The War On Kids-a documentary

Once upon a time, there was a place where children went and learned things like math, reading, science, and history. It was called school, which is a word with Greek roots translating to ‘leisure’. What a beautiful word. What a concept. Here you are, a helpless infant and if blessed with a normally functioning brain, you begin to take in information. At first, you process and repeat this information. Later, you can interpret information to come up with ideas of your own. If further blessed by being in a loving environment, you gain a basic sense of morality. You see good things happen and like them. You see bad things happen and don’t like them. You see people who do good things. Most of these people have jobs. It may be a basic job, albeit productive and necessary, but good and noble profession nonetheless. Then the weekend gets here and it is time to blow off steam. Some folks are doctors. Not all of us are intellectually gifted to become doctors but physicians are often one of those occupations, which produce a great deal of satisfaction. Good things often come from doctors. You are truly blessed if you are in a job that provides you satisfaction. Something that you look forward to doing on a daily basis because you do it well and people are thankful you for doing it. You do this for a few days and then you get a couple of days off to relax, catch up on personal business, or pursue fun, leisurely activities to give that active gray matter of yours some balance. From the local technical schools to Harvard Medical Center, there are people pursuing education so that they may engage in professions that bring them happiness, almost to the point of pure leisure. Maybe that is why they call them schools.

In recent years, the word schooling seems to have been replaced with the word 'education', which seems to be more associated with doing things to your brain rather than providing you an opportunity to pursue something you may actually want to do. Aw heck. Let us cut to the chase. The place where kids are going is not school. I will go a step further and say that these days they many are not getting an education. In most states, children are required by law to go to a place with a very structured and isolated layout. In this place, behaviors are closely monitored to ensure the safety of all occupants of this place. If for some reason the behavior in this place slips out of control, armed and uniformed agents are standing by to maintain control. Just in case, several of these facilities are equipped with metal detectors. Today's kids do not go to school in pursuit of skills and knowledge to make themselves and others happy. They no longer go there to get an education so that there heads may be filled with enough information to produce for society. In fact, today's children are required to go to 'prison', which means they are taken from their parents by law, held for 7 to 8 hours under the watchful eyes of authorities and educators. Perhaps a small percentage of these kids will pursue the opportunity to get all of the information they can, but let's face it. The kids are taken and controlled by the state. These are not future citizens of the country. These are resources with no souls or conscience and perhaps a percentage of them may actually provide for themselves and others something which is good. If, however, you have been to a public school recently [middle and high schools mostly], you cannot argue with why most kids just hate being there and cannot wait to be paroled. Oops, I mean graduate.

Link To Movie Trailer

The subject is very interesting. I just wish there was a way to see it without buying it. I would love to rent it, or PPV it. I just don't want to pay $19.95 for something I will only watch once.

[edit on 9-12-2009 by MikeNice81]

reply to post by MikeNice81


You don't necessarily have to buy this DVD. If you get a chance, talk to some of today's kids. Ask them what their school environment is like. If you graduated before 1995, you will probably be shocked.

[edit on 9-12-2009 by JohnD]

reply to post by JohnD


I am fairly convinced that as a species, we are brutal to our offspring.

Here's an old thread of mine you might also be interested in:

A Conspiracy Against Children: Exactly who is out of control?

I had to chill out on contributing to that thread. It was way too depressing for me.

[edit on 9-12-2009 by loam]

Perhaps children are about to find out what it really going on. Check out the synopsis of this soon-to-be released (Dec. 14) James Patterson Young Adult novel entitled "Witch & Wizard":

Product Description

The world is changing: the government has seized control of every aspect of society, and now, kids are disappearing. For 15-year-old Wisty and her older brother Whit, life turns upside down when they are torn from their parents one night and slammed into a secret prison for no reason they can comprehend. The New Order, as it is known, is clearly trying to suppress Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Being a Normal Teenager. But while trapped in this totalitarian nightmare, Wisty and Whit discover they have incredible powers they'd never dreamed of. Can this newly minted witch and wizard master their skills in time to save themselves, their parents--and maybe the world?

Source of Product Description posted above:
www.amazon.ca

I have already created a thread related to this novel on the BTS Literature thread, but it's not attracted any interest there so far. I still think it worth noting that young adults will soon be able to acquire this Patterson book.

Odd I haven't heard of that one yet. I'm usually up to date on his books.
Its so true. There is a war going on against our children. I think the question is how do we fight back. As a parent myself it seems as though my hands are tied by the system.

reply to post by calstorm

As a parent myself it seems as though my hands are tied by the system.

No seem involved. They are tied and securely at that.

