughter came home from school, excited to tell me that her grade 9 social studies class had been forced to watch a show that told them we are raping the planet, poisoning ourselves, and oppressing the 3rd world.
I told her it couldn't have been as biased as she was making it out to be, but as proof she offered me a YouTube link to the program in question, called "The Story of Stuff":
This was presented as straight, factual material in her class. This video and others by the same organization are apparently being widely distributed through various school systems.
Watch it, and decide for yourself it it is appropriate material for public schools to present to children as fact without opposing views being offered.
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May '10
Re: Tales of Student Indoctrination, Episode #283,293,191
Scary. I'd send a polite e-mail to the teacher asking if she has discussed the opposing viewpoint in her class. Then ask your daughter to let you know the teacher's in-class response. If it isn't satisfactory I'd take it to the administration, then the School Advisory Council and the school district's curriculum specialist (in that order). If no satisfaction there then you can go to your school board members and superintendent showing that you have gone through channels. Bet you'll be effective if you take the incremental approach.
A ray of hope: my son's pre-IB Biology class watched An Inconvenient Truth one day, then Lord Monckton's film the next day. They critiqued both films in class afterward. Parents can make a difference if we stay alert and engaged. Good luck!
Edited on Oct 13, 2011 at 4:55amFeb '11
Re: Tales of Student Indoctrination, Episode #283,293,191
Needs to be promoted to main feed so it can be linked.
Aug '11
Re: Tales of Student Indoctrination, Episode #283,293,191
"The Story of Stuff" is a common bit of propaganda in classrooms today. I feel a lengthy diatribe building, and I have no time to write it. Short version: in most cases it's probably not a teacher trying to indoctrinate children, but rather a teacher lazily using whatever pre-processed programming that flows across their desks to fill time. The teacher in question is likely quite uninformed and is just as much a target for indoctrination as the students.
This is not to say that there aren't "True Believers" out there seeking to turn students into the professional demonstrators of tomorrow, but I think a lot of this can get chalked up to laziness or ignorance.
Edited on Oct 13, 2011 at 7:38amMar '11
Re: Tales of Student Indoctrination, Episode #283,293,191
This makes me sick. There is no excuse for any teacher or school who presents this video as fact. I am sick that I am taxed to support schools and teachers who are too stupid to get out of the rain and I am sick that the children are forced by the government to go to these schools. Dan- you have got to get your child out of there.
Aug '10
Re: Tales of Student Indoctrination, Episode #283,293,191
I wrote my daughter's teacher a letter dissecting the video in detail, with cites to the real facts and a explanation of all the various fallacies, half-truths, errors of omission, and other problems with the video, and politely requested that some action be taken to ensure that the children were aware that this was a very specific point of view that many other people dispute.
My daughter said that the kids were quite scared after watching the video, and one said that he was going to be afraid to sleep on his pillow that night. But of course, to people like the makers of this video, such fear is a feature. Scare them young, make them think that the corporate world is a dangerous behemeth out to kill them, and security lies in joining the anti-corporate movement and fighting to 'take back the system'.
Aug '10
Re: Tales of Student Indoctrination, Episode #283,293,191
A ray of hope: my son's pre-IB Biology class watched An Inconvenient Truth one day, then Lord Monckton's film the next day. They critiqued both films in class afterward. Parents can make a difference if we stay alert and engaged. Good luck! · Oct 13 at 4:52am
Edited on Oct 13 at 04:55 am
That's awesome that a teacher in the IB program would present that. But the IB program itself is an example of what I'm talking about. IB is presented as merely an 'advanced' program for kids who want to go to college, but in fact the IB curriculum is slanted in a way that is intended to produce "world citizens" that accept the various tenets of the self-styled "global community".
IB is a project of the United Nations, and the IB curriculum specifically endorses tripe like the Earth Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This is a program that, by American standards, is slanted heavily to the left. And since colleges give precedence to IB graduates, IB helps increase the systemic left-wing bias in the education system.
Aug '10
Re: Tales of Student Indoctrination, Episode #283,293,191
You're probably right, and this is the way biased material gets into the system - organizations like International Baccalaureate create these programs, and offer them for free to cash-strapped or apathetic schools. If you want to offer an advanced program, are you going to go to the trouble of developing your own, or are you going to simply pick up the pre-canned IB program that is already widely accredited? So what if it's got an agenda, especially if it's an agenda you kind of agree with in the first place, right?
