Attack of the Mindnumbed Educators
By Thomas D. Segel (02/27/06)
Harlingen, Texas, February 27, 2006: Have those who are charged with the education of our children all been infected with some mind- numbing virus? To read reports coming in from schools around the country that would appear to be the case.
According to a February 24, 2006 report filed by KWWL-TV in Waterloo, Iowa, “Two students have been suspended from East High School for writing a leaflet that claims Black History Month and the establishment of the NAACP are racist.”
On February 20 there was an Associated Press report that a 12-year- old girl is fighting charges filed by school officials that she committed battery on another student when he was hit in the face by a ball she kicked during a game of Dodge Ball. Five other students who were charged with the same offense accepted probation.
A Boston Globe story in its February 9 edition reports school officials charged a first grade student with sexual harassment and placed him on suspension after he inadvertently placed two fingers inside the waistband of a female student’s pants during playground activities.
In recent years such unexplainable actions by teachers and elected school officials have grown from an occasional act frustrating parents to almost constant topics of commentary and media reports. There have even been some serious reports that decades of political correctness, feminism and overprotection of children have created educators so mind numbed they are acting contrary to the well-being of our children.
Third grade students at Allis Elementary School in Madison, Wisconsin were directed by their teacher to write and mail letters to the government insisting that they halt the war in Iraq.
In Everett, Washington the school district cancelled the high school production of the play “When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder?” The play, which is set in a diner, features a chubby waitress, a busty drifter, a disabled gas station owner and a delusional veteran. The school board said the characters were degrading and demeaning and sent a message not everyone would understand.
In St. Petersburg, Florida they are ending the tradition of “Show and Tell” because teachers want to avoid creating self-esteem problems for children who don’t bring interesting items.
In Portland, Oregon they are not reading the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because it is insensitive and Black students are uncomfortable reading the Mark Twain classic.
In East Providence, Rhode Island the school district policy expressly forbids teasing, emotional abuse and harmful gossip. Decorations specific to any winter holiday are banned from public schools in Yonkers, New York and in Boulder, Colorado school officials denied the formation of a Bible club as not related to curriculum, while at the same time allowing a Gay/Straight Alliance club as being part of the health education curriculum.
Across the country those charged with the mental and physical development of our children are banning such traditional games as Tag, Hide & Seek, Dodge ball, and Red Rover. The justification for these actions to remove dangerous play for the schoolyard is not to avoid physical injuries, but because the games could be harmful to some children’s self esteem. Some children are the last to be picked for teams. Other children are not athletically inclined. Those running our schools don’t want these children to suffer hurt feelings. Thus, all students are restricted from many traditional games and contests.
What is astounding to behold is... the over protection, amateur psychology and political correctness of many educators, according to Doctor William C. Douglas of Real Health News, is actually destroying the self-esteem of children their actions claim to be protecting. “I’m also wondering”, he says, “Do these same teachers blame their own failings in life on the emotional scars of having been beaned with a red rubber all during third grade recess?”
The doctor also tells his readers, “Look, nobody said it was fair, but it’s a harsh reality of life that we learn many of the most important lessons the hard way. And some of them come at the hands of enemies in the schoolyard and that’s also where we learn to function as part of a team, how to fit into a group or how to develop self- reliance when we don’t fit in. No teacher in the world can teach children these lessons.... but, they can prevent our kids from learning them until it’s too late.”
The organization Focus on the Family is very concerned about the growing trend of overprotection being displayed throughout America’s school systems. They warn that the desire to carefully guard our children is often extended to schools when compulsive parents demand more “protection” for their children.
The end result is often very questionable restrictions and regulations. “The intense desire to help can actually interfere with a child’s growth and development. Certain risks must be tolerated if a child is to progress. He will never learn to walk if he is not allowed to fall in the process”, says the family group.
There is a growing body of evidence that indicates there has been a drastic decline in children’s unsupervised outside play. Media reports of injury, death, child abduction and pedophilia fill publications, radio and television, creating paranoia about children’s vulnerability. This anxiety on the part of some parents and many educators is a prevailing thought, even though the reality is children have never been safer at any time in our history.
The world of children has never been well understood by adults. Though adult-child relationships are essential for development and education, they can never provide children with the practical or personal experiences they need for growth and maturity.
So, what can be done? Most importantly we need to reject the “group think” that says our children are more vulnerable because of today’s complex world. Above all, everyone must understand...and must make sure those who educate our children are also aware of one very important truth...personal expression of ideas along with activities, personal accomplishments and achievements are the tools which allow everyone grow and rise even beyond their childhood expectations. Parents must also demand that the attacks by Mindnumbed Educators on these objectives cease.
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