History and Old Books
If there's one thing that the new experts in education don't want, it's children grounded in and informed by history and old books. Does your local school have a Constitution Day parade? If we want kids to know about these important things, we may need to find a way other than school to help them learn. Harvard, in the news this week, has warned against old books, like hard cover reading, writing and arithmetic books, or even . . . the Bible! Quelle horreur!
That was 2020. Of course, the other implication of this artwork is that homeschoolers will be trapped away from play with other children by their prison-keeper parents who only care about "the basics". This does not reflect the reality of the home schooling world, where children tend to have more experience with a wide variety of people.
J.J. Sefton picked up an interesting piece in his Thursday Morning Report that could serve as the basis for an interesting activity for kids, especially teens who care about their rights. Okay, Bill of Rights Day was yesterday. Doesn't matter:
December 15th marks Bill of Rights Day, which commemorates the 232nd anniversary when the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution were ratified. December 15th should be a day all Americans reflect on the unique blessings the Bill of Rights safeguards - the freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, and being protected from undue searches and seizures, to name just a few.
But Bill of Rights Day also offers us the opportunity to reflect upon another unique aspect of our republic: the Preamble to the United States Constitution.
Originally penned by Gouverneur Morris, the Preamble states, "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain this Constitution for the United States of America."
And although today we can find little to argue with in such beautiful - and familiar - language, at the time of its framing, and immediately after, the Preamble was the subject of much debate, all intimately tied to the deliberations that resulted in the Bill of Rights.
This language may not be familiar to most kids. Making it sound beautiful to them may also take some effort.
The ideas might also be more interesting to some kids than others. Do you find this to be true? Starting in-home education early may be a good idea, when possible:
Something I hear from parents constantly is that their daughters are embracing critical social justice ideology and their sons are rejecting it completely. I see the same dynamic in families I know personally. . .
This seems like a bad development to me, for several reasons. I kind of like the idea of young men and young women getting along with each other. How about you?
A stupid and provocative development in education right here - the last time this happened, it was a woman who was sworn in:
A Virginia school board member was sworn into office Wednesday on a stack of porn. Because this is 2024 America, where such things have become not only commonplace, but laudable.
His name is Karl Frisch, and he's the newest member of the Fairfax County School Board in Fairfax, Virginia. If that rings a bell, it might be because it's the same hard-left school board that got caught withholding National Merit Awards from students last year for "equity." Or it could be because they shucked out nearly half a million in taxpayer cash to promote "equal outcomes for every student, without exception," regardless of their actual achievements, grades, or work ethic.
So perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise that Frisch took his oath of office with his right hand placed solidly on a stack of books that contain pornographic imagery, graphic sexual content, and explainers on oral and anal sex.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley introduces legislation to fight book bans
There was some discussion in another post this week about James Lindsay's thoughts as a non-Christian on advantages of Christian theology. Maybe it's best not to ban those Bibles:
Abigail Shrier, June 2021: The Books Are Already Burning
The question is only: How long will decent people stand by quietly and watch it happen?
One hundred and forty-six people in Halifax, Nova Scotia wait on a list to borrow a library book. A question hangs over them: Will activists let them read it?
The book is mine -- Irreversible Damage -- and it is an investigation of a medical mystery: Why is the number of teenage girls requesting (and obtaining) gender reassignment skyrocketing in the United States, Canada, Scandinavia and Europe? In Great Britain, it's up 4,400% over the last decade.
Though it shouldn't be, this has become a highly controversial area of inquiry. The book is an exploration of why so many girls would, in such a short timeframe, decide they are transgender. And it raises questions about whether they're getting appropriate medical treatment.
The book is not about whether trans people exist. They do. And it is not about adults who elect to medically transition genders. As I have stated endlessly in public interviews and in Senate testimony, I fully support medical transition for mature adults and believe that transgender individuals should live openly without fear or stigma.
Yet since publication, I have faced fierce opposition -- not just to the ideas presented, challenged, or explored -- but to the publication of the book itself. A top lawyer for the ACLU called for it to be banned. Powerful organizations like GLAAD have lobbied against it and pressured corporations -- Target and Amazon among others -- to remove Irreversible Damage from their virtual shelves.
There's a pattern to such censorship campaigns. . .
Mental Health
Paraphrase of Jonathan Haidt: Here is a 14th explanation for the teen mental health crisis which does not work: parents are increasingly abusive since 2010 (they are not).
Nobody has yet proposed an explanation for the crisis that works -- especially internationally -- other than the rapid teen transition from flip phones to smart phones around 2012. This also explains why academic achievement stopped rising around 2012 and started declining, as shown in both NAEP and PISA scores. Students with smartphones pay less attention to teachers, and to fellow students.
Data on studies for all 14 explanations available at the link.
Maybe parents and schools are accidentally abusive by being too attentive. Abigail Shrier is releasing a book at the end of February: BAD THERAPY: Why the Kids Aren't Growing Up
A single question motivates BAD THERAPY: Why does the generation that received the most therapy, the most mental health diagnoses, the most psychiatric medication also seem to have the worst mental health? How did a generation raised so gently come to believe it had experienced debilitating trauma? And when faced with tasks teenagers a generation ago handled with ease, why are so many of todays young people falling apart? Why are they not able to do for themselves? Why are they not growing up?
BAD THERAPY is the product of hundreds of interviews with parents, teenagers, child psychiatrists, academic psychologists, sociologists, parenting coaches, teachers and school counselors. And what I learned is this: The experts are a big part of the problem. For more than a generation, our mental health experts have been treating healthy young people, making them sick, feeding the well into an unending mental health pipeline.
But we parents can fix this. . .
America threw more preventative "mental health resources" at Gen Z than at any generation prior. Therapeutic techniques guided how these kids were parented. Our kids were treated to "Social Emotional Learning," and "Empathy Education," and "Restorative Justice" at school.
Well, she was ahead of the curve on late onset transgenderism . . . .
Many of these "therapies" also involve overly powerful organizations tracking kids in creepy ways . . .
Weekend
Maybe this is a good time to relax a little and spend some time with a kid, maybe even outdoors! Maybe even read something good to a kid.
Got plans?
Don't send the kids to Harvard to study liberal arts.
Steven Hayward: The Week in Pictures: Gay Context Edition
Music
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring; Medley
Hope you have something nice planned for this weekend.
This is the Thread before the Gardening Thread.
Last week's thread, December 9, California Rant
Comments are closed so you won't ban yourself by trying to comment on a week-old thread. But don't try it anyway.