Posted on 03/06/2006 4:50:39 PM PST by PowerBruin
Did you hear the one about the high school teacher in Colorado who compared President Bush to Adolf Hitler?
We're not joking. Read about what social studies teacher Jay Bennish told his class at Overland High School the day after Bush' state of the union address. Using an MP3 player, a student recorded Bennish's remarks about Bush's speech: "Sounds like a lot of things that Adolf Hitler used to say. We're the only ones who are right, everyone else is backward, and our job is to conquer the world."
Bennish's criticisms of Bush and U.S. foreign policy – during which he also called the United States "the single most violent nation on the planet earth" – have since led to the Cherry Hill school district putting him on paid leave and some parents and conservatives calling for his ouster. Other students have rallied to his cause, and 150 of them walked out of class on Thursday in protest.
Unfortunately, in all the hoopla, what's getting left out too often is what Bennish said after he compared Bush's remarks to Hitler's: "Now I'm not saying that Bush and Hitler are exactly the same. Obviously, they're not. But there's some eerie similarities to the tones that they use."
Modern society demands the sound byte over the whole tape reel. To be sure the media is partly to blame for this, but it's not entirely at fault; people simply don't feel like they need the whole story before they pass judgment. Now, because of it, we're seeing free speech in a school dangerously close to being squelched.
Ostensibly, the reason Bennish was put on leave was because the school district was concerned about him presenting one-sided arguments and because he was indoctrinating his class. And it's true that Bennish could perhaps have found a more tactful way of expressing his views.
But he also acknowledged in class that his comments were provocative because he is "trying to get (his students) to ... think about these issues more in depth." He also told his students they did not have to agree with him, and he encouraged them to ask questions.
It sounds like Bennish was aiming more for pedagogical debate than indoctrination. He didn't present both sides of the issue, but he didn't force his students to take sides. To suggest he is indoctrinating his class implies high school students are so passive that they'll swallow everything and anything their teachers say without seeking information of their own accord.
That not only insults high school students, but it sends a contradictory message to today's youth: Society blames you for being politically apathetic, but it'll coddle you when anything that resembles a political discussion occurs.
If students aren't encouraged to think independently in the face of provocative debate, and if teachers only present them with sanitized information, then students will be ill-suited to participate in a democracy. And if today's students aren't prepared to participate in a democracy, this country faces troubling times ahead.
If Bennish had spoken out in favor of Bush, singing his praises to the point of borderline ridiculousness, would any of this controversy occurred? We're betting no, it wouldn't have. So is the issue here that Bennish didn't present a fair and balanced argument? Or that he was questioning authority at a time when it is considered unpatriotic to do so?
Hey, did you hear the one about the nation that claimed it was a shining beacon for democracy while democratic principles were discouraged at home? We're not joking – though we wish we were.
It was a geography class. Comparing Bush to Hitler has nothing to do with where rivers flow or jungles grow.
We just have to remember the dumbest creatures on earth are collge students. Well maybe Collge professors.
The real message here is that if you are slick enough you can get away with hyping dope to kids without really being noticed.
Betcha' the girl who wrote that "editorial" understood exactly what Bennish was saying ~ and may have in mind a free score if she can get him to stop over for an interview.
Fight On.
Some of Hitler's biggest supporters were German university students. They were overwhelmingly pro-Nazi. There's a reason for this. The herd instinct is strongest among this age group and segment of society. They want desperately to be part of the crowd. They're easily led into a collectivist mentality. QED.
This case should not be about free speech. Bennish is a geography teacher, his job is to teach geography, not spout his liberal politics.
The parents should sue for consumer fraud. He is selling a faulty product and they are forced to buy it.
He has every right to say what he wants on his own time and not from a taxpayer funded pulpit.
The trouble is, the people who say they are doing this to make people think always seem to be coming from the far left side to do so. You might think if this were a valid pedagogical technique that once in a while the excess would be on the conservative side of the argument.
That's Cherry Creek, dips*** college puke.
editorialboard@media.ucla.edu
In case any of you care to respond. I did.
RED HERRING ALERT!!! This is the strawman spin the pro-Bennish folk have decided to hang their hat on, but it doesn't hold water.
When you have a Governmental Authority figure lecturing to minors who are required under penalty of the law to listen to him, what you have is abuse under the color of authority. This case is no different than a cop using his position to impose his will on a prisoner.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would be over if America was as violent and evil as the liberals claim.An evil country would carpet bomb entire towns with Daisy Cutter size bombs and not care who they killed.America does the exact opposite and endangers the lives of it's military in order to avoid killing civilians.I don't know of any other country that protects innocent lives as much as America.
On the other hand, this editorialist clearly has a bright future with the MSM.
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