Posted on 02/09/2009 9:05:13 PM PST by jazusamo
Letters from parents often complain of a sense of futility in trying to argue with their own children, who have been fed a steady diet of the politically correct vision of the world, from elementary school to the university.
Some ask for suggestions of particular books that might make a dent in the know-it-all attitude of some young people who have heard only one side of the story in classrooms all their lives.
That is one way of going about trying to de-program young people. There are, for example, some good books showing what is wrong with the "global warming" crusades or showing why male-female differences in income or occupations are not automatically discrimination.
Various authors have written a lot of good books that demolish what is currently believed-- and taught to students-- on a wide range of issues. Some of those books are listed as suggested readings on my website (www.tsowell.com).
Yet trying to undo the propaganda that passes for education at too many schools and colleges, one issue at a time, may not always be the best strategy. There are too many issues on which the politically correct party line is considered to be the only way to look at things.
Given the wide range of issues on which students are indoctrinated, instead of being educated, trying to undo all of that would require a whole shelf full of books-- and somehow getting the students to read them all.
Another approach might be to respond to the dogmatic certainty of some young person, perhaps your own offspring, by asking: "Have you ever read a single book on the other side of that issue?"
Chances are, after years of being "educated," even at some of the highest-priced schools and colleges, they have not.
When the inevitable answer to your question is "No," you can simply point out how illogical it is to be so certain about anything when you have heard only one side of the story-- no matter how often you have heard that one side repeated.
Would it make sense for a jury to reach a verdict after having heard only the prosecution's case, or only the defense attorney's case, but not both?
There is no need to argue the specifics of the particular issue that has come up. You can tell your overconfident young student that you will be happy to discuss that particular issue after he or she has taken the elementary step of reading something by somebody on the other side.
Elementary as it may seem that we should hear both sides of an issue before making up our minds, that is seldom what happens on politically correct issues today in our schools and colleges. The biggest argument of the left is that there is no argument-- whether the issue is global warming, "open space" laws or whatever.
Some students may even imagine that they have already heard the other side because their teachers may have given them their version of other people's arguments or motives.
But a jury would never be impressed by having the prosecution tell them what the defendant's defense is. They would want to hear the defense attorney present that case.
Yet most students who have read and heard repeatedly about the catastrophes awaiting us unless we try to stop "global warming" have never read a book, an article or even a single word by any of the hundreds of climate scientists, in countries around the world, who have expressed opposition to that view.
These students may have been shown Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth" in school, but are very unlikely to have been shown the British Channel 4 television special, "The Great Global Warming Swindle."
Even if we assume, for the sake of argument, that students are being indoctrinated with the correct conclusions on current issues, that would still be irrelevant educationally. Hearing only one side does nothing to equip students with the experience to know how to sort out opposing sides of other issues they will have to confront in the future, after they have left school and need to reach their own conclusions on the issues arising later.
Yet they are the jury that will ultimately decide the fate of this nation.
How about not letting them get programmed in the first place?
This would assume that the goal of education is to produce rational, thinking adults instead of mind-numbed sheeple.
we need to de-leftist our schools and colleges
I hope he does and suspect he will, wouldn’t surprise me to see it this week.
Do we ever need to and it’ll be a monumental task.
By way of Home Schooling I suppose?
How is that going to help protect us from the masses who are not Home Schooled? Should we go live on a mountain top?
The outlook is very, very grim.
When we began home schooling in 1982, we enrolled in the Conservative Book Club for supplemental material. We were sent a copy of a book on economics by Thomas Sowell, a book we could have returned without being charged — it was obviously above the heads of our children at the time. But we kept it, and my wife and I read it. It was our first exposure to Dr. Sowell.
Over time we had built a small collection of his books, and also kept every issue of Imprimus (Hillsdale College) that had anything written by Dr. Sowell.
By age 12, our eldest son was reading Dr. Sowell’s books and comprehending them. So we developed some question/answer sheets and tests for our children, so that they could use the books effectively.
Our eldest son is a trained linguist today, speaking Chinese and Mongolian as well as English. He has occasionally referred to Dr. Sowell’s books in conversation with us. He still remembers what he learned growing up. Obviously, he is a conservative.
That assumption would be valid.
if O ignites a civil war, the leftist education system will crumble as will the leftist media
Yup, good idea. We homeschooled. It wasn’t the perfect program in many ways but our son is a straight-thinking conservative and he rolls his eyes at the liberal Professors who try to addle his brain, brings home the funniest stories.
Never happen. Students who can think won't sit still in the classroom.
this column is going out tonight to my kids...
Thanks for your post, that’s outstanding. I print many of Dr. Sowell’s columns and give them to my daughter who home schools hers. The oldest is in high school and has learned from him on many subjects.
Good point and it’s a possibility.
Folks can always get together and form their own private school with the focus on education not indoctrination.
Sad we can’t get Dr.Sowell to run for office. I’d love to see it! I suspect he’s way too intelligent to be in politics.
If you are lucky, it will only take a couple of decades to deprogram them.
The smart kids don’t fall for the liberal bs from faux professors. The others may be hooked for life.
Based on what we have seen with our younger relatives and sons and daughter of friends, if the brainwashed ones recover, they are often 40 something.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.