Posted under Education & Political Correctness
Here’s what’s being done to our children in the Federalized government schools:
A 10-year-old Hilton Head Island boy has been suspended from school for having something most students carry in their supply boxes: a pencil sharpener.
The problem was his sharpener had broken, but he decided to use it anyway.
A teacher at Hilton Head Island International Baccalaureate Elementary School noticed the boy had what appeared to be a small razor blade during class on Tuesday, according to a Beaufort County sheriff’s report. …
The boy — a fourth-grader described as a well-behaved and good student — cried during the meeting with his mom, the deputy and the school’s assistant principal.
He had no criminal intent in having the blade at school, the sheriff’s report stated, but was suspended for at least two days and could face further disciplinary action.
District spokesman Randy Wall said school administrators are stuck in the precarious position between the district’s zero tolerance policy against having weapons at school and common sense.
That last paragraph can be translated as: “We’re government employees — we’re not paid to think.”
And what has the boy and his friends learned? Some VERY valuable lessons for his future as a subject of an authoritarian regime:
1) You can be plucked from the crowd at any time, for any reason by the authorities, so you’d better be VERY respectful toward your handlers and not stand out in any way.
2) You will do whatever they say, no matter how unreasonable. There is no arguing with them.
3) You, too, will want to mindlessly follow the rules, just like your immediate handlers. It’s the only way you can feel empowered within such a system.
Don’t imagine for a moment that some error was made here. The school’s web site brags that it’s preparing its victims, I mean, Â students for “a rapidly changing global society.” Big Bureaucracies work hard to ingrain the attitudes demonstrated by the teacher, the deputy, and the school system’s spokescritter. And the apparent submission by the boy’s mother to the random, senseless application of other-worldly rules shows what kind of citizenry the government school system aims to create.
It’s people like her that keep such systems in business.
Andrew T. on 17 Sep 2008 at 10:15 pm #
We are literally PC’ing the human race out of existence.
csason on 18 Sep 2008 at 1:04 am #
Well my wife taught in the public school system for ten years..exceptional
students, and ESE also..
We kept ours out of the public system until this year..they are a sophomore and junior this year at a brand new behemoth of a school situated on 138 acres. They are the first year class.
Students must provide their own transportation, and it is kind of a charter school, each had to apply and they encourage the collegiate high program
they are both enrolled in..
Ok, with all that, here is the deal..
I support the zero policy and it is strange enforcing it at times, but you and I both know the kid that would be in the corner with the same device
saying “It’s just a pencil sharpener” , therefore making it an exception..
The only problem is you could probably trade it for a carton of smokes in prison..So, I don’t want it in school.
The school they attend has even a zero touch policy..
My wife quit after being assaulted the second time..the were slight incidents, but they were incidents, regardless.
roho on 18 Sep 2008 at 1:22 am #
Thank you Andrew T…………..This is most likely a cheezy, cheap, pencil sharpner, as we have all seen, with a tiny razor sealed inside of a plastic injection molding foundation that fell apart?……..He had enough sense to realize that the plastic never sharpened anything and the cutting edge was what actually did the job………..Do we want young students that think outside the box?
Hell Yea!!!…………..That is what allowed the Appolo 13 mission to actually succeed and return to earth!….All has seen the movie, so I want go into detail, but 20 years ago this action was called “Persiverence”!……..”Intestinal Fortitude”!…………”Tenacity”!
My God! Get this kid out of public education and into a worthy education system before he becomes a U.S. Robot that is trained by our Universal Education System to “Shut Down, Stop Thinking, and Wait Until a Government Employee Gives Direction!”
Weaver on 18 Sep 2008 at 11:07 am #
csason,
that’s an interesting point. So, because of political correctness and the fear that someone might be discriminated against, we need a mindnumbingly legalistic code – the alternative would allow those deserving of punishment to go unpunished.
So, yet another product of multiculturalism and the 14th amendment.
Alice Lillie on 18 Sep 2008 at 8:08 pm #
Oh! Gosh! This is outrageous beyond belief, although I have heard worse.
I wonder if it’s too late to turn things around. Probably, with the economic meltdown, which has been predicted for years by the Ludwig von Mises Institute and other free market economists.
The loss of civil liberties and the zero intelligence, er, I mean zero tolerance policies are all part of the same thing.
Government officials, who as the author pointed out, refuse to think or bend (like computers only stupider), are to be treated as though they were *better* than us peons.
Click my name and see my blog where I have reviewed some works of Murray Rothbard, who understood *exactly* what is happening!!!
Weaver on 19 Sep 2008 at 12:18 pm #
A free market approach would be declared discriminatory.
Someone would pull out statistics showing blacks are punished more severely than whites, and the choice would return to: mindnumbingly legalistic code or anarchy (where no one is punished).
The only solution is an end to multiculturalism… Decentralisation is the answer. As long as the federal government has the power to “reverse discriminate”, this won’t end.
csason on 19 Sep 2008 at 1:18 pm #
Yes, Weaver.. I am saying that Mrs. Pursley, a third grade black teacher I had in 1966, used a metal (gold colored) ruler on my open hand, in front of the class..
Because I had asked to go to the bathroom, but as soon as I was on the way, I looked back into the classroom, and made the typical ‘funny face’.
