To Parents with Children in Public School - by a student

Arkansas Publik Skulz ^ | 30 Aug 2003 | Ashley Anderson

[steplock]

To Parents with Children in Public School
Date: Saturday, August 30 @ 07:12:31
Topic Letters to Editor

"I will stand and fight until the end, because I owe it to my country."

Dear Editor:

This is for all the parents and their children who attend public school.

I have gone to public school all my life, until last September when I began private school. The differences are incredible! I will attempt to inform your readers as to what children in the government’s schools are doing every day.

Reading, writing, and arithmetic were the three basics every school used to go by. Are they what you think of when you think about what your child is learning?

Throughout most of my attendance In public school, the kids in my class only read one or two books throughout the whole year, until I was privileged with going to an AP class. The Advanced Placement courses have now been replaced with IB classes, which is short for the International Baccalaureate Organization, a part of UNESCO, United Nations. In this class, we were assigned numerous short stories to read, mostly about the myths of other countries, and some about their religions.

This class was intended to be a higher-level class, in which advanced students could “maximize” their learning capacity. Learning about the religions and cultures of other countries, and not names like Henry van Dyke, Washington Irving, O. Henry, or even Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, names which I never heard until I attended private school. These authors, among others such as Mark Twain and Emily Dickinson are purely American, and the basis for all literary writings in America to date.

Why were they never taught to me? Even in the advanced class we never read “Rip van Winkle.” Instead, we were assigned books like “The Giver” by Lois Lowry, which gave the details of killing babies and living in a world where no one was special and a person’s worth was based on his/her ability to conform to the group. Was I being conditioned?

When my mother was in school, she was taught phonics. In public school, I was taught to memorize the look of words and how they sounded. I was taught to remember the answer, not understand the question. I didn’t have spelling or vocabulary words to learn past the sixth or seventh grade. Why not?

In my private school, everyone has spelling and vocabulary words, in every grade, every week, to understand and learn how to use them in sentences. Words like philanthropy, misanthropic, and ameliorate were never taught to me in public school, despite the so-called “advanced” classes I was in. My mother, however, insisted on my having vocabulary words, even though it was not provided in public school.

Learning arithmetic has taken on a whole new meaning in public schools. It means that the more advanced students are made to wait for the others to catch up, and the advanced students are given “busy” work. The textbook often goes unfinished, and the students are passed anyway, because they tried their best. Grading on a curve is commonplace in public schools, so the students don’t know if they’re doing anything wrong. They are taught to be mindless and to accept whatever they are given.

I took Algebra in the eighth grade in public school, geometry in the ninth. When I changed to private school, I retook Algebra because my new school taught it differently, with more of the textbook. This year I’m taking trigonometry and Algebra II, both of my own choice. I know I’ll be getting the most out of them because we won’t be waiting for everyone to catch up like we did in public school. I can learn at my own pace.

Most kids in public schools are uncontrollable. How can any learning actually take place? Respect for authority, integrity, and honor are not words generally practiced by students who attend public school. If the administrators were to enforce the rules they have, they wouldn’t need to make more. Total control is the only thing gained when making more rules than needed.

I was amazed at how well-behaved the students at my private school were. Not only did they work hard, but were courteous, polite, and obedient. These things are a direct result of the proper atmosphere that this school provides. Christian values are taught, along with studying the Bible, which, needless to say, is strictly taboo in a public school.

Although I had some great teachers in public school, which are extremely hard to find, they could do nothing with the curriculum they were given from their superiors, not to mention the state, and the Department of Education, which is a part of the federal government. The department itself is unconstitutional; “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” The United States as is written here means the federal government, or national government. The Constitution gave no such power to the federal government as to run a federal department of education. Therefore, it is unconstitutional. The Constitution, since 1787, is and has been the Supreme Law of the land.

I encourage all those who care about their children and grandchildren to go searching for the answer. There is a lot of information available; but you may have to look no further than a book by Charlotte Iserbyt called “The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America”. It gives a detailed account of what really happens in public schools, why, and where the corruption comes from.

Students: no one can tell you who you are. If you don’t think for yourself, someone else will, be it a strong-willed friend, the media, or even our own government. Some people would have us believe that we’re too young to do anything about it, even if we wanted to. Well, there is one thing we know how to do, and that’s spread the word about what is going on; you have to learn more about it.

Even though it may be difficult to fund attending a private school or homeschooling, it is the only immediate way to stop what is being shoved down the throats of America’s youth. Soon even these may be forbidden. The way to avoid being institutionalized while attending a public school is not easy, but what is the most important thing? Is it more important to play football or be a cheerleader and end up flipping hamburgers in a fast food joint, or actually learning something that will be valuable to you the rest of your life?

