*WTF!!!!!!!* o_O

[kriadydragon]

Um... yeah... okay, so... what the crap are schools teaching?

My mom was talking to my oldest sister the other day. Apparently my niece was taking some multicultural class and, well, apparently they were teaching something along the lines of how genetics decides everything.

For example: all African Americans are wired to be prone to a life of crime and poverty.

Uh... o_O ?????????????!!!!!!!!!!!???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, my sister was gobsmacked. Even worse, my niece was buying into it. Also worse, apparently they're teaching this in my nephew's highschool, and he's buying into it, and my sister is having a pain in the butt time trying to talk them out of that way of thinking. I just overheard while my mom and sister were talking about it, and it made me a little sick inside. I guess the class taught this about all races and cultures; how we're all wired to be a particular way according to race, and I'm like "who the crap approved this curriculum!" *headdesk*

It also scares me that my niece and nephew believe this, and who else might be buying into it as well. I really hope my sister, if not makes some complaints, at least spreads the word, or at least manages to get my niece and nephew un-brainwashed (my sister's a bit of a crusader so I can totally see her doing something).

Seriously, people, pay uber close attention to what your kids are learning in school. College kids included (and, maybe, especially? Speaking from experience, I've wasted good money on classes that weren't what they were advertised to be thanks to teachers with an agenda).

This is scary stuff :S It also makes me lean ever more toward homeschooling my own kids when I have some.

Comments

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

"...all African Americans are wired to be prone to a life of crime and poverty."


I guess environment, lack of parenting etc. have nothing to do with it??
THIS is what keeps it going generation through generation....
((((SIGHS)))))
BTW we learned in logic that you can NEVER say ALL because it is too inclusive suggesting
there is never any instance to suggest any difference
I find it disturbing to think a school therefore is teaching that sort of logic

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

This is why having all the schools textbooks be approved by a single committee in Texas made up of NON EDUCATORS is a horrid idea. Seriously, they approve what goes into them and they do not even have the education to make those choices.

Liberal or conservative, educators and historians should be the ones in charge not dentists.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/education/13texas.html

[kodiak-bear.livejournal.com]

Guarantee you that curriculum was approved because they were paid off essentially. So many programs in the schools aren't there because they are good but because the publishers paid the right people. Thankfully we homeschooled for most of our boys' education and they know enough to be intelligent thinkers instead of the good little sheep our system tries to create so often. :/

[tari-roo.livejournal.com]

I second your O.o and add my own *wave of bile*

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

BTW we learned in logic that you can NEVER say ALL because it is too inclusive suggesting

Amen to that. I hate it when society tries to wrap us all up in a neat little package. Because once you get down the the individual it throws all those attempts at grouping right out the window. Humanity has this nifty thing called agency. We decide who we're going to be, not genetics.

[vecturist.livejournal.com]

As someone who teaches college biology and has a pretty good background in genetics, I am shocked and horrified about what your niece is being taught. To put it mildly, that is not how genetics works.

Of course my high school biology text included a section on Creationism (this was in Texas).

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

Liberal or conservative, educators and historians should be the ones in charge not dentists.

Yes, and they need to take a firm stand, not be influenced by people with an agenda or the right amount of money. It sickens me hearing about how much history is being skewed, and what's being taught and what isn't being taught (I once heard of some history text book with this huge chunk dedicated to Merilyn Monroe but only a few paragraphs to World War Two. There was also a history class I took in college where we were supposed to learn about the Industrial Revolution and on. We never did, and I'm still rather ticked about it).

[nefhiriel.livejournal.com]

Having been homeschooled all my life, and loved it, I'm obviously biased (and definitely plan to homeschool any children I have). :P

But, yikes! That's terrible. Really terrible. :s There have got to be people just as outraged as your sister and you are about that sort of thing being allowed. I hope something gets done about it, pronto. Kids are so malleable, and that's not the kind of thing you want them hearing. While you know any teacher (whether that's mom and dad, or a public school teacher) is going to have their own set of principles and worldviews that they'll try to pass on to their students...still. >.

[sholio]

a;skdfjdkasdfl;dsk;;; that's APPALLING. *boggles*

I wish more class time was spent on teaching kids to think about what they're being taught rather than mindlessly siphoning up facts. Because, really, any school curriculum is going to reflect the social and political biases of the people who wrote it; there's just no way around that. And I wish that there was more emphasis on teaching kids critical thinking and fact-checking, rather than just accepting that something is true simply because a so-called expert or a textbook says that it is true.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

Thankfully we homeschooled for most of our boys' education and they know enough to be intelligent thinkers instead of the good little sheep our system tries to create so often. :/

Yeah. This is one of the reasons why my younger sister and I are seriously considering either homeschooling or a private school when we do have kids (and our future hubbies are going to be on board with this whether they like it or not).

It makes me glad I was raised a military brat, because I believe it helped me be a lot more open minded culturally and individually speaking. Our church teaches strongly about agency and how we are what we choose to be, and having lived and traveled so many places really helped to open my eyes to that concept (and I'm not saying people who grow up in one place are all closed minded! Not at all. I'm just saying traveling around helped me a lot).

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

I would have so raised a fuss if I'd had a class like that. Okay, told my mom and helped her raise a fuss, but a fuss would have been raised. Stuff like this needs to be nipped in the bud.

[sholio]

Having been homeschooled all my life, and loved it,

Hey, me too! *home school high-five*

It doesn't work for everybody. In fact, my brother is one of the ones it didn't work for (despite being smart, he just wouldn't do the work, and basically ended up with the equivalent of an 8th-grade education and no high school diploma). But it worked out great for me. When I got to college, I was worried that I'd have trouble because I'd never been in a classroom before, but found that the exact opposite was true - I was way better at self-discipline and time management than most of my public-school-educated classmates, and it was pretty easy to pick up the rest of it.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

It scares me the things being taught these days.

