Well America Education system may just be plain screwed

[Violet]

So it occurred to me...

It seems that we established in the 1860's that states can't secede.

Can we kick them out?

That'd suck for me...

Anyway, it's the age of the internet: schooling has never been better off. I don't care what they put in the textbooks, textbooks could be the lyrics to Elmo's World written repeatedly... and it wouldn't affect education anywhere that children can access computers with internet

It's places without that really suffer... say small towns and villages, but they were pretty much fucked anyway.

[Baalzebutt]

That'd suck for me...

Anyway, it's the age of the internet: schooling has never been better off. I don't care what they put in the textbooks, textbooks could be the lyrics to Elmo's World written repeatedly... and it wouldn't affect education anywhere that children can access computers with internet

It's places without that really suffer... say small towns and villages, but they were pretty much fucked anyway.

you make a good point Lily. Unfortunately, these kids get so indoctrinated by their fundamentalist parents and teachers that they refuse to seek out or accept the truth even if it is available.

If you don't agree, just look at the Fred Phelps clan. Indoctrination works.

[Cato]

So it occurred to me...

It seems that we established in the 1860's that states can't secede.

Can we kick them out?

Of course not. This would be tantamount to putting your five year old brother with Down syndrome out on the streets.

[Violet]

you make a good point Lily. Unfortunately, these kids get so indoctrinated by their fundamentalist parents and teachers that they refuse to seek out or accept the truth even if it is available.

If you don't agree, just look at the Fred Phelps clan. Indoctrination works.

That's on them then. I'm not all about life handing them everything they should be handed... coming back from indoctrinization builds character

Please note... I would prefer it if the information handed to people as 'true' was actually so, but my own experience with textbooks has been anything but... and these weren't even hyper-religified books, simply inaccurate texts. I am ALL FOR taking a serious eye to textbooks... but I think that giving this eye ONLY when religion is applied to them is a mistake, and it has people assuming the texts are currently 'okay' (they are not).

[FKHansen]

VID
It's scary and I feel sorry for America (especially for Texian) school children.

This is horrifying. I've mentioned it in a blog post thought it could easily be a subject in itself.

[TaraJo]

That's on them then. I'm not all about life handing them everything they should be handed... coming back from indoctrinization builds character

*If* they come back from it. A good number of them will buy into the brain washing and become the next generation of fundamentalist conservative Christians. They'll be rewriting the history books and science books and the social studies books all to fit their political agenda. I heard about a math professor who was from Russia and she said she got into math because she thought numbers were the only subject that the soviet government couldn't spin for their advantage and this made it the only subject she could really feel confident that she's learning the truth. The alarming thing is, now the US is starting to move in that direction. The frustrating thing, though, is something else. Anyone read 1984? I remember reading something in there that has stuck with me: whoever controls the past controls the present and whoever controls the present controls the future. When they revise history books to fit a political agenda, that's what they're doing: controling the past. They're turning Orwellian on us.

70 years ago, Christians were on the front lines fighting against civil rights for racial minorities and women and now they're putting in a revisionist history that says the exact opposite. In another 50 or so years, they're going to try to claim that Christians were the leaders for gay rights even though religious fundamntalism has been the biggest obsticle to GLBT issues. And if they control the writing of the history books, they'll probably get away with it.

Science, when I was in school, they went over a very basic version of science; they didn't specifically mention evolution, but they didn't seem to go out of their way ti exclude it, either. At least that was the case in high school. College, different story; the first sentence of my first year college biology book said that evolution is the foundation to all biology and without it, biology doesn't make sense at all. And this is a college in Texas and this was the book that was being used just 3 years ago. So as much as they're fucking around with high schools, they aren't able to do the same damage to the colleges.

Just..... I've heard several Republicans speak out and say that they don't want their party to be known as the stupid party and I can't blame them. It would help their cause, though, if Republicans weren't pushing their political agenda in lieu of accurate information.

[Violet]

*If* they come back from it. A good number of them will buy into the brain washing and become the next generation of fundamentalist conservative Christians. They'll be rewriting the history books and science books and the social studies books all to fit their political agenda.

And that's fine, the world needs that type of person so that it understands to not be that type of person.

I heard about a math professor who was from Russia and she said she got into math because she thought numbers were the only subject that the soviet government couldn't spin for their advantage and this made it the only subject she could really feel confident that she's learning the truth. The alarming thing is, now the US is starting to move in that direction. The frustrating thing, though, is something else. Anyone read 1984? I remember reading something in there that has stuck with me: whoever controls the past controls the present and whoever controls the present controls the future. When they revise history books to fit a political agenda, that's what they're doing: controling the past. They're turning Orwellian on us.

Soviet russia spun ever number ever writ to its advantage, and had those who dared to write the real numbers thrown in the gulag

Well, the statement is not necessarily correct. They who simply have the power right now and today can control the present well enough, and they can shape the future fairly well. Controlling the past on top of that doesn't actually become a boon until they control *almost all of it*. With the advent of the internet, they'd have a really hard time with that.

It is not what they are doing... they are changing history books to fit a *religious* agenda. They genuinely aren't smart enough to base this in politics... now, someone intelligent might come down the line and turn it into a political boon for themselves... but the people behind it (or at least who proposed it at first) are 100% simply religious, oh, and conspiratorial too Always blaming the government, silly Tea Party.

70 years ago, Christians were on the front lines fighting against civil rights for racial minorities and women and now they're putting in a revisionist history that says the exact opposite. In another 50 or so years, they're going to try to claim that Christians were the leaders for gay rights even though religious fundamntalism has been the biggest obsticle to GLBT issues. And if they control the writing of the history books, they'll probably get away with it.

Cool, good for them. I'm pretty sure it's because the common christian of today has *absolutely no idea* why there would have been such an issue with racial minorities, or perhaps more specifically: women. I mean, women are major political leaders these days, and everyone is comfortable with the black preacher

It's probably done because they don't believe it, and so they fill in the gaps with what they do believe. Your histories are not being rewritten as a result of politics... but stupidity

Science, when I was in school, they went over a very basic version of science; they didn't specifically mention evolution, but they didn't seem to go out of their way ti exclude it, either. At least that was the case in high school. College, different story; the first sentence of my first year college biology book said that evolution is the foundation to all biology and without it, biology doesn't make sense at all. And this is a college in Texas and this was the book that was being used just 3 years ago. So as much as they're fucking around with high schools, they aren't able to do the same damage to the colleges.

Did you know, half the things you learn in high school are dumbed down, worthless, or inaccurate?

Just..... I've heard several Republicans speak out and say that they don't want their party to be known as the stupid party and I can't blame them. It would help their cause, though, if Republicans weren't pushing their political agenda in lieu of accurate information.

Because the other parties don't do equally retarded things in the name of pushing their political agenda?

[Justtristo]

Why is it determined by a political organisation which textbooks are used?

Here sciencebooks for use in schools are determined by the scientific community.

Direct Democracy works best when the people have critical thinking and reasoning. Otherwise it does not work particularly well, as witness the antics of the Texas Board of Education.