Study: 'Language police' harming children {Education}

WorldNetDaily ^ | Posted: May 10, 2003 | WND staff

[George Frm Br00klyn Park]

WorldNetDaily

Study: 'Language police'
harming children
Activists helping produce bored, cynical, 'dumbed down' students

Posted: May 10, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

Activist groups acting as "language police" are exerting increasing control over American schools, resulting in bored, cynical and "dumbed down" children, according to a three-year study of education policy.

Diane Ravitch, author of "The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn," notes the classic children's story "The Little Engine That Could" has been banned in some U.S. jurisdictions because the train is male, the National Post reported.

"The Little Engine that Could" barred because train is male.

The book "The Friendly Dolphin" was rejected, she says, because it discriminates against students not living near the sea.

"Educational materials are now governed by an intricate set of rules to screen out language and topics that might be considered controversial or offensive," writes Ravitch, a professor at New York University. "Some of this censorship is trivial, some is ludicrous, and some is breathtaking in its power to dumb down what children learn in school."

References to bacon and eggs and ice cream also are growing in disfavor because of concerns over healthy eating habits. Mention of birthday parties has been barred for fear of upsetting children who do not get invited to them.

In her study, Ravtich uncovered through court action many policies of state and local authorities and educators that were deemed secret. She documents "an elaborate, well-established protocol of beneficent censorship, quietly endorsed and broadly implemented by textbook publishers, testing agencies, states, and the federal government."

Fearful of their titles being blacklisted, publishers are censoring themselves by removing anything that could conceivably cause offense, making classrooms an "empire of boredom" for young readers forced to read nothing but "pap," said Ravitch, who also is senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former education adviser for both Republican and Democrat presidents.

Some of the changes to books and test questions she found include:


• Women are not portrayed as caregivers or as doing housework and men cannot be professionals such as lawyers, doctors or plumbers;


• Elderly people must be active and not feeble;


• Regional bias is to be stricken – for instance, a story of a mountain climber would discriminate against students who live in flat areas;


• Girls cannot be depicted as watching sports – they must be playing them;


• Children cannot be portrayed as questioning authority or being in conflict with adults;


• Characters must not be orphans, ghosts or animals with negative or dirty associations, such as mice, bugs or scorpions;


• Ethnic stereotypes must not be propagated, so people with Irish roots cannot be police officers and a black person cannot be an accomplished athlete.

Ravitch told the National Post the result is harmful to children.

"It bores the tears out of them and makes them cynical," she said. "The things around them are far more interesting than what they are finding in the classroom. The books can't portray what the children see before them with their own eyes so they dislike reading."

A Fox News report on the study noted how the changes have subjected educators to charges history is being distorted. New guidelines, for example, dictate American Indians should not be depicted with long braids, in rural settings or on reservations, but offer no suggestions as to what would be deemed correct.

The pressure on officials, which comes from both the political left and right, began as a way of rooting out truly offensive material, Ravitch says. But increasing politicization has resulted in "stripping away everything that is potentially thought-provoking and colorful from the texts that children encounter."

Ravitch believes the solution is to remove state and school board control of approved reading lists and trust teachers to select material appropriate for their specific classes.

Others, however, defend the changes.

"I think our textbooks should, to our greatest capacity, be free of any type of stereotyping," said Sue Stickel, deputy superintendent for curriculum and instruction for the California Department of Education.

"We need to make sure that all ethnicities are represented," she said, according to Fox News. "We need to make sure that both males and females are represented. We need to make sure that our materials cover the full gamut."

THIS article at WND

[jd777]

REAL conservatives take back education!

[The Great RJ]

George Orwell's epic 1984 had it right "Newspeak" has finally gone from fiction to reality.

War is peace

Love is hate

Big Brother Is Watching

[redhead]

"Wow. That whole site (http://www.rethinkingschools.org/) is an eye opener. It's basically a resource for teachers who want to use schools as a vehicle for far-left propaganda.