This is one area where the right is getting completely outmanoevered by the left.
Aug '10
Re: Tales of Student Indoctrination, Episode #283,293,191
You can't get away from this stuff. In fact, for all the complaining I just did about IB, my daughter will likely be going into an IB program next year. She's an advanced student, and it's the only advanced program available at her high school of choice.
You can't avoid this stuff in the public school system where I live in Canada. All you can really do as a parent is stay active and connected with what your children are learning, and make sure they hear the other point of view. You can also push back against the system when egregious examples like the "Story of Stuff" show up on your radar.
Apr '11
Re: Tales of Student Indoctrination, Episode #283,293,191
A some nice rebuttals for your child
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5uJgG05xUY&feature=related
(plus parts 2-4)
and a hysterical one for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN9peT07AR8&feature=watch_response
Shocking and scary but , this sort of thing never made much of a dent on my shallow kids. Because they liked "Stuff" more :)
May '10
Re: Tales of Student Indoctrination, Episode #283,293,191
Well, we can prepare to support ourselves by digging for roots and grubs, living in thatched huts, wearing bark overcoats and going to sleep when the sun goes down so we don't harm precious Gaia or, we can dismantle the public schools and live our lives and teach our children as we see fit.
Mar '11
Re: Tales of Student Indoctrination, Episode #283,293,191
This really stinks, Dan. I wish all high school kids could see Milton Freidman's "Free to Choose". It is wonderful.
Most economic fallacies derive from the tendency to assume that there is a fixed pie, that one party can gain only at the expense of another.
Milton Friedman
May '10
Re: Tales of Student Indoctrination, Episode #283,293,191
Dan Hanson
That's awesome that a teacher in the IB program would present that. But the IB program itself is an example of what I'm talking about. IB is presented as merely an 'advanced' program for kids who want to go to college, but in fact the IB curriculum is slanted in a way that is intended to produce "world citizens" that accept the various tenets of the self-styled "global community".
IB is a project of the United Nations, and the IB curriculum specifically endorses tripe like the Earth Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This is a program that, by American standards, is slanted heavily to the left. And since colleges give precedence to IB graduates, IB helps increase the systemic left-wing bias in the education system.
I assume you got your information about IB from Thomas Sowell's 2004 article in JWR and/or the Truth About IB website linked to by many Tea Party groups. I beg to differ that the program is a UN/leftist plot to produce world citizens, but understand that you could be misled by the impressive "documentation" provided by these links. (continued)
Jan '11
Re: Tales of Student Indoctrination, Episode #283,293,191
The often mocked Glen Beck covered this story well over a year agoon his old Fox News show. I recall asking my kids while we watched the show if they had seen this movie or anything like it in school (fortunately they didn't).
These Leftists are dug in 'like an Alabama tick' into every facet of our public life: gov't & associated agencies, universities/scools, non-profits, churches, media & entertainment. One of the best things to come from the Tea Party is the realization that we as citizens haven't been 'watching the store' for decades. I think that's starting to change.
Jul '11
Re: Tales of Student Indoctrination, Episode #283,293,191
Yikes! I didn't have the belly for the whole thing, but that bit at around 2:00 was jaw-dropping: "...it's the government's job to take care of us". That's just what we need - kids being explicitly told that the government will take care of them. Just the thing for those unsatisfied with the current level of adult infantilization (see OWS!) ... you ain't seen nothing yet!
Aug '10
Re: Tales of Student Indoctrination, Episode #283,293,191
The Other Diane
I assume you got your information about IB from Thomas Sowell's 2004 article in JWR and/or the Truth About IB website linked to by many Tea Party groups.
Actually, my first exposure to anything about IB came when I searched it to determine if my daughter should take IB or AP next year. One of the hits that came up in the search was IB's rebuttal to "The Truth about IB" - a site I had never read. However, I read the rebuttal, and one of the things that jumped out at me was that their rebuttal to the claim that they supported the Earth Charter and the UDHR was basically, "Yes, we do. And what's wrong with that??"
That's why it's the only claim against IB that I posted - it's the one they admitted to. I have no opinion on the other claims regarding "Theory of Knowledge" and other IB content.
Update: The IB "Myths and Facts" page now says they have revoked their support of the Earth Charter. That's a promising development. It says nothing about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Sep '11
Re: Tales of Student Indoctrination, Episode #283,293,191
Dan,
How did your daughter get all the way to the 9th grade before you heard about something preposterous being taught at school? Recognize this for what it is--a Major Moment in your child's education. Take advantage of it.
