To Parents with Children in Public School - by a student

Arkansas Publik Skulz ^ | 30 Aug 2003 | Ashley Anderson

[steplock]

To Parents with Children in Public School
Date: Saturday, August 30 @ 07:12:31
Topic Letters to Editor

"I will stand and fight until the end, because I owe it to my country."

Dear Editor:

This is for all the parents and their children who attend public school.

I have gone to public school all my life, until last September when I began private school. The differences are incredible! I will attempt to inform your readers as to what children in the government’s schools are doing every day.

Reading, writing, and arithmetic were the three basics every school used to go by. Are they what you think of when you think about what your child is learning?

Throughout most of my attendance In public school, the kids in my class only read one or two books throughout the whole year, until I was privileged with going to an AP class. The Advanced Placement courses have now been replaced with IB classes, which is short for the International Baccalaureate Organization, a part of UNESCO, United Nations. In this class, we were assigned numerous short stories to read, mostly about the myths of other countries, and some about their religions.

This class was intended to be a higher-level class, in which advanced students could “maximize” their learning capacity. Learning about the religions and cultures of other countries, and not names like Henry van Dyke, Washington Irving, O. Henry, or even Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, names which I never heard until I attended private school. These authors, among others such as Mark Twain and Emily Dickinson are purely American, and the basis for all literary writings in America to date.

Why were they never taught to me? Even in the advanced class we never read “Rip van Winkle.” Instead, we were assigned books like “The Giver” by Lois Lowry, which gave the details of killing babies and living in a world where no one was special and a person’s worth was based on his/her ability to conform to the group. Was I being conditioned?

When my mother was in school, she was taught phonics. In public school, I was taught to memorize the look of words and how they sounded. I was taught to remember the answer, not understand the question. I didn’t have spelling or vocabulary words to learn past the sixth or seventh grade. Why not?

In my private school, everyone has spelling and vocabulary words, in every grade, every week, to understand and learn how to use them in sentences. Words like philanthropy, misanthropic, and ameliorate were never taught to me in public school, despite the so-called “advanced” classes I was in. My mother, however, insisted on my having vocabulary words, even though it was not provided in public school.

Learning arithmetic has taken on a whole new meaning in public schools. It means that the more advanced students are made to wait for the others to catch up, and the advanced students are given “busy” work. The textbook often goes unfinished, and the students are passed anyway, because they tried their best. Grading on a curve is commonplace in public schools, so the students don’t know if they’re doing anything wrong. They are taught to be mindless and to accept whatever they are given.

I took Algebra in the eighth grade in public school, geometry in the ninth. When I changed to private school, I retook Algebra because my new school taught it differently, with more of the textbook. This year I’m taking trigonometry and Algebra II, both of my own choice. I know I’ll be getting the most out of them because we won’t be waiting for everyone to catch up like we did in public school. I can learn at my own pace.

Most kids in public schools are uncontrollable. How can any learning actually take place? Respect for authority, integrity, and honor are not words generally practiced by students who attend public school. If the administrators were to enforce the rules they have, they wouldn’t need to make more. Total control is the only thing gained when making more rules than needed.

I was amazed at how well-behaved the students at my private school were. Not only did they work hard, but were courteous, polite, and obedient. These things are a direct result of the proper atmosphere that this school provides. Christian values are taught, along with studying the Bible, which, needless to say, is strictly taboo in a public school.

Although I had some great teachers in public school, which are extremely hard to find, they could do nothing with the curriculum they were given from their superiors, not to mention the state, and the Department of Education, which is a part of the federal government. The department itself is unconstitutional; “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” The United States as is written here means the federal government, or national government. The Constitution gave no such power to the federal government as to run a federal department of education. Therefore, it is unconstitutional. The Constitution, since 1787, is and has been the Supreme Law of the land.

I encourage all those who care about their children and grandchildren to go searching for the answer. There is a lot of information available; but you may have to look no further than a book by Charlotte Iserbyt called “The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America”. It gives a detailed account of what really happens in public schools, why, and where the corruption comes from.

Students: no one can tell you who you are. If you don’t think for yourself, someone else will, be it a strong-willed friend, the media, or even our own government. Some people would have us believe that we’re too young to do anything about it, even if we wanted to. Well, there is one thing we know how to do, and that’s spread the word about what is going on; you have to learn more about it.

Even though it may be difficult to fund attending a private school or homeschooling, it is the only immediate way to stop what is being shoved down the throats of America’s youth. Soon even these may be forbidden. The way to avoid being institutionalized while attending a public school is not easy, but what is the most important thing? Is it more important to play football or be a cheerleader and end up flipping hamburgers in a fast food joint, or actually learning something that will be valuable to you the rest of your life?

Defend your mind, and ask questions. Don’t take anything for granted. Public school is not going to change, because it is running exactly how the government wants it to. Follow the money.

