Patriotism in School

[slontwovvy]

I was reading an article by William Bennett in The American Legion magazine (I'm not a member but I know someone who is). The statistics he used frightened me. Only one out of three college seniors could identify George Washington as the American general at Yorktown, only one in four could identify James Madison as the "Father of the Constitution" only one in five could identify the phrase "government by the people, for the people..." as being from the Gettysburg Address.

 

They also had a case where a man attempted to post portraits of George Washington in public schools (I believe it was New Jersey). Out of the 2400 he purchased, only 60 were posted because schools didn't want to offend anyone by posting them.

 

Lastly, the state of New Jersey also removed Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, the Pilgrims and the Mayflower from their required state curriculum.

 

Does anyone else think that we are destroying America? Only Scouting really provides a chance to learn about patriotism, respect for the flag, etc. We must do our utmost to teach our Scouts about their country, since it is apparent that their schools are not doing so.

[sctmom]

It is also about we need to know our history. I recently read that George Washington is losing ground in rankings of best presidents, when students are asked to do the ranking. Maybe this is why!

 

Have any of you looked at your kid's social studies / history books lately? My son is in the 5th grade, his book is about American History. I have tried to help him study. The are no lists of terms and questions at the end of each chapter. Each page is full of pictures and sidebars, making it very distracting to read. I can't figure out what he is supposed to know. I guess this falls into the "dumbing down" category. Rote memorization is not always a bad thing. The few discussion questions in his book seem to be phrased as "How do you think the soldiers felt?". Now, I'm pretty liberal, but 5th graders need to know the facts first.

 

My son is barely passing Social Studies, yet he loves to read about history and watch history shows on PBS and the History Channel. We went to the Carter