ATS: Half of U.S. High Schoolers: Government Censorship is Okay

Originally posted by RANT
How can anyone look at this and make it into a liberal or PC slam, which actually promotes diversity?

Is this not obviously a direct result of the President's "war on TV screens" and the popularity of FoxNews entertainment based programming where more often than not the story is the media?

RANT, this decay in America's education goes well beyond GW Bush and his administration. My husband is a few years younger than I and the result of public high school. I went to a Catholic school through grade 12.
The difference in what we learned was great.

This was over 30 years ago. The dumbing-down goes back at least to the early 70s, and I think about the mid-60s.

as posted by PistolPete
The problem isn't how kids are taught, it's what kids are taught. What do you expect kids learn in government schools? That it's good to speak out, good to rabble-rouse, good to question authority? Only if you were the founding fathers.

That school curriculum is chosen and implimented based on and revolving around prepping students mainly for state standardized testing. I have done enough in-class observations, as part of teaching requirements, to witness and have teachers mention such. Again, according to many upon many teachers I have talked to, they feel that they are not really teaching anymore, they are teaching to test. I think, and I may be wrong, that in your further posting/commentary, you elude to this, as well.





seekerof

Again, having no children of my onw, I must rely on my experiences and the experiences of siblings and contemporatries.
What is with this "preparing" for standardized tests? The only preparing I remember was to bring in two #2 pencils, sharpened and with erasers.

If schools are truly teaching, why would this preparation be necessary

This may help:
Testing Our Schools
Problems with standardized testing



seekerof

Originally posted by DontTreadOnMe
What is with this "preparing" for standardized tests? The only preparing I remember was to bring in two #2 pencils, sharpened and with erasers.
If schools are truly teaching, why would this preparation be necessary

Alot of states have a standarized tests that students have to take at various points. Its also required for High school graduation in some areas. Money etc is based on how many students can pass the tests. So the schools tailor thier curriculum to get a passing grade on that narrowly defined class. The ones I have seen are really heavy on the 3 R's and leave little time for such things as civics, history, geography (How many teens can find say bangladesh or even Afganistan?

Thanks Seekerof
I remember the names of most of those tests. So, the tests themselves are the same as I took *clears throat* many years ago.
If kids don't test well, it seems to me preparing them would only make the stress worse?
It also seems to me that if you can't test well, your chance of success in life is diminished. Testing and achievement reports are with us through our school and work lives.

FredT said:

The ones I have seen are really heavy on the 3 R's and leave little time for such things as civics, history, geography (How many teens can find say bangladesh or even Afganistan?

So, how was it that my school experience, and that of many others who have been out of school for several years, is different. We knew our 3 R's and knew all the other things like the Constitution, history, biology, and the capitals of foreign countries.
What has changed? Besides respect for authority and respect for other people.

[edit on 1-2-2005 by DontTreadOnMe]

I'm not at all surprised by the finding that American students don't understand the values underlying our constitution. Our classrooms just bore facts into the students head so that they can pass a multiple choice test. A student never really is offered a chance to develop a deep understanding and personal views of the principles this nation and its government funciton on. A student's opinions do not come from consideration of facts anymore.

Where do our students get their opinions? From the "conventional wisdom" of those around them. What does dad or grandpa say when he's leaning back on the couch and yelling at the TV news? What do the most respected members of your favorite online community say? What do the jokes in a movie say or what does a song say?
If you live in a really conservative area odds are that your parents and the TV news they watch and your friends are all reinforcing a point of view that says liberals are a bunch of anti-american nuts who need to be silenced.
If you live in a liberal area then your parents, maybe your teachers, the news your parents watch, even the music you listen to probably says that conservatives are dangerous and need to be stopped- maybe even that some of them are too stupid to have voting rights.

The adults in this country don't completely believe some of what they're saying. I really don't think that Bill O'Reily wants somebody to make Mike Moore shut up. I really don't think that whoever said "how can x many million people be this stupid" wants people to lose their voting rights. They all had better realize that they're radicalizing the next generation and that's why republican versus democrat is starting to look more and more like facist versus communist.