Two Massachusetts high school teachers named Marybeth Verani and Adeline Koscher refused to honor some of their students who were entering the military as reported by WBZTV-Boston.
http://wbztv.com/local/teachers.military.assembly.2.1747529.html
Free speech? Sure. Disgusting? Absolutely.
Being a college teacher who is also a campus activist on an issue I have written about extensively, I have a couple of reactions. My own activism has occurred at events outside the classroom, albeit mostly on the UC Irvine campus. These events have been rallies and opinion-based speaking events. A school assembly? No.
To acknowledge those who are going into the military to defend our country is entirely appropriate. To dissent publicly from that is despicable. There are times when it is entirely proper to at least stand in respect. When Jimmy Carter came to speak at UC Irvine, I stood with everyone else when he entered because he was an ex-president. I did not applaud what he said-nor did I disrupt.
Here is what the Yarmouth High School School principal Ken Jenkins had to say:
“a classroom is a better environment for that kind of dialogue”.
Sorry, Mr Jenkins, but I disagree. I have a problem with teachers who use their classroom to indoctrinate their students. Their personal viewpoints a lesson plan do not constitute.
But these two dopey teachers do have a constitutional right to make asses out of themselves. There are many anti-war folks out there who still honor our soldiers, pray for their safety, and care for their well-being. That these women couldn't simply stand in respect but had to make their statement of dissent on that occasion shows that they don't care about them at all.
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13 comments:
Pretty tacky on the part of those teachers.
But just curious, Gary, what do you make of what's going on in Texas, where the school board is changing the textbooks to make them into right-wing indoctrination manuals? Have you even heard of that?
Lance,
I have heard of it. They are trying to reverse the previous politically-correct standards for textbooks in Texas. The same situation exists in California, where all books have to conform to politically corect standards. See my previous posting on History Alive textbooks being used in Calif. (you should know this-you're a Calif teacher).
Lance, Lance, Lance... don't you understand by now? Our dear Gary isn't against indoctrination, so long as the propaganda lines up with his silly beliefs.
I'm not a history teacher, but I do know of it.
And you're spinning. They're not simply removing what's "politically correct". They're distorting the truth. (Like when they downplay the fact that the founding fathers had a variety of religious views.)
My silly beliefs. When I was a
kid, my texts told me America was a great country and that our founding fathers were great men. Eventually, of course, I learned about the flaws of our society and the Civil Rights movement. I don't think I received a silly education.
If you want to see a gross distortion of the Truth, I refer you History Alive- The Medieval Period and Beyond (I may not have the title exactly right.) It's a 7th grade history textbook. I specifically invite you to read the 4-5 chapters devoted to Islam. it's about 3-4 weeks of the students time.
Lance, don't you see?!? We should simply teach history the way it was taught back in the 1950s when Gary was in grade school. That was the RIGHT way. It makes perfect sense!
I love how your best arguments often boil down to: "Oh yeah! Well they do it too!"
And being told that America and its founding fathers are "great" is indoctrination. Whether I agree with these statements or not (I tend to lean toward agreeing, but it's too absolute of a statement for my tastes) is beside the point. The fact is, that's not teaching - it's telling people what to think.
You don't seem to mind that so much as long as they're being taught what you think.
Lance, Lance, can't you see what Mr Anonymous is trying to say?
First, I agree with Gary's criticism of these teachers. They obviously did not watch that insidious piece of politically correct liberal propaganda, Lions for Lambs, or was it vice versa? Anyway, it was a pretty good movie, which is why it was a box office failure. A leftist professor tries to light a fire under a pampered nihilist student by offering the example of two previous students who made a principled decision to enlist in the military, and who died in combat. He too opposed their decision, based on the policies of the government of the day, but respected their courage and commitment.
I personally object to reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, with or without the gratuitous words "under God," and I object to the existence of any provisions in the United States Code pertaining to this free lance verse from a children's magazine. I follow the same policy as the Jehovah's Witnesses: stand respectfully, remain silent. I too am capable of explaining that I consider the pledge, among other things, to violate the Second Commandment. On the other hand, if I had no such objections, I would put a little more work into the "patriotic exercises" to start the day -- like introducing something new every day.
Honoring the commitment of students who volunteer for the military is honoring their commitment, not the policy of the government. If we had no military, the Zetas would already be running the United States, and the Constitution would indeed be nothing but a piece of paper.
Texas: Check out a column called Purple Texas on the web site of the Texas Observer. The notion that leebrulls have had sufficient influence in Texas to put politically correct material into text books in the past thirty years is so ludicrous, only people who live within one hundred miles of Hollywood would even consider it.
They're practically deleting Thomas Jefferson, because he was indeed not the kind of Christian currently popular in Texas. However, we may see some wholesome changes when Governor White takes office next year.
Siarlys,
I don't have all the facts on Texas, but I do know about Calif since I live here.
Calif PC requirements are the toughest in the nation. The result is like when you buy a Volvo in Sweden to bring back to the US (which I did many years ago to Virginia). They build it according to Calif specs because they are the toughest in the nation. That affects what textbook publishers produce for the whole nation -Texas inc. The result is that all states get books that meet Calif's liberal requirements.
Siarlys,
I was not the one who steered this conversation around to Texas. My focus was on those two dopey teachers in Massachusetts. Then the textbook issue came up connected to Tx. I am merely pointing out that the extreme PC guidelines in Calif have caused the big textbook companies to write their books according to Calif specs. As a result, other states suffer.
I wrote a blog essay about an Irvine middle school that was using an outrageous book (History Alive) that was presenting weeks of 7th grade study to a sanitized class on Islam. Two other communities have complained about the same book.
I don't know what the reference to your city is about- I presume that is Milwaukee, a city I have not visited since I was about 18. I do recall a controversy about 25 years or so ago when a lot of people were migrating from Chicago to Milwaukee to get better welfare benefits.
As for your reference to theN-word, I do feel the word might have disappeared from the English vocabulary except for its being used by many urban younger blacks, who should know better. Therefore, the word is still prominent in our society. I don't think there are that many white people left who use it knowing it will turn even white people off. I guess the KKK still uses it when they get together and do whatever it is they do.
Gary, your own words betray your attempt to wiggle out...
"They are trying to reverse the previous politically-correct standards for textbooks in Texas. The same situation exists in California."
The politically correct standards you object to in California, most of which I would probably object to also, have not been prominently accepted in Texas at any time, ever. The situation in California is different. We jumped on your defense of what is happening in Texas, not your critique of flaws in California's text books.
I'm opposed to text books, period. You've mentioned some good reasons why. Any standardized, homogenized, summary of any subject, except maybe math and chemistry, is going to be subjective, and skew which part of the truth students do or do not learn to consider.
What I was suggesting was that Texas and other states were being deluged with these books because Calif set the bar and for convenience sake the publ wrote everything to satisfy Calif (the biggest client, no?)
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