Defend your mind, and ask questions. Don’t take anything for granted. Public school is not going to change, because it is running exactly how the government wants it to. Follow the money.

I am a Christian. This is not the time for believers to stick their heads in the dirt and hope that everything goes all right. The remnant of Christ’s followers exists today as foretold in the Bible. This is the time for believers in Christ to rise up and defend the rights our Forefathers died so that we may keep. I will stand and fight until the end, because I owe it to my country. What will you do?

Sincerely,
Ashley Anderson

This article comes from Arkansas Publik Skulz
http://www.gohotsprings.com/school/

The URL for this story is:
http://www.gohotsprings.com/school/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=266

[rockrr]

"Talk to the teachers AND to your kids. Walk in to the classroom once in a while, and volunteer as a tutor. You find out what's going on."

All good advice.
As the "non-custodial parent" (father to those of you in Rio Linda) I had to work doubly hard just to get access to my daughter's school. Her mother chose to exclude me from the authorized contacts list and it took a court order just to speak to her teachers. Until that point I wasn't allowed to inquire about progress, problems, or even if she was in school on a particular day!
I persevered and prevailed in my right to oversee my child's education, and then I won over the hearts of the school officials by being involved. Even though I live in a different town than my daughter, I always attend the open houses, the teacher conferences, take my daughter to the school "Reading nights", carnivals, and dances. I've volunteered for at least one field trip each year, and usually more.
The reason is simple: When you only get two days every two weeks to spend with your kid, you have to know that your influence is going to be marginal at best. When teachers have more access to my kid than I do, I want to know what they're teaching.
Even though the school district in my daughter's neighborhood is one of the poorest in the Seattle area, I have been generally pleased at the absence of the sorts of crap that I hear about when people discuss public schools. Yes, they have the standard "zero tolerance" policies about guns, and they teach the insipid feelings-based "conflict resolution" ("Your being mean to me by not letting me take my turn now makes me feel sad"), but I have encountered very little of the "Let's make a liberal" factory mentality that I feared. (Only on an individual basis, not endemic to the school).

[ImaGraftedBranch]

I'd put my 15 year-old Homeschooled child up against most freepers. Kids are capable of more than the public schools care to know.

[hedgetrimmer]

Bump

[ohioWfan]

I would too, if I were you. Totally different situation here......

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

How dare them expose the fact that blacks were previously denied the right to vote and the legal ability to participate in the economy of their local communities, all before the adults in the lives of those first graders can indoctrinate them as to the innate inferiority of blacks. The shock! The gall! The horror!

First, most white childrens' impressions of blacks come from interacting with black children--not all of whom, unfortunately, are at any one time candidates for sainthood any more than white kids are. And of those which are distinctly not candidates for sainthood, most have had racist inculcation before ever they set foot in school. Any effective racist indoctrination to which a child, white or black, might be subject is pretty likely to occur before school, rather than after first grade. "Education" is not a magic bullet for eliminating racisim.

Secondly, a first-grader is not going to have any context to digest the information about racism; that information standing alone is a half-truth. It is a half-truth because not only didn't enslaved blacks have full standing as voting citizens before 1860, not only didn't women have the vote until about 1920, but nearly all the ancestors of nearly all Americans, however white and male they were, had no voice in government. The truth of America is not the hole in the donut, it is the donut itself--the fact that equality before the law is vastly improved over the past. And that equality before the law had to be invented here.

The big picture of American freedom is glorious, and what we now see as the dark portions of the past merely illustrate how easy it was for things to be worse than they now are.

The big picture of American prosperity is glorious; if you are at the "poverty line" now you're more prosperous than my middle-class family was in 1950. In fact that prosperity compares with what the salary of the president of the United States would have bought two centuries ago.

To teach first graders to take the big picture for granted and focus only on the negative is manipulative. In fact, it is exactly what a journalist does, and you cannot learn history from a newspaper. Time enough to learn the details and caveats of history after you have some concept of the big picture.

[mtbopfuyn]

The opposite is true here. When leaving the lower grades private school here to enter public high school, students can't seem to pass the test so must make up work. Isn't America great to have shades of gray instead of black or white.

Hmm, I noticed a couple of the same posters at that link and that a few articles have been brought here from there.

[goodseedhomeschool (returned)]

This is a very truthful and insighted article. Well done!

[ohioWfan]

Our kids all possess a natural ability to write. They all read before they got to kindergarten, and we continued to read to them, and encourage them to read throughout school. We used advanced vocabulary, and insisted on correct grammar at home......down to the detail.

That being said, it was in school that they learned 'how to' write. Their teachers helped them discipline their writing skills, organize their papers, do proper research, write cogent opening and concluding paragraphs, use correct punctuation, and in general become excellent writers (our oldest daughter has submitted a graduate paper for professional publication).

