I loves Me Some Skipisms ~ PM
6 minutes ago
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Schoolhouse Rock!
If you're like me and of a certain age, you remember well the short clips that made up Schoolhouse Rock. Most people around my age can still sing the preamble to the Constitution as a result of this educational tool. Watching it again now, I think what I like most about it is the way it shows the progression of time and how those principles still apply. The times may change but the principles of our government should not.
Thomas Jefferson once said, "Educate and inform the whole masses.... They are the only sure reliance of the preservation of our liberty."
What are we teaching as far as American History in our classrooms today?
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"What are we teaching as far as American History in our classrooms today?"
ReplyDeleteOoooh, oooooh, pick me PICK ME!!! (note my hand is waving furiously, much like Horshack in 'Welcome Back Kotter) I know the answer to this one, Ms. Spinster!!! Ooooh, ooooooooooh!!
1. Christopher Columbus brought venereal disease to the New World which wiped out the Indians. He was evil, everyone knows this.
2. The first Thanksgiving was held in honor of the Indians saving the Pilgrims' lives from starving to death in the New World. Everyone knows this.
3. The Founding Fathers all held slaves (and they all took time each evening to personally whip each and every one of their slaves with a bull whip until they bled like stuck pigs every night), and accordingly were totally evil. Everyone knows this.
4. I could go on, but I won't.
Do I get a happy face for my answer, Ms. Spinster?
You get a happy face and a gold star. I'd give you an A but if I use grades it might make somebody else feel bad.
ReplyDeleteI loved those Schoolhouse Rock cartoons. I have to say, being Canadian, I remember more of the specific wording of the American Constitution than my own specifically because of those cartoons. Of course I've become American in spirit since then, but the fundamental idea of early imprinting is a key point.
ReplyDeleteFredd's comments do deserve a gold star - the education system has been co-opted by apologists and revisionists to the detriment of truth and liberty.
I have argued countless times that the battle for hearts and minds starts with the educational institutions. You want to know why 33% of Americans are apparently fine with the idea of socialism? It's the schools.
The long term battles with "progressivism" are just as important as the short term political victories. That means not only a stronger conservative media presence, but also a viable educational policy that stops classrooms from being indoctrination centers.
I wholeheartedly agree. It's reprehensible that we're teaching our children to be ashamed of who we were and who we are.
ReplyDeleteAlthough here's an example of our problem. I moved from Missouri to upstate NY when I was in 7th grade. I had lived in Jefferson City, the state capitol of Missouri. In the 8th grade, after spring break, my American History teacher told me she'd been to my home town over holiday. She had driven through St Louis on her way somewhere else. I had to tell her that St Louis was NOT the capitol of MO. And that was way back in 1980 before things really went to Hell in a handbasket.
How is that even possible for a history teacher? I suppose many people wouldn't know it wasn't St. Louis, but a history teacher?
ReplyDeleteI'm from Canada and I knew it was Jefferson City. Of course I'm atypical - pro-American, conservative, aspiring American.
And not just a history teacher, an AMERICAN history teacher. She wasn't teaching me world history. She also had heavy democratic leaning political cartoons blown up into poster size and hanging all over the room.
ReplyDelete