So, along with God..and the delegation of authority, having been removed not only from the classroom, but from the principal’s office as well, we now have police officer’s permanently stationed at most schools..All of them in Florida..School Resource Officers.
As my wife put it, as soon as you gave one child the well thought out
permission to use the crumbling tool as best they could, the next child would use the same reason to keep a weapon handy.
I will say my Daddy visited Mrs. Pursley…AND the principal, and asked that he be called if there were any other problems, again, something the globalists have no desire to see… an involved parent.
For all the BS you hear about “why aren’t the parents involved”, there are not only specific rules forbidding parental involvement in the “learning process” , but for years now the NEA (read globalist politburo)
have ‘taught’ the ‘uselessness’ of parents to teachers and students alike.
The school boards are heavily laden with ‘forward thinking’ types, and
to even further the issue, IF a parent shows up complaining about the treatment or education plan for their child, the teacher is the one that gets the high hand, not the student, not the parent..SO the effect is that the teacher ‘learns’ that the system offers them nothing ..except a glorified ‘babysitter’ position.. and no paddle.
Weaver on 19 Sep 2008 at 4:36 pm #
My point was more that school boards and parents as well as the faculty can’t make reasonable judgements because there’s this fear by society of discrimination against students. Only the police officers and judges are trusted – the higher up the chain of authority, the more trustworthy is the thinking.
This is the root of the problem you’re describing.
For what it’s worth, my parents were the same as yours though the teachers let me get away with far too much… My parents up and started a private school for their children, which has become strong if interested, though it’s not paleo friendly or anything: just academically sound. One or two of my cousins still attend there, and my sister coaches the tennis team part time. It’d be a drive for you though, so it’s probably not reasonable…
I don’t recall police officers in the local public schools, but I do recall all but the smartest students being totally undisciplined and uninterested in school. Wandering into a lower class, I’d see shouting teachers and students, boys grabbing girls, students throwing things, fights (sometimes brutal) etc. – it was bizarre. These students all belonged in a military academy – the lot of them.
I’m all for a return to appropriate discipline, as well as separating girls and boys and the bright from the dull, and allowing Christianity in the schools. But none of this may be done as long the federal government is ultimately in charge of the school system. And as well the 14th Amendment abuses must end: if a teacher is given authority but then sued in a court, what’s the difference?
Since you have children in the system, you might have more experience with it, but that’s my view at least. School is meant to pass on culture (whose culture each school must decide for itself) and discipline to students, and the students aren’t getting any – they’re unruly barbarians. And of course parental involvement should be welcomed, though I recall parents often getting in the way of discipline by defending problem students. So, parental involvement can become a problem, though the simple solution would be to just expel the problem students in such cases…
In public school there was this huge black girl named Anya who was always getting in trouble. She’d be sent to the vice principal’s office and I guess he’d baby sit her. I dunno her personal situation of course, but it seemed she’d have fared better by being treated like the rest of us. And other cases come to mind of just very active parents defending their precious demons.
csason on 21 Sep 2008 at 3:22 am #
The school system has suffered greatly not just form the absence of
God, but the implication that a Christian led life instills in children, a sense of right and wrong..good and bad, pass or fail.
The double edged sword of increased liability, in the form of risk management policies and globalist dogma is turning out scores of heathens and convenience store clerks.
Today’s NEA authorized curriculum includes the ‘right to fail’, as in walking in to class, and promptly falling asleep- and the teacher isn’t allowed to force the child to do anything. It also emphasizes ‘the learning process’ vs. actually learning the correct answer…in other words, my wife was
criticized for expecting correct answers, and was supposed to be happy if Sue or Johnny just ‘tried’ to get the right answer.
The absolute worst sign of discrimination I have seen is the sheer ostracizing she rec’d for not attending globalist training after hours in the system.
It is pretty awful.
I am pretty happy with the situation as it is…My last two are sophomore
and junior this year, and spent all of the prior years in a Christian private school, so they are well equipped for this change..but we will see.
Weaver on 22 Sep 2008 at 1:44 am #
That is aweful.
I used to detest, and frequently struggle to pass…, teachers who focused on busy work and such. It’s a nightmare for students who actually enjoy learning a little bit, though don’t enjoy stupid in-class discussions (why should the opinion of each student matter? We’re in class to hear the teacher and the experts in the book…) Admittedly much of my problems came from poor class room habits though, e.g. I had to relearn to pay attention in class and to keep track of when tests were supposed to be, heh… School is all about being organised and jumping through hoops while being given “self esteem”, not learning… Learning comes from on the job training nowadays, and real education comes almost exclusively from independent study.
Weaver on 22 Sep 2008 at 1:46 am #
The drive to my old school would be over an hour anyway… So, it wouldn’t be reasonable. After seeing how nightmarish other schools are (the smart ones are full of Asians, Yankees, foreigners, and propaganda; the Christian ones are full of a different sort of propaganda; and the dumb ones encourage general failure), I’ve realised my old school was pretty good. (It was ah nominally Christian and we did say prayers, but it was fairly liberal too. It’s probably changed a great deal since my finishing though – it’s grown a lot.)
I’m sure you’ll keep your kids in line.