I am a Christian. This is not the time for believers to stick their heads in the dirt and hope that everything goes all right. The remnant of Christ’s followers exists today as foretold in the Bible. This is the time for believers in Christ to rise up and defend the rights our Forefathers died so that we may keep. I will stand and fight until the end, because I owe it to my country. What will you do?

Sincerely,
Ashley Anderson

This article comes from Arkansas Publik Skulz
http://www.gohotsprings.com/school/

The URL for this story is:
http://www.gohotsprings.com/school/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=266

[Atlas Sneezed]

Good letter.

Was it written by an adult activist, or is there really a student who can be shown to have written this?

[The Mayor]

I am a Christian. This is not the time for believers to stick their heads in the dirt and hope that everything goes all right. The remnant of Christ’s followers exists today as foretold in the Bible. This is the time for believers in Christ to rise up and defend the rights our Forefathers died so that we may keep. I will stand and fight until the end, because I owe it to my country. What will you do?

AMEN!!

[WestPacSailor]

AMEN!!

Big, bold, capital AMEN!

[Mears]

Very true. I have grandchildren in a school system that is political correctness run amok.

In December of the FIRST GRADE my grandaughter was learning about the Civil Rights Movement.Astonishing!

[4mycountry]

Sad sad sad, how public schools have gotten.

I'm homeschooled, and that's a wondeful thing for me. I'm just 13, but I'm very "advanced" by public school standards. I'm in grades 8-10 (we're going to do summer school and get everything up to tenth); I have Algebra and Geometery down, and am startng basic trig (sine, cosine, tangent, etc); I've finished physical science and am going on to Biology; and it is a very real possibility I could be out of high-school by the time I'm 16.

Cool, eh?

[.30Carbine]

Must read!

[.30Carbine]

Very cool.

[steplock]

THis *IS* the daughter of a friend here in Hot Springs, Artkansas.

This is a portion of the letter from her MOTHER giving me permission to publish:
======

Ashley has been working on a letter to the editor for the last week ... I asked her to try to tell parents a few things to look for as their children start school again this fall.

I helped her with a few word choices and did some editing for her to keep it down to 2 pages, but other than that, she wrote it herself, drawing on her own experiences.

======

[Ahban]

step buddy,

GREAT post. Is she actually describing an Arkansas school? If they have replaced AP with IB, and it is a UNESCO program, we need to know the district. Please freepmail me.

[netmilsmom]

Sweet!
Congrats!

[cornelis]

Was it written by an adult activist, or is there really a student who can be shown to have written this?

When I was fourteen, I wrote best like an adult activist.

[Phyto Chems]

bttt

[jocon307]

"When I was fourteen, I wrote best like an adult activist."

Cool of you to say that. Let's be vain for a sec, I always wrote well too. In fact one of my fave school assignments was to get random spelling words, and you'd have to write a story using them all. I wrote great 5 or 6 page adventure stories. They were always well received by my schoolmates. That was in public school too, about 35 years ago, but it was already much deteriorated.

We be self-esteeming!

[PleaseNoMore]

My son's HS has the IB now rather than the AP. Can you explain to me exactly what it is that I need to be concerned with? I am asking with sincerity.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

When I was fourteen, I wrote best like an adult activist.

Would it be correct to assume that most adult activists write like fourteen year olds. They certainly think like juveniles.

[wizardoz]

This is a good letter but I have one quibble. I have read The Giver, it is NOT utopian propaganda. Just the opposite, it is a cautionary tale about the horror and force underlying any ultra-controlled utopian society.

The part about killing babies is where the young hero sees, with shock, that the apparently benevolent man who is his assigned "father" has duties that include "release" of (murder of) unwanted children. The boy snatches up another child marked for "release" and tries to escape The Community. It's as anti-utopian and cautionary as 1984, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451. I'm surprised a girl like this didn't catch that.

[Bob]

I'm homeschooled, and that's a wondeful thing for me. I'm just 13, but I'm very "advanced" by public school standards.

Having seen quite a few of your posts on FR, I never would have guessed that you were as young as 13. I'd say that you're "advanced" by a lot more than just public school standards.

Maybe there really is hope for the future after all. :=)

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

While this may be Ashley's experience in her school in Arkansas, this isn't true for all public schools. My children have been in public school in Texas and in Pennsylvania, and we homeschooled for awhile, and may possibly again in the future.

My daughter takes honors classes in her High School and has read many classic books. The kids here are required by the State to read 25 books each year. Depending upon the age/grade of the student, each book must be a certain length.

My daughter has vocab/spelling words each week in an English Comp class and I help her study - the words are very impressive -

Yes, many many kids are out of control - I have seen more of a "private school" experience in her Honors classes -

I wish Ashley great luck in her new school but hope she recognizes that there are varying degrees within the public school system.

[LiteKeeper]

INTSUM -EDUCATION