A Blurb on Education...

With my most recent blog post regarding the Texas textbook debate, I would like to bring up another topic of discussion concerning public school education, specifically in the area of American History. (Note—I am a little hesitant to post the following experience, but I feel instances such as this should be revealed. Names have been change to protect the not-so-innocent. :) )

So, here are my experiences in an incredibly biased history classroom. At the beginning of my Junior year, I was a student in an American History class (a class required of all high school students in order to graduate) taught by an individual as I will refer to as Ms. Tyrant. Being the history nerd I am, I was unbelievably excited to start learning more, especially since the first topic of study was to be the American Revolution (my absolute favorite!). However, after a week or so of listening to Mrs. Tyrant’s lectures and copying down her hardly-legible notes, I started to get the feeling something was extremely wrong. Here are just a few things that were taught within the first few weeks of the class:

• The Sons of Liberty was a secret terrorist organization.
• The colonists of the original 13 colonies, specifically in Boston, were “selfish” and “simply did not want to pay their taxes.”
• The colonist’s lack of representation was a “slogan.”
• Washington, Adams, Paine, Jefferson, and other Founders were portrayed ONLY as radicals.
• The Declaration of Independence was depicted ONLY as propaganda.

Now, I totally understand that, in the viewpoint of those in Britain in the 18th century, the colonists that favored separation from England WERE most likely viewed as radicals, and the Declaration was not viewed with reverence across the ocean in front of King George, either. My issue with Ms. Tyrant’s methods of teaching was the bias that existed against the people that founded this country. The bullet points above were the ONLY representations of early American history that were taught in this class.

To me this just was not right. I can honestly say that I got a little teary eyed when the Declaration was never read with the intention of explaining its significance, the Founding Fathers contributions were never discussed, nor was the basic significance of the American Revolution itself.

If I had the opportunity to experience that over again, I would have handled it differently. However, I am now in an American History class that is taught in a totally neutral manner by a phenomenal teacher that teachers BOTH sides of every story.

Personally I think the lack of respect for our Founders in the said classroom was sickening. I understand the method of teaching from different perspectives, but it is upsetting that my generation and future generations are being deprived of the knowledge of where their freedoms came from. As I stated in my previous post, citizens will not appreciate the liberties they have if they do not know where they came from and the sacrifices the generations before us made to protect those freedoms.

I’m not a teacher, and I definitely do not claim to be someone that knows all the answers. However, I believe American history classrooms—that have not already—must wake up and realize what an important role they play in society. If we do not clearly understand the past, how will we ever survive in the future? We should rely not so heavily on the often biased, “politically correct”, watered down text book versions of history and turn to a more credible source, such as the writings of the people were part of history, the people who made the history. Again, I know, I’m a history nerd and I definitely don’t expect everyone to be as obsessed as I am. But it is the responsibility of EVERY American citizen to understand their nation’s past; and to understand the government that We The People have a say in.

If you have opinions on this topic, please comment! I would like to hear your views or any similar stories of bias in the education system.

Oh, and just another tidbit… President Barack Obama visited St. Louis today. He first made a stop at St. Charles High School to continue his quest for health care reform (which is another debate entirely, but I’ll save that for another day!) and later attended a “fundraising dinner” for Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill. Wait. Really? A fundraising dinner for McCaskill? Our economy is buckling at the knees, we have troops fighting—dying—in Iraq and Afghanistan, and as of February, the unemployment rate sits at 9.7%... and the Commander in Chief is bellyin’ up to a table at the Renaissance Grand Hotel for the Missouri senator. I’m sorry, something is really not right with this picture. One word: PRIORITIES!

AND… let’s talk about carbon footprints! I wonder how many harmful chemicals Air Force One, the presidential motorcade, etc. spewed out into our fragile ozone with this little jaunt to the Show Me State to support an old buddy? It seems that “being green” goes out the window when it comes to the White House. Well, that’s all for tonight… I’m going to go take out my recycling bin.

Sources:
http://www.ncsl.org/?tabid=13307

http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2010/03/08/daily50.html