The big picture:
A crucial goal of true education is the development of critical thinking skills. That begins when the student realizes that she's not being taught--she's being indoctrinated. And once she realizes that good ol' Mr. Smith, her science teacher, is telling her stuff that's unadulterated balderdash, she is forced to begin to think for herself.
To challenge. To doubt. To inquire.
That's what an educated person should be capable of doing. That's what you want as the result of your child's schooling. And that's what a lot of government-run schools tend to avoid--they are focused on conformity, not independent thought. They want "open minds" that are completely closed--they do not want students being "disruptive" by asking awkward questions.
Like, "if he's told me one thing that's clearly not true--what else has he taught me that's not true?"
May '10
Re: Tales of Student Indoctrination, Episode #283,293,191
IB is a reputable, rigorous academic program whose credits are accepted at every US military academy, and curriculum decisions are made at the local level. They are reviewed by the IB organization for rigor, and yes, for attention to issues on a global level, too. If we want our best and brightest to be able to compete globally and to understand who our friends and enemies are we need to study how they think.
I am a supporter of the Tea Party and have been concerned that this kind of off-base misinformation is believed by so many. The Truth About IB website has great links and is run by a few activists obsessed with destroying what they sincerely believe is an international plot to create global-minded, anti-American students. This is a conspiracy theory, folks.
I spearheaded a grassroots movement that brought advanced academics and the IB programme to our small school district so I have watched every step of the way as this program was implemented. I have a BA in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania so I've been in the belly of the beast and am certain I would sense if our students were being subtly brainwashed into becoming leftists. (continued)
Edited on Oct 13, 2011 at 11:06amSep '11
Re: Tales of Student Indoctrination, Episode #283,293,191
To encourage critical thinking in your child, look at what she's being taught. When is she hearing or reading "facts" that just aren't so. Find an instance--and pounce on it.
Daughter[2] was interviewed in a public forum this past summer, and one of the questions she was asked was something along the lines of "when did you first think of yourself as an adult?" She responded by saying "when I first started to think for myself, rather than regurgitating what people told me."
She then went on to describe a time in school when her science teacher told the class that Columbus sailed in 1492 to prove the Christians wrong--because the Christians believed the earth was flat.
She came home, asking much the same kind of question that your daughter is, and spent the evening reading a reprint of Columbus's journal, and detailed essays on the Columbian expeditions and their consequences. (Key point: no literate person in 1492 believed the earth was flat. The issue was the circumference of the earth.)
Back she went to school the next day, and apparently went kinda medieval on the teacher. It was that transformative moment.
May '10
Re: Tales of Student Indoctrination, Episode #283,293,191
Are there leftist teachers in IB programmes around the country? I'm sure there are. Just as there are left-leaning teachers in other high school classrooms in our public schools. We need to make sure we don't become xenophobic in our eagerness to reclaim our education system. Yes, we need to watch out for UN propoganda being presented as fact, but we alienate intelligent, hard working young people when we try to convince ourselves and others that they are the victims of brainwashing.
I enjoy listening to Glenn Beck but he has gone into tinfoil hat territory with this assumption that there's a widespread plot to brainwash our children. Would President Obama approve of our students being taught this hogwash as fact? Probably so. Would the UN like to have that kind of influence over our children? I'd bet that answer would be yes too. We need to watch what our children are taught and step in every time we have a concern. But the IB program is not the problem, folks, and if we keep heading into that territory we'll alienate the smart, clear-thinking, hardworking students who could potentially be our political allies.
Aug '10
Re: Tales of Student Indoctrination, Episode #283,293,191
Diane: I based my opinion of the slant of IB on the fact that (according to the material I read from IB itself) it endorsed and taught the Earth Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as examples of good policy. Both of these documents are heavily slanted towards the 'progressive' viewpoint, and the Earth Charter is a radical leftist document masquerading as an environmental statement.
IB appears to have cut off connections to the Earth Charter. That's a good thing, and it indicates a responsiveness to public opinion and perhaps a willingness to present information that is more widely accepted and factual. That makes me feel better about my daughter entering IB next year, but as I pointed out earlier, I had already determined that she was going to go into IB, so clearly I don't think the program is devoid of value.