THE FAILED EDUCATION "REFORMS" (12-year old cuffed for puddle jumping)

NewsWithViews.com ^ | April 14, 2003 | Tom DeWeese

[fight_truth_decay]

Sometimes a single incident can reveal the widespread rot that has affected the nation's school systems as they strive to indoctrinate the children entrusted to their care while neglecting to teach them the Three R's.

In Inverness, Florida, a 12-year-old boy was cuffed*, arrested, and taken in a patrol car to jail where he was held for two hours. His crime? You aren't going to believe it! Kyle Fredrikson was walking back to class from lunch when Deputy Tim Langer saw the boy "purposely stomping in the water" after being told numerous times by school personnel to stay with the group and out of the rain. Little boys like to stomp on puddles. Always have and always will.

He didn't comply and Officer Langer took the sixth-grader to a school office where he was handcuffed and taken to jail. Kyle was charged with disruption of an educational institution, a misdemeanor. After sitting for two hours by himself in a police holding room, the police released the boy to his mother and grandmother.

His parents were understandably outraged. "The inmates had access to him. Can you imagine that for stomping in a mud puddle?" said his father. Lt. James Martone, who oversees the school resource officer program, said Langer made a proper arrest. "He did his job," Martone said. "It's a fine line any officer in the schools walks."

Why was it a good arrest? Why do these things happen to children today, when earlier generations of children never faced such lunacy? The answer is that the school "curriculum" today is 100 percent behavior modification, not academics. Kyle was being a little boy, expressing his individuality and his indifference to overzealous authority. In today's educational environment, both are affronts to the "system" and must be dealt with quickly and severely. To the system, students are intended to be properly trained human resources. In the world of education today there are no children anymore.

An item from the Education Reporter reveals how, under the Socialist concept of Sustainable Development, schools are being restructured to enforce "cradle-to-grave life-long learning." Preschool, formally known as kindergarten, is becoming mandatory. Parents are told it gives children a head start, but it only gives schools a head start in their mission to indoctrinate them. It gives the school the priority of determining the children's values.

Retired educator and former Fulbright scholar Margaret Brogley who spent nearly 40 years in the classroom says public education is failing because of the methods and materials used, not because there aren't enough toddlers enrolled in preschool.

Mrs. Brogley noted that, over the past 40 years, education has been dumbed down, from fuzzy math to the dearth of phonics reading instruction to the inability of many students to use cursive handwriting. "For 50 years, we have heard of the necessity to improve education," she wrote to Arkansas state education leaders, "How long will it take? Every time the 'experts' fix the situation, it becomes worse. Now the child is to learn to read by the 4th grade. Why so long? I am no genius, but I learned to read before the first year was over."

"Will education be improved (by enrolling young children in pre-school)?" Brogley asked rhetorically, then answered her own question: "No, but it will cost billions of dollars…adding more school years to a child's life will accomplish nothing."

With preschool showing poor results, it should come as no surprise that the more than one billion dollars a year of federal aid for after-school programs in 7,500 public schools nationwide has not helped most children academically, according to a federally funded study.

The report, "When Schools Stay Open Late," conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., said children who attend after-school activities at public elementary and middle schools are more likely to encounter bullies, vandals, thieves and drug users than those who do not. The after school centers, says the report, have limited influence on academic performance, no influence on feelings of safety or on the number of "latch-key children; and some negative influence on behavior. Middle school participants are "more likely to report that they had sold drugs and were somewhat more likely to report that they smoked marijuana."

From being arrested for stomping on a rain puddle to the ineffectiveness of both preschool and after school programs, and everything in between, the failure of the US education system continues to demonstrate how thoroughly trashed it has been in the past half century of "reform." The reform that is necessary now is the return of control to local school boards, the reduction of the control that teacher's unions exercise, and an end to the disastrous federal involvement in the nation's educational systems.

It has been several decades since a government study revealed the failure of the nation's education system and nothing has changed, except for the worse. A new American Revolution is needed to take our schools back from those who have been deliberately dumbing down our students. We need real teachers in our classrooms, not "facilitators." We need a renewed emphasis on the basics, not the judgement-neutral curriculum that is more concerned with "self-esteem" than teaching children anything.