We created an environment at home that encouraged them to become good writers, but they learned their writing skills IN a public school, taught by excellent English teachers.

I'm not here on this thread to disagree that there are many public schools that are just plain awful........I am here to say that there are still schools that are excellent, and to caution against the common broadbrushed condemnation that occurs so frequently here on FR.

[goodseedhomeschool (returned)]

I do not doubt it was written by a student. There are many who know the truth and have escaped indoctrination of public education. I can attest to the fact that most homeschoolers and those in Christian schools not only write like this but are active in politics and are equally articulate.

[rightofrush]

(Have you prayed for your President today?)

Not since Charlton Heston retired.

[mtbopfuyn]

Yes, I caught "The Giver" thing too. It's one of the popular books kids buy on their own at our public school's 4th - 5th grade book fair. Of course it was the more advanced kids who bought it over Sponge Bob.

[steplock]

"you are at the "poverty line" now you're more prosperous than my middle-class family"

Ain't that da truth!

My wife & I were figuring out our finances the other day (I'm disabled now and get SS & some disability insurance I paid for) when we realized that ACCORDING TO the feds and other useless people - WE ARE POOR!

We MUST be starving! (we're eligible for food stamps) but we ARE (my wife will kill me) a bit overweight

We MUST be destitute! We drive a nice 1998 Blazer with 60k miles and do have a spare car

WE MUST need housing assistance! I OWN 2 houses (almost paid off)

We MUST need assistance! I volunteer 60-80 hours/week to UNPAID public service web sites.

Yeah - the American "POOR" are richer than the upper class in MOST other countries in the world! Where else can the "POOR" run around in the new caddy's, new clothes, gabbing on the cell phones 20 hrs /day while eating their Big Macs?

Yeah - we are really a destitute and EVIL country.

How can I afford all this? Easy! My kids grew up, moved out, and take care of themselves and their own families!

[ohioWfan]

ah......you're one of THOSE......

And the relevance of your 'witty' comment to this thread???

[steplock]

"the same posters at that link and that a few articles have been brought here from there"

I will admit guilt to cross-posting once in a while. Not all people read all articles and that helps get information spread.

That is what irritates me about the "Already posted Here" kiddies (remind me of "script kiddies"). There are many times I have enough time to read what shows up on my page (last 25 articles) and that's all. I don't have time to scan through EVERYTHING posted that day - so the occasional re-posts are HELPFUL to most people (but not always).

When you travel around the blogs and other BB sites you'll see a lot of the same articles re-printed but with many NEW repsonses each time. That's how we learn and how we can spread the word.

We are in a war now in the USA. A war for our childresn, a war against our principles/religions, a war on humanity in general, a war for < YES > World Domination.

[mtbopfuyn]

Mine are in advanced classes which is very much like when you were in school. The advanced students begin math honors in 6th where they do a quick run through 6th grade math and then spend the majority of the year on 7th. They are then a year ahead and in high school can take AP in 12th. Language Arts honors begins in 7th and I believe AP is as you posted after Eng 11. The recommended reading list for 7th grade LA honors includes such authors as Mark Twain, Jack London, Willa Cather, E.E. Cummings, T. S. Eliot, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The majority of our high school required reading list includes such classics as "Of Mice and Men", "To Kill A Mockingbird", "Animal Farm", "Brave New World", and "Hamlet". BTW, this is in Texas.

[Atlas Sneezed]

THis *IS* the daughter of a friend here in Hot Springs, Artkansas.

---

Thank you. I am delighted to hear that!

[Boxsford]

Oh, that is very well said!

[Boxsford]

"We created an environment at home that encouraged them..."

Sadly, this is not always the case with most children who go to public school. Parents have reliquinshed their parental roles, given them over to what they think is a higher authority, and stopped keeping watch. I also think parents like yourself are doing just as good a job as homeschoolers if not better in some cases.

[Ahban]

From the Article :

The Advanced Placement courses have now been replaced with IB classes, which is short for the International Baccalaureate Organization, a part of UNESCO, United Nations. In this class, we were assigned numerous short stories to read, mostly about the myths of other countries, and some about their religions.

This class was intended to be a higher-level class, in which advanced students could “maximize” their learning capacity. Learning about the religions and cultures of other countries, and not names like Henry van Dyke, Washington Irving, O. Henry, or even Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, names which I never heard until I attended private school. These authors, among others such as Mark Twain and Emily Dickinson are purely American, and the basis for all literary writings in America to date.

---

Do you really want your son's cirricula designed by UN people who have no love of Western Civilization? Who value some forgotton pagan god over the living Christ who has changed human history for the better?

[Boxsford]

Yours is an interesting profile page. What's the story behind the picture?