Recently many parents across the country expressed outrage at a speech President Obama gave to the American students. Many were outraged by the thought of political indoctrination taking place within our schools.
That’s fair, clearly we have the history of this taking place in the old Soviet style Communist classrooms and of course the Nazis used this approach. Adolf Hitler once said, "He alone, who owns the youth, gains the Future."
I’m sure when Pres. Obama decided to take his messaged directly into the classrooms, many people in this country recoiled at what was about to take place. Others thought people were overreacting, however knowing history, it certainly warranted concern.
What I found most surprising was, the fact that political indoctrination is taking place in classrooms throughout the country everyday, with little or no protest from the parents. I suppose it’s because they simply do not know it’s happening.
Let’s look at the Bedford High School. Many critics throughout the country have criticized the International Baccalaureate Program for carrying a political message of indoctrination within the curriculum. This argument has been made by critics and can easily be found by doing a little research.
If you look at the speeches by the founders and present leaders you will see progressive (leftist) thought. Former IB Deputy Director Ian Hill delivered a speech on the purpose of international education to the Disarmament Forum identifying the organization’s political persuasion.
Desmond Cole, the former director of the UN International School, and one of the key leaders in the development of the IB gave a speech which supported the idea that no war is ever justified – only the war on poverty, want and hunger.
The U.N. and UNESCO share the leftist ideals of redistribution of the wealth (for achieving “sustain-ability”), world citizenship, disarmament, and environmental policies whether or not scientific research warrants it. The solutions require that wealthy countries redistribute their wealth to developing countries through taxation.
So while this program doesn’t sell itself as a political indoctrination program for your children, that is exactly what it intends for the students who participate.
Click here to read exactly how the IBO plans on carrying out some of the UNESCO agenda through the IB program.
Another area of political indoctrination is contained in the 9th grade text book being used in the Bedford High School: We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution. This book was written by the Center for Civic Education.
Some of the critics note the Bill of Rights and the Constitution as presented in the text, dismiss these important documents as "creations of our culture".
It’s also noted how globally accepted principles need to be promoted at the expense of the U.S. founding documents. One would be wise to note that the book never treats fundamental liberty as truths. This contradicts the Declaration of Independence "We hold these truths to be self evident". The text refers to these as "ideas".
This review tells us that "While the book does mention the concept of "enumerated powers" as a historical matter (p. 70), it never mentions the one constitutional provision which today most clearly articulates this principle of a limited federal government. That provision is the Tenth Amendment."
They write: " the book treats our constitutional, unalienable rights as privileges which evolve over time. But the "rights" listed in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights are treated as universal principles that should be adopted in every nation. "
Political indoctrination may be easy to see when it comes directly through a TV screen and delivered by the President of the United States. Unfortunately many parents miss the more subtle ways the schools indoctrinate the students.
The question becomes, will students pay a price academically when the focus is on political indoctrination instead of academic excellence?
I find the indoctrination in the curriculum in need of more critical thought than any one time presidential speech.