Tom DeWeese is the publisher/editor of The DeWeese Report and president of the American Policy Center, a grassroots, activist think tank headquartered in Warrenton, VA. The Center maintains an Internet site at http:www.americanpolicy.org

[2Jedismom]

Ok, here's my opinion!

My kids (both boys, see my profile) have never NEVER jumped into puddles. Why? Because when they were too little to understand that we are a single income family, I was with them constantly holding them by the proverbial "scruff of the neck" keeping them from it. As they got older and had a better understanding of the cost of things and how we must take care of our shoes, I was able to reason with them that jumping in the puddle wasn't worth the consequences of ruining their shoes!

So, I contend that the problem began when this child was little and somehow missed the teaching that he should take care of his shoes. And the arrest is just a continuation of the problem, that there is no one disciplining the children except for "authorities" who really have no clue on how to do it.

Sending your kids to a school that is paid for by the government is simply accepting welfare, you get what you get, just like WIC. If you want any say in what is done to your child, you should homeschool or send them to private school.

"A child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame." (Proverbs 29:15)

[BibChr]

Lotta wisdom there, young lady.

Dan

[EdReform]

Thanks for the Ping

BTTT for later...

[Artist]

You have my "best post of the thread award." :^)

Frankly, I don't agree with the some of the "boys will be boys" comments on this thread. Puddle jumping (in boots or barefoot) has its place, but it's not at school. And I don't think spitwads should be tolerated anywhere.

I'm so glad we homeschool.

[Ches]

"Parents are often required to put their child put on a regimen of Ritalin."

I volunteer at the local grade school for the READS program. One of the girls I work with spends half the time arguing with me or jumping up to bother someone else. I brought this up to my liberal "boss" and she stated that the girl was supposed to be on medication but the parents wouldn't allow it. Her eyes bugged out at my suggestion that a few good spankings would probably do more for her behavior problems than drugs.

[MARTIAL MONK]

Any 12-year-old that goes stomping through mud puddles after he had been told not to should be cuffed. I certainly was when I was a kid and misbehaved. Of course the word "cuffed" didn't mean the same thing then.

[SERE_DOC]

Obviously a FELONY this "purposely stomping in the water" act.

This LEO is what we refer in the medical I.T. community as a MORON.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

Here is how I handle the jumping in puddles thing.. I my boys some boots and said .. go for it. I even wait by the window and look for the biggest puddles after the rain so they can jump in the best puddles around. When they have their shoes on the is little desire to jump because they know I will let them once they have their boots on..

[Stand Watch Listen]

Here are links to various education threads (also containing numerous helpful links)

FReegards

Teaching Tomorrow's Teachers: Instructor To The Trustafarian Class
Source: Toogood Reports; Published: April 11, 2003; Author:| Bernard Chapin

How Not to Teach Math
Source: City Journal; Published: 7 March 2003; Author: Matthew Clavel

Government Schools Have U.S. On The Fast Track To Third-World Status
Source: Toogood Reports; Published: March 6, 2003; Author: Bob Ellis

Sodom and Gomorrah University
Source: WorldNetDaily.com: Published: February 19, 2003; Author: Michelle Malkin

The Union That Killed Education
Source: newsmax.com; Published: February. 17, 2003; Author: Paul Craig Roberts

Walter E. Williams: Inferior Education of Black Americans
Source:CNSNews.com; Published: February 05, 2003; Author: Walter E. Williams

Union Fraud Underscores Need for School Vouchers
Source: CNSNEWS.com; Published: February 05, 2003; Author: Linda Chavez

Time for public schools to throw in the towel?
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: January 27, 2003; Author: Dr. Laura Schlessinger

My Classroom From Hell
Source: The Wall Street Journal; Published: January 24, 2003; Author: Joshua Kaplowitz

Can more money make schools better?
Source: TownHall.com; Published: January 21, 2003; Author: Phyllis Schlafly

Are public schools constitutional?
Source: NewsWithViews; Published: JANUARY 20, 2003; Auythor: Lynn M. Stuter

The intellectual rape of Oakland's schools
Source: TownHall.com; Published: January 17, 2003; Author: David Horowitz

Hip-hop hogwash in the schools (Michelle Malkin)
Source: TownHall.com; Published: January 15, 2003; Author: Michelle Malkin