I was lucky to have gone to school in Texas before the creationism Vs. Evolution kerfuffle, and I always had teachers who were pretty respectful about what they taught and didn't try to shove either one down our throats. They taught in a way that was more along the lines of "here, you decide for yourself." Which was nice.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

I'm worried about people not being outraged enough because they aren't aware of what they're kids are learning (or, worse, they're so gullible they're just going with it because "the widdle textbook said so" :P) :S Ugh.

[tari-roo.livejournal.com]

Like the toxic little bud it is.

Its nice to know that the ability to choose and define one self by your actions is still so valued. Aieeee... I hope your sister gets her crusade boots on and kicks down some doors.

[nefhiriel.livejournal.com]

o/*\o

But, yes, you're about it not being for everyone. I think some people not only prefer, but also need the structure of a schoolroom environment. I can see how some of that structure could have been beneficial for me, too. But I also love the way learning at home taught me that learning is lifetime, everyday process.

Ah, pros and cons, pros and cons. ^^

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

I felt ill about it the rest of the night.

And I wish that there was more emphasis on teaching kids critical thinking and fact-checking, rather than just accepting that something is true simply because a so-called expert or a textbook says that it is true.

Yes, this. Very much, this. This is one of the reasons why it scared me to hear of my niece and nephew buying into the diatribe. They've been raised in a church that emphasis agency and study and learning for yourself, for crying out loud, and yet they're accepting this belief of being automatically hardwired to be this way or that. *shudders for the future* Oh I hope my sister is able to set them right.

[imbecamiel.livejournal.com]

Oh my word. That is horrible. Just... I can't even. And it makes things worse that it's all wrapped up in scientific terms, making kids all the more likely to think that "this is Science and therefore must be proven fact." It just makes me furious for so many reasons. There are already too many things that people are eager to blame entirely on "genetics" - thereby evading any sense of actual personal responsibility, and teaching people to too often default to thinking of the result as something more akin to a disease we're helpless against, rather than the much more complicated consequence of choices.

Trying to categorize people based on genetic predispositions is just bad news on so many levels, and even aside from the rampant prejudice it encourages, the long-reaching potential is quite frankly terrifying. Preemptively stepping in to monitor and "fix" people's behavior because "their genetics say they're likely to turn out in this way," anyone? Sure, proponents might be eager to point out how wonderful it'd be to, say, be able to see as a baby that someone's probably going to turn into a serial killer, and step in to make sure that doesn't happen, that they "get help" in time. But the consequences to society as a whole and ultimately all individuals would not even come close to compensating for the benefits of that kind of system. ("Ah, studies show you have the genetics of a killer. Therefore you are required to see a psychiatrist regularly, take all prescribed medication, oh, and are not permitted to purchase weapons. Just in case." "Well no, sir, I'm sorry, but no one's going to hire you for any sensitive positions. You have the genes of a likely embezzler, you see." "I know you've never actually done anything, never even received so much as a ticket for parking violations. But, well. Your genetics, you understand.") Seems far-fetched or paranoid, maybe, but that's where this kind of thinking leads in the end.

*deep breath* Heh. Yeah, this just makes me all the more thankful that I was homeschooled. And determined to do my best to homeschool my own children if and when that time comes. :/

[mmneely932.livejournal.com]

Out of curiosity, where is this being taught? (Praying that it isn't in the south as we get accused of so much, but deathly afraid that it is)

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

It definitely isn't the south, but other than that I'd rather not say. I don't want people to get the wrong idea and think everyone in that region is "OMG close-minded racists!" Especially if it's more or less an isolated situation (that is, not every school is teaching it, or it ends up being hopefully short-lived).

[mmneely932.livejournal.com]

Is it possible that they are actually teaching crimogenics and the kids just didn't grasp the whole idea, only part of it? I know I had a difficult time with that in college, the whole nature v. nurture, genetics v free will etc. It would be an awfully advanced theory to put before young children, but I can see where it could be approached in social studies, pysch or civics classes.
I guess I'm trying to find a way to say this is just not happening.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

Big yes to all of this. Especially this:

Seems far-fetched or paranoid, maybe, but that's where this kind of thinking leads in the end.

Very true. Bad things always start off small, seemingly harmless, even beneficial and wonderful. But they don't end up that way. You just have to look at WW2 and Hitler to know that (among other atrocities).

It's such a narrow-minded way to think that it boggles me that it found its way into schools. It's the kind of stuff you would think they taught only in the fifties, not today. Next thing you'll know they'll start teaching why women shouldn't be CEOs and men shouldn't cook and do the dishes. :S

[ninja007.livejournal.com]

whomever is pressing they teach that is a bigot of hugely proportional means. Holy shit. My anthropology teachers would have a fit.

Damn. Some people are just stupid.

[ninja007.livejournal.com]

Someone should make an anonymous phone call to the NAACP and inform them about what is being taught. Sic 'em!

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

I don't know. If that is the case then they need to stop because obviously it's blowing up in their faces. My niece learned it in some cultural diversity class or something, I can't remember what it's called.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

Stupid but influential and that's what's scary.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

The parents are the ones who need to take a stand and say we're not going to put up with this, not just to stop what is happening but to hopefully prevent something similar from happening again.

[timespirt.livejournal.com]

Someone should report them to the state. I was never taught that in school and I doubt teaching what I would deem a form of racism is something that all schools are teaching.

[flingslass.livejournal.com]

What on EARTH??? I want to say some expletive deleteds but not delete the expletives. You wonder why people have such bigoted outlooks with this kind of teaching! I guess with my criminal ancestry I'm made for stealing cows!