The proper salute for the USA Pledge Of Allegiance 1892-1942
The father’s story at the bottom of this post is a typical public school tale. Incompetent, indifferent, emotional bullies and other varieties of people who should be in some business OTHER THAN developing our children are stuck in the wrong place. By virtue of geography, district lines and random class assignments, our children may spend the majority of their waking hours in a place destructive of their development… for one year, or maybe even year after year.
The indoctrination system we have is exactly what we can expect from one absent competition. With state-mandated attendance and no real-world performance measurements, state-licensed group leaders deliver a state-controlled catechism. It was most likely my exposure to it as a father that began my journey to the libertarian perspective in the first place.
A near suicidal daughter made me realize that what she needed was a supportive father rather than one more adult in her life trying to pound a round peg into a square hole. She could not perform for them. I quit helping them beat her up for that and reconnected with my daughter.
I then found a Waldorf school that cost me more than I thought I had. There she EXCELLED. They reached her. They fit her. They respected her. She was inspired to study and do schoolwork from when she got home until late at night. She moved from 4th grade level to 8th grade level in one year. But their school was only K-8. She returned to the grinder the next year. I got called to the high school office from work because they discovered a forgotten Swiss Army knife in her backpack.
Cool beans. She got a few days off. “When does she have to come back?” was about all I wanted to know. They weren’t dazzled with my cavalier attitude. They get palpitations over a pocket knife and think I have problems??? I could go on about others with suspensions and terminations for drawing pictures of a gun, or a soldier with a gun or other ridiculous stuff, but what really started me on this topic was my friend with his story of unsupported bad marks for his son and absence of coherent response to his concerns.
John,
What do we know for sure here?
1. The indoctrination / education system in place was developed on the Prussian model to form obedient followers, stifle creativity and eliminate independent thinking.
2. You desire a child reared to question authority, explore creativity and think independently.
Your goals for your child and their goals for your child will always be in direct opposition.
Frontal assault will result in loss for the individual against the army.
You are going to have to be smarter than your enemy.
You may begin thinking strategically any time now.
Were I in your position without the ability to home school INSTEAD of sending him to the public school, I would arm him against their assaults. I would encourage him to think always, and act intelligently IN SPITE of his environment. He might as well get used to playing the role of the mole. Therein lies his best chance for long-term survival. (You might learn this together. It will be good for you). 😉
Don’t demand high levels of approval for him from the government drones. If he can get them to move him on, he is winning. If he avoids conflict, he is learning. If he is interested in the real world and real knowledge, TEACH HIM. Give him tools. Take him places. Get him books. Show him the other side of every history lesson they shove in his face. Challenge him to think. Demonstrate respect for his thoughts.
Meanwhile, he and you both have to realize that AUTHORITIES demand certain things from us. Until the critical thinkers reach critical mass, he must wear camo.
This isn’t tough. The enemy is neither clever nor intelligent. For him it will be child’s play. I know. I was that child. Though I didn’t know it at the time, I had them outwitted. If he grows up winning that game with the lower orders of drones, he will evolve to outwit the more intelligent ones at the top of the heap. Those are the children of OUR future, if we have any hope at all.
My son is enrolled in public school. I’m not made out of money, and I can’t afford to subsidize the neighborhood kids’ education and finance my son’s private one simultaneously. I can’t home school him because my wife and I both work and nobody would be home with the boy to help him with his work.
At this lovely public institution, my son has elective courses. Currently, he’s in a drama class. Now then, I have access to view Derek’s grades on their website, and I noticed that Derek received some poor marks on several assignments. Who in the blue hell ever got a failing grade in any elective course, let alone a subjective one such as drama? So, I sent along an email to his teacher asking if Derek was failing to participate, or acting up, or simply failing the assignments.
One week later, I received an email “response”. It was a single sentence that “Derek was doing okay in his class”. It didn’t answer a single one of my questions, nor did it impress me. So, I sent another email to the principal voicing my dissatisfaction with this teacher’s apparent lack of giving a shit. One week later, I get an email back from this bureaucrat where she made it abundantly clear that she had her staff member’s back.
Now then, I wasn’t exactly rude with the email I’d sent to the principal regarding this teacher’s verbose response, but I felt compelled to voice my displeasure with being snubbed. I equated his level of customer service to that of what one routinely receives at the DMV. Apparently, the principal took offense to that and decided I could piss off. So, I got really fired up and sent her a reply email that is most certainly rude. She is now aware of exactly what I think of public education, and her goddamn school.
I’m tempted to go down there, because I’d like my questions answered. However, I’m certain somebody is going to get yelled at, and somebody may be escorted off campus by people with guns and badges.
So, how should I approach this situation? Does anyone have any ideas about alternatives to sending my kid to a gulag every day that I haven’t thought of?