Dumbed Down and Dumber Still
Source: The American Prowler; Published: January 15, 2003; Author: By George Neumayr

Washington's education establishment
Source: TownHall.com; Published: January 8, 2003; Author:Walter Williams

NEA Hastens Death of American Education
Source: INSIGHT magazine; Published: January 6, 2003; Author: Ralph de Toledano

White Teachers Fleeing Black Schools
Source: Newsmax; Published:January 1, 2003; Author: Chad Roedemeier

Fiddling whilst Rome burns
Source: TownHall.com; Published: December 26, 2002; Author: Walter Williams

Government School Monopolies Leave Children Behind
Source: Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty; Published: December 4, 2002; Author: Clint Green

The silence of the lambs: McMillan blasts bureaucrats for destroying public education
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: August 15, 2002; Author: Craige McMillan

Taking Charge: Let's Stop Aiding and Abetting Academicians' Folly
Source: HOME EDUCATION magazine; Published: July-August 2002; Author: Larry and Susan Kaseman

’Open Directory’ --Society/Issues/Education/Education_Reform

Deconstructing Public Education
Source: www.newsmax.com; Published: July 26, 2002; Author: Diane Alden

Specious Science In Our Schools
Source: Toogood Reports; Published: July 9, 2002; Author: Alan Caruba

SYMPOSIUM Q: Is the National Education Association Being Fair to Its Religious Objectors?
Source: INSIGHT magazine; Published: June 10, 2002; Authors NO: Stefan Gleason ////\\\\ YES: Bob Chase

Public Sector Subverting Productive Industry
Source: Toogood Reports; Published: May 16, 2002; Author: Henry Pelifian

History of America's Education Part 2: Noah Webster and Early America
Source: Sierra Times; Published: March 27, 2002; Author: April Shenandoah

How Communist is Public Education?
Source: sierratimes.com; Published:March 22, 2002; Author: Chuck Morse

History of America's Education Part 1: Johnny is in trouble
Source: Sierra Times; Published: March 20, 2002; Author: April Shenandoah

Audit rips Georgia schools' curriculum
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Published: March 11, 2002; Author:JAMES SALZER

Why schools fail: Samuel Blumenfeld warns Bush's education legislation is ineffective
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: March 2, 2002; Author: Samuel Blumenfeld

Public School Isn't Like I Remember It
Source: Too Good Reports; Published: February 28, 2002; Author: Phyllis Schlafly

What Is Lacking In Our Educational System
Source: Too Good Reports; Published: February 28, 2002; Author: Ben Cerruti

The charade of education reform
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: February 2, 2002; Author: Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld

American public schools: Working just as designed
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: January 21, 2002; Author: Vox Day

High Schools Fail Thanks To Grade Inflation And Social Promotion
Source: Toogood Reports; Published: December 5, 2001; Author: Vin Suprynowicz

WHY AMERICANS CAN’T READ
Source: Accuracy in Media; Published: December 4, 2001; Author: Reed Irvine and Cliff Kincaid

The Failing Teacher and the Teachers' Code of Silence
Source: CNSNews.com; Published: December 3, 2001; Author: Glenn Sacks

Time for outrage! Linda Bowles reports latest results in America's public schools
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: November 27, 2001; Author: Linda Bowles

Illiterate in Boston: Samuel Blumenfeld explains U.S.'s ongoing reading problem
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: July 20, 2001; Author: Samuel Blumenfeld

NEA - Let our children go!
Source: WorldNet Daily; Published: June 23. 2001; Author: Linda Harvey

COOKING THE BOOKS AT EDUCATION
Source: Accuracy In Media; Published: June 5, 2001; Author: Cliff Kincaid

Why Do Schools Play Games With Students' Minds ?
Source: The Detroit News; Published: April 1, 2001; Author: Thomas Sowell

The Public School Nightmare: Why fix a system designed to destroy individual thought?
Source: http://home.talkcity.com/LibraryDr/patt/homeschl.htm; Author: John Taylor Gatto

Dumbing down teachers
Source: USNews.com; Published: February 21, 2001; Author: John Leo

Free Republic links to education related articles (thread#8)
Source: Free Republic; Published: 3-20-2001; Author: Various