We went to an afternoon seminar a few weeks ago in a school multi-purpose room. The walls were PLASTERED with politically correct slogans. "Readers are leaders." "Don't say 'NO!' say maybe!" And on and on. All around the room, covering every bulletin board, and every possible surface. It was kind of frightening. I remembered something about the Communists and their sloganeering. A cheap and easy way to brainwash.

[sweetliberty]

Wonder how much it cost to find out exactly what I (or most FReepers, for that matter) could have told them for nothing using basic common sense.

[sweetliberty]

Public school is a no win situation for the children, and their parents. The only way to confront the problem is to take kids out of these dangerous indoctrination centers and place them in private schools or homeschool them. Allow the public schools to implode. They will never be improved as long as there is a stinking socialist masquerading as a liberal, with a lust for power and visions of a socialist/communist utopia who has any say in the matter. It is too far gone. I grieve for what we have lost, and even more for the future of our children and grandchildren.

[usmom]

Where do you go to get textbooks that are free of all this PC bullsh*t?

You don't necessarily have to use 'textbooks', especially at the younger grades. I loosely follow classical education, which relies on tried and true classics and history the way it really happened, not watered down. You just read to them if it's above their level and have them read what you feel is appropriate and at their level. The only textbook I use is Saxon Math. The rest is from suggested reading lists and things I pick out on my own.

[sweetliberty]

"And isn't all this foolishness just another form of stereotyping?"

What it amounts to is the removal of the essence from every side of life. It is like removing the taste from food, or the heat from fire or the pleasure from sex. Liberalism and the god of political correctness that it demands we serve, is draining the life-force from our nation. What are we DOING about it?

[Darheel]

"Characters must not be orphans... or dirty associations"

I trust Tom Sawyer, Oliver Twist, and I, will be rewritten with relish.

[sweetliberty]

The differences in people and cultures and places were the stuff which allowed imagination to flourish. I loved to daydream about other lands and other ways of life when I was a kid. I cannot imagine growing up without the wide variety and richness of reading materials I was exposed to. It is much more than a disservice to deny children the truth along with all the myriad possibilities for exploration and discovery and innovation. It is a crime, in my opinion, and we need to hold those responsible accountable and not allow our kids to be subjected to the cultural and intellectual deprivation that is being inflicted upon them in the name of diversity and "sensitivity".

[netmilsmom]

And also look at any form of entertainment today. All parents are well meaning idiots and the kids always save the day. My husband turned on Rugrats one day and I nearly wet myself coming off the potty to flip the channel. Crap, just crap.

[CaptIsaacDavis]

The California, Masschusetts and Vermont education systems are at the head of the pack as they run downhill into SOCIALIST REALISM. Lenin would be proud of these Bolsheviki...

[EdReform]

BTTT for later...

[serinde]

"When I was a kid, I LOVED reading about areas that were different from the area I lived in!"

lol. I've been reading science fiction since 5th grade. The places in these books are WAY different than the area I live in.

But these idiots would probably have a heart attack at the thought of a child reading about completely different planets (not to say creatures)! Apparantly imagination is not acceptable today.

[Budge]

If someone, anyone doesn't put an end to this highly communistic "political correctness" bull**** it will completely destroy the United States of America! If you doubt it, look what it has already done to education.

If you doubt "political correctness" is NOT rooted in Marxism, I suggest you obtail the VCR tape "Political Correctness: The Frankfurt School Story"

You may check this site out: http://www.cofcc.org

This is the Consertive Citizens Foundation site
P.O. Box 221683
St. Louis, MO - 63122

[LiteKeeper]

archive

[philetus]

The following is an excerpt from an article printed in the Chicago Tribune. Any opinions either stated or suggested are not necessarily those of GLSEN or its members.

By V. Dion Haynes

Tribune staff reporter, July 26, 2001

Los Angeles-- A new California plan aimed at protecting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students and staff from harassment in public schools is creating controversy as administrators prepare for a new school year.

Moving to enforce a 2-year-old law that prohibits schools from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or sexual [sic] identity, the California Department of Education in August will send all 8,500 public schools a dozen recommendations for making classrooms less hostile and more hospitable to gays and lesbians.

