Posted on 10/23/2002 5:34:02 AM PDT by LadyDoc
Today I became One of Those People I discussed in yesterday’s Bleat, one of those sad fools who actually thinks he can make a dent in the accepted conventions of the educational establishment. Today at Toddler class the big book of activities had not only information on upcoming Peace Marches, it had literature from the Million Mom March. And there were MMM stickers on the handout table. I’m not saying that material like this should be brutally repressed. No. But either include handouts from other points of view, or - and I’m speaking as a wild idealist here - confine the class handouts to pertinent matters. We’re here to learn about new ways to get the kids to eat asparagus. It’s like getting a flier for an anti-globo rally with your receipt from Jiffy Lube: huh?
But I suspect that the educational establishment regards the insertion of these issues at every available opportunity to be part of their mission; far from wondering what the Million Mom March has to do with a class on establishing sleep schedules, they see these issues as indistinguishable from basic parenting skills. A good parent teaches ABCs; a good parent marches for peace; a good parent realizes the importance of five-point restraint carseats; a good parent subscribes to the MMM position on guns. The personal is the political, after all. And oh-so vice versa.
Still, I bit my tongue. In some peculiar way, I felt as if bringing this matter up in the group would be as inappropriate as the materials themselves. Then, looking through the new handouts, I saw a thick sheaf titled EARTH PLEDGE.
“I pledge allegiance to our Earth, (the planet on which we live). And to fresh air, pure water, healthy dirt, life-giving plants and all the animals! One Earth - four oceans - seven continents - thousands of lakes and rivers! And I accept my duty to be an honorable citizen of this Earth, with respect and consciousness towards all.”
On the back, a note from author Patricia Hauser:
“This Pledge, written to the rhythm of the Pledge of Allegiance, was originally composed to develop and enhance planetary consciousness in the hearts and minds of the wonderful second and third graders in my class.
“At our daily ‘Morning Meeting,’ the Class ‘President’ of the week reads the Earth Pledge with each line being repeated by the entire class. . . . Whenever global events are brought up in class, someone volunteers to locate the continent and country in which the event is occurring. This begins the expansion process and realization that we, on Mother Earth, are all in this together and what each one of us does makes a difference.”
“Printed on recycled paper.”
Let me be quite clear on this: my daughter is not going to pledge allegiance to healthy dirt. I will teach her all I believe about stewardship of the world. I will conspicuously recycle the cans and glasses and papers, even though I suspect it’s all a folly. I will teach her that the earth - lower case, no family affiliation - requires our care and respect. But I am not going to raise an eco-freak who tattles on Daddy to the Block Captain because I threw away a grocery bag that had a rip, instead of cutting it up for note paper. She is a resident of the planet earth, but she is a citizen of the United States of America. While that distinction will be meaningless in second grade I will not undercut her eventual understanding of the concept by pretending that we all pledge allegiance to dirt, crabgrass and crocodiles. Respect them, yes. Start the day with an oath bowing our heads to decreased atomospheric particulate levels, no.
“With respect and consciousness for all.” Not freedom. Not liberty. “Respect and consciousness.” Freedom and liberty - those buzzwords you find on Freeper forums - are not as important as realizing that we “are all in this together.”
Well, we’re not. I wish we were, but there’s a big deep hole in New York that speaks to the contrary. This doesn’t mean I teach her us-against-them. This doesn’t mean we bond by shining our guns while listening to Johnny Horton albums. But if you think I’m being paranoid here, consider that my child is two years old, and they want her to swear fealty to soil. I wouldn’t mind some sort of pledge or oath to vow to be a good Dirt Scout, to not litter, to promise to pick up dog poop, to reuse grocery bags. I’ve no problem with that. But this stupid thing uses the language of religion and civics to underscore a practical point, and that tells me something. When you set it up a pledge to the meter of the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag, I’ll take you at your word. Either you regard this as more important or just as important, and on those points reasonable people can disagree.
Fat lot of good it’ll do you; tonight while googling around for info on the matter, I learned that the pledge is required reading for first graders in the Minneapolis School System.
I had planetary consciousness as a child. I knew where everything was, more or less. We had a globe at home, and I half-believed that countries were actually colored red or blue or yellow. I used to love to look at that globe, at atlases, at the entries in the World book, in the wonderfully detailed maps that came with Grandpa’s National Geographics. But I had a clear hierarchy: family, Fargo, North Dakota, USA. After that it became indistinct, and that’s a good thing. Otherwise when I went to France I would have expected I could vote in the Parisian election. Why not? I’m a citizen of this Earth.
Anyway: I struck back! I thwew my opinion woughly to the gwound! When the mid-term class evaluations were passed around, I gave everyone A+s for everything, because they are a wonderful bunch of teachers and tot-wranglers. In the Things You Would Change box, I noted that I would be wary of using the class materials to advance a particular political viewpoint, since I was uncertain how this fit the objectives of the program. I cited examples.
None of which, I fear, will strike them as “political viewpoints.” And that’s the telling fact. Public education: It’s going to be a long, long haul. And none of it will matter when sex and drugs enter the picture.
Then I'll yearn for these innocent days.
I am not sure f you are being sarcastic or not. Comments like yours on an evaluation form will simply be ignored, or worse, will form the basis for "special" additional indoctrination for your child.
Much more is needed. The public school system may be beyond help, but to even make a dent, the School Board and the PTA's must be reformed and severe pressure brought to bear on teachers to change the ideolgical teaching methods.
A little something of the kind, caring MMM personell.
I hope that it is as widespread as I suspect.
Of course since the UN has become an oligarchy, and self-serving groups such as PETA and Greenpeace have hijacked these words for their own anti-capitalistic agenda, school kids around the world are becoming easy recruits to this manipulative brainwashing.
We put up with a little of this in our local Catholic school when I had kids, so I switched my youngest to a local Christian academy.( My oldest was like me: too stubborn to believe his teacher's nonsense. )
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