Are children deliberately 'dumbed down' in school? {YES!!!}
Source: World Net Daily; Published: May 13, 2001; Author: Geoff Metcalf {Interview}

Could they really have done it on purpose?
Source: THE LIBERTARIAN; Published: 07/28/2000; Author: Vin Suprynowicz

New Book Explores America's Education Catastrophe
Source: Christian Citizen USA; Published: April 2000; Author: William H. Wild

Deliberately dumbing us down (Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt's, "The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America"
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: December 2,1999; Author: Samuel L. Blumenfeld

Deconstructing the Western Mind: Gramscian-Marxist Subversion of Faith and Education
Source: www.petersnet; Published: Winter 1997; Author: Frank Morriss

Littleton Crisis to Government Control

The UN Plan for Your Mental Health

Lexington Institute

NonPartisan Action For a Better Redding

Quality of Education Commentary, Opinion, and Book Reviews

[Michael2001]

I have students in a 400-level college science class who actually believe that 10 = 7. (They're failing miserably, and many appear to be cheating.)

First thing you should probably teach 'em is not to cheat off the kid who thinks that 10 = 7.

[TxBec]

Ok.. I was brainstorming again (uh oh).. how many of you would be interested in a #homeschool chat room? If you are interested, FReepmail me. Thanks :)

[stands2reason]

Now if when the President is calling for vouchers, he states this will not be for the average taxpaying American - this will be another program to help only the minority or low income families - do you think so many would be in favor.

Maybe not--but maybe they just aren't all selfish bastards, but know that vouchers create competition which would put pressure on the schools to perform.

[nanny]

Maybe not--but maybe they just aren't all selfish bastards, but know that vouchers create competition which would put pressure on the schools to perform.

I hope you are right, about the schools, and since I do believe that a majority of the working families children will be left in these failing schools, I hope it doesn't take too long for that competitive idea to kick in.

But as not all being selfish ________, just too cynical to buy that. If their agenda meshes with ours, but unless it does - I don't think so. This is based on purely on recent history - as in the last 50 years.

[SpookBrat]

You know, when we moved to Florida, we kept passing this one particular building and I finally asked my husband if it was a jail or a prison. He said it was the Junior High.

We home school. We moved from Texas where I felt the schools were pretty good. No public school for us here. We're happy.

[SpookBrat]

Can't disagree with you there.

[ladylib]

At one time, public schools were absolutely beautiful -- at least in my neighborhood. I live next door to a middle school built in the 1930's which looks like it was built by Wren, the English architect. It has a beautiful court yard.
A town three miles down the road from me has an absolutely beautiful high school, probably built in the 20's, that looks like a college campus.

The architecture of many of today's public schools leaves a lot to be desired. Frankly, a lot of today's schools look like correctional facilities.

[ladylib]

Apparently, discipline problems are "outsourced" to law enforcement in Florida and Texas. I heard Kansas does pretty much the same thing also.

This is a good thing to know about before you register your kid for public school in these states. Ask how disciplinary procedures are handled and look for alternative venues of education (schools that don't have cops patrolling the corridors (they get paid by fines incurred by your kid, and your kid can get fined for anything from disrupting class or truancy in Texas) private schools or homeschooling) if you feel that your kid might wind up with a record.

Public education isn't worth the aggravation anymore.

[Pure Country]

My kids (both boys, see my profile) have never NEVER jumped into puddles

Your kids have never jumped in puddles? I homeschooled also and I actually jumped right along with them. Made mudpies also. I cannot even imagine not jumping into a puddle. How sad and over protected your children must be. Lighten up. Let them be children, you will all enjoy the experience.

[Pure Country]

My son-in-law is a resource officer in an high school in CO. He has had quite a time. One instance stands out to me. He had a girl that was in his office pressing charges against a boy that had grabbed her "chest". Now, that's bad and the boy was taken care of, but when my son-in-law called in the girl's parents to try to get her to dress "not like a prostitute" they were indignant and said that she was dressed fine. Guess her whole midriff was showing and cleavage and the whole nine yards.

You would think that the parents would get a clue since this was the 5th time that the girl had been "assaulted" by the same number of young men.

Why are parents clueless? Are they proud of the way their daughters dress? Maybe living their lives through them?