The recommendations call for schools to use textbooks and classroom materials that feature gays positively; to discuss the contribution of gays in all subject areas, from kindergarten to grade 12; to include books on the gay lifestyle in high school libraries; and to consider alternative restroom and locker room accommodations for transgender youths.

In the wake of recent school shootings sparked by bullying, public school officials nationwide are faced with making campuses safer.

The recommendations, issued by a state Department of Education task force, have not been mandated by the Legislature or state superintendent of public instruction. Nevertheless, the task force recommendations have propelled California into the forefront of the emerging gay education movement--and at the epicenter of debates over free speech and religious rights of other students and over whether the state is pushing schools into social advocacy.

Schools taking steps

Around the country, some elementary school teachers have introduced gay themes through videotapes, such as "That's a Family," that show traditional families, single parent-headed families and families with either two mothers or two fathers. Some middle school teachers have delved into James Baldwin's homosexuality through his writings. And some high school campuses have invited gay activists to speak and allowed students to establish clubs for gay and lesbian students.

Seeking to expand the movement, the National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers union, drafted a proposal encouraging schools to develop materials addressing the needs of gay and lesbian students. But, facing strong opposition from within its ranks, the union withdrew the proposal early this month and opted to establish a committee to study sexual orientation issues.

"This is often a polarizing issue," said Dennis Meyers, assistant executive director of the Association of California School Administrators, which represents the principals and superintendents in the state. Referring to the recommendations, he said: "I expect some controversy."

Some of the recommendations could be more controversial than others, he added. "If the schools are required to have separate showers [for transgender students], people are going to wonder, Who is going to pay for that? And how will we fit that into our campus?"

California is among a handful of states, including Massachusetts, Vermont and Wisconsin, that approved laws adding sexual orientation to the classifications--race, gender, religion and national origin--on the basis of which schools are prohibited from discriminating. Illinois does not have such a law. The laws were passed in the wake of research showing gays as victims of widespread discrimination in schools.

Reinforcing civil rights

The 1999 California law, aimed mainly at spurring a cultural shift in the schools, offers no new protections for gay and lesbian students but reinforces civil rights contained in other laws.

"We'd like to see every one of the recommendations implemented over time," said Mike Marshall, interim executive director of the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center Project and co-chairman of the task force.

Some observers, while supporting the concept of school safety and tolerance for all students, say the recommendations go well beyond the 1999 law.

"Fat kids, kids with pimples, kids who wear glasses and kids who play in the band are all harassed," said Dick Carpenter, education policy analyst for Focus on the Family, a Colorado Springs-based organization that promotes conservative values.

The California recommendations "are setting up a structure where some students are more equal than others," added Carpenter, whose organization rallied many teachers against the National Education Association proposal.

Randy Thomasson, executive director of the Sacramento-based Campaign for California Families, said he fears schools will use the recommendations to quash the free-speech rights of religious students who oppose homosexuality.

[philetus]

November 4, 2002
GLSEN Announces Launch of New Online BookLink

Welcome to the new GLSEN BookLink!

The new BookLink (formerly The GLSEN Bookstore) is GLSEN’s link to the highest-quality resources for students, educators, families and community allies working to end anti-LGBT bias in K-12 schools!

Click on link to see recommended reading for grades K-6.
http://www.glsen.org/templates/booklink/index.html?section=2

[philetus]

GLSEN would like to thank and recognize our corporate sponors. We are proud to work in partnership with each of these companies. To learn more about our sponsors, please click on the links below.
AOL Time Warner
Gay.com
General Motors
Globix
IBM
JPMorgan Private Bank
Kodak
Levi Strauss
Mitchell Gold Company
Nautica
Pacific Bell
Perrier
PlanetOut
Rabid
Replacements LTD
Sara Lee
USAirways
Working Assets

[George Frm Br00klyn Park]

NAMBLA/North American Man Boy Love Association

P, The GLSEN outfit seems to be something like NAMBLA. A government sponsored {tax free organization} interest group. It seems that NAMBLA had to move it's web site to Germany. Figures. Peace and love, George.