The moment you go against the system you are quickly labeled as a troublemaker who is selfish, don't care about other kids, and only out to cause problems for the school.

Continue the fight and then you have CPS and law enforcement sticking their 2 cents in. Next thing you know you are before a judge trying to explain your side of the story. Of course, the judge already knows which side he is on. So it really does no good to explain because it will fall on deaf ears.

hey john d nice post, couldn't agree more about how learning has been twisted into information input. and very interesting that the greek stem for school is leisure! nice to know. and did you know the latin stem for 'educate' is to 'bring forth' or educt... bringing forth a young person's interests and abilities is much more in my line of what an 'education' should really be.

and yes, appreciation. i truly believe it is a very basic human need indeed, which when not satisfied results in all sorts of things that are not so good for the soul, including envy, greed, insecurity, anger... you name it really. which of course is really really REALLY good for business. so, let's all make sure we're appreciated! which means, appreciable cos an appreciated heart works wonders

anyway, peace and strength to those who mean it

hey jam321
... your story is about ONE person fighting
yes the system's nasty, but fatalism will get us nowhere.
strength to you fella/fellette

reply to post by JohnD


I graduated in the era of Sheriff's Deputies and security cameras. We started with a deputy patrolling during lunch in middle school. Then in high school a deputy had an office in the school. Next they had cameras outside to catch kids skipping class and stop "illegal activities." Next were cameras in the cafeteria and lunch patio to "curb fights and acts of delinquency." By junior year there was a camera on every hallway and there were monthly locker searches by drug dogs. The drug dogs were also occasionally allowed in to “random” classrooms to “check” students and their bags. The fence around the school had been "repaired" and "secured." Once on campus there was no way to drive your car off campus, without written consent from a principal, before final bell. They could actually roll the gates closed and completely deny access to or from the campus.

This wasn't NYC or LA. This was in a small southern town. The school had a total student body of 1,200 students. (Many were from the unincorporated parts of the county.) Fights were not uncommon but were along the lines of maybe one a month. It wasn’t anything that would surprise most people in a small blue-collar town. Truancy and drop out were a much bigger problem than violence. I asked if the security might force the violence out of school, where someone could intercede and stop it, and in to the streets where it could lead to death. The response from the head principal was “That isn’t my concern. As long as it doesn’t happen on my campus, I don’t care what happens.”

I remember feeling like I was going to prison for eight hours a day. It didn't help that they had a "zero tolerance" policy for nearly everything. If you were late to class you were locked out. You had to go to In School Suspension and explain why you were late. If you were lucky you could get a pass. Usually the lady just said, "sit down and do your homework." Of course if you were in "lock out" it counted as an absence. If you had more than 8 absences in the year you automatically failed that class. It didn't matter if you had a 4.0 in the class. Without documentation from a doctor, proving medical need for absence, you failed without exception. I knew kids unlucky enough to grow up without insurance that were “retained” because of the flu.

That doesn’t even take in to account the twenty-year-old desks, barely relevant textbooks, textbooks with incorrect information, and teachers. I had one really great teacher in high school. I had two that were obviously in the “jock” clique. They were more interested in making sure players stayed on the team than teaching. It wasn’t uncommon for a student to be singled out in their class if the student didn’t show proper reverence to the teacher or their clique. I had an “earth sciences” teacher that started the first class by saying, “I’m a carpenter and a shop teacher. I don’t know anything about this stuff.” The rest were absolutely forgettable. They put no more energy in to their job than the fry cook at Wendy’s.

I grew up in the modern education system. A place that has a lot more in common with the prison system than most parents know. My high school experience was horrible in large part because I couldn’t function under that form of oppression. At one point I became physically ill from the dread and stress of dealing with public school.

Some of the stories I could tell you about what happened in high school in the mid 90’s to early 00’s would raise the hair on your neck. I don’t want high jack this thread much more than I already have though.

Originally posted by calstormThere is a war going on against our children. I think the question is how do we fight back. As a parent myself it seems as though my hands are tied by the system.

I hear you, calstorm. Fortunately for me, my children are old enough that I have pointed out to them that they are pawns in some kind of a dumbing-down, indoctrinating, cookie-cutter educational system. I have counseled them to 'play along' with the system when necessary and to use it to their advantage when possible, but to never forget that they have a right of ownership to their mind, body and soul. I've warned them that the day may come when they may have to rebel against this and other established 'systems', at some consequence to themselves, but that ultimately there is pride and self-respect in knowing that they don't have to fulfill the agendas of controlling powers.

I don't know what more I can do other than to make sure that their eyes are open to what is going on. If I don't do at least this much, then I am abetting the perpetrators.