Whatever Happened to “Knowledge is Power”?

I found this excellent post at a blog called A Moment in History by Jeff Sanders. His posts are all so insightful and relevant, but this one just floored me. I knew things were bad with the state of education in the United States.. but WHOA.

Recently I had some conversations with teenagers. Normally it’s a whole lot of fun. This time it was discouraging. In the course of our conversations I discovered that for some of these kids, they did not know the names of some major figures in American history. Until the other day, the names “Stonewall” Jackson and Robert E. Lee were totally unknown to them. They did not know the names of key battles in the Civil War. One of my sons talked to a friend who did not know if Mel Gibson’s movie “the Patriot” was about the Revolutionary War or World War II! Other teens confessed that they did not know why World War II was fought, or who fought in it. They did not know who the sides were, or when it began. They did not know where the nation of Poland was on a map! They don’t know that they don’t know, and the worse part is-so many seem not to care at all.

I am largely insulated from the public education sphere, because we homeschool our kids (we educate them at home but they take tests in a group setting). So all my information is heresay. Well, except for the times when I have to talk to 20-somethings in tech support (good heavens, their grammar is awful) or read articles for work (these people can’t construct complex sentences to make a coherent statement!!!)… but those moments of agony are thankfully brief. I do try to keep up with education news in our state and in the nation, just because I have that interest. Since the early 1900s, education in the United States has turned away from the “classic” approach (reading, writing, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic) to values-based social engineering (group-think, social education, narcissistic-based lessons). It’s now called “multiculturalism.” It has been absolutely horrible for our society. I could go ON and ON, but I can’t get too worked up about it anymore or I’ll blow a gasket.

Sanders continues:

I could go on and on with plenty more examples of how our teens and young adults by and large simply do not know our nation’s history, they do not know world history, and they do not know Church history (a key component to understanding the previous two studies). I told one young lady, “It’s not your fault. You have been cheated out of an education. But it’s not too late.” She was getting angry at the thought of being cheated out of simple, basic things that she should have known way before now. I said, “go and learn this stuff better than your teachers know it, and then teach others. The books are there. Just get them and read them.” We as parents should be teaching this ourselves. We can’t rely on movies or “the professionals” to do it.

I was a lot like that angry young woman he spoke with. After I graduated and got out into the “real world,” I realized how very, very little I knew. I didn’t know the purpose of the Constitution or the Bill of Rights; I didn’t know how to vote or do tax returns; I couldn’t do basic logic or arithmetic; I didn’t know that income taxation is voluntary; I didn’t know how to cook; I didn’t know my history; nothing! I set on a course trying to re-educate myself as I reared my children.

Public schools cost a fortune and are producing next to nothing. In the first years of elementary school, children do relatively well with their basic lessons. But studies have shown that after grade 5, the education system produces next to nothing of value. Moreover, the government-education system is purposely geared to produce adults who will be dependent on government, or at best, remain docile and apathetic while the government does what it wants. It creates a “clergy/laymen” mentality, when in truth our form of government is OF, BY, and FOR us. But the government can do whatever it wants today, while people sit idly by, uninformed and uneducated about their rights and duties.

Why? Why should we know the names and dates of people who lived long ago? Why should we know about documents, treaties, battles, generals, reformers and religious leaders and the ideas they promoted? Why should we know about the villains of history? Bottom line: Because if you don’t know your history, you will not know your identity. And if don’t know your identity, you will not know what you are supposed to do in this life. You will not know how to live. And if you don’t know these things, then others with an evil agenda will be able to easily manipulate you and guide you into slavery or slaughter.

I was reading a little history about the early 1900s, and the state of education back then. It totally blows my mind, how industrial, logical, and decent the citizens were back then!

Children often heard the old familiar sayings whose truths had helped to make America great:

• A penny saved is a penny earned.
• Cleanliness is next to godliness.
• Never put off tomorrow what you can do today.
• A man’s word is his bond.
• Waste not, want not.

Who ever hears these anymore, or things like it? Our national character has changed, and public education has played a primary part in it, and not for the better.

Now don’t get me wrong- I’m not puffing myself up as somehow “better” than anyone because I educate my own children. This is not the point. The point is- SOMEONE else is educating your children with values that are not necessarily yours; and their purpose is not to make them good, upstanding citizens. The purpose is to make them into good little slaves who will work for the system without making any waves. That’s a pretty bold statement at face value, but if you know my posts then I don’t need to explain allll the millions of details I have provided in the past concerning it. If you’re curious and want more of an explanation, there’s a bunch of very good posts about this issue here.

There isn’t anything wrong with public schools per se, just as there is nothing wrong with dynamite, nuclear research, and television. These concepts are all harmless until placed in the hands of evil schemers and corrupt men. But please realize that the public school system as it is will never be reformed from within, because those within the system like it just fine.

…do some research into the philosophy behind these schools, the [teachers'] union[s], and the textbooks. Take a look at what administrators and unions are saying. Do some reading and researching and THEN come back and try to convince me that public schools are noble and salvageable.

…The underlying goal of multicultural education is to affect social change. The pathway toward this goal incorporates three strands of transformation:

1. the transformation of self;
2. the transformation of schools and schooling; and
3. the transformation of society.

Multiculturalism is just a fancy word for saying THEY are creating YOUR kids to be puppets for whatever THEY think needs to be done so as to give them more power. It’s social engineering. It’s very obvious that government-run schools are not educating children sufficiently anymore.

I think it’s great that teenagers are very angry at discovering they are being robbed, blinded, and manipulated. It’s too bad they are the ones who have to suffer. I know I did! Multiculturalism has become our country’s undoing.

Again, my strong words are not intended to make anyone feel guilty, but there is nothing wrong with feeling convicted. Why do we even send our kids off to schools, anyway? Is it because we think, “Well, that’s the way it’s supposed to be done”? Maybe our country should rethink all that; maybe we should start to think OUTSIDE the small box that the government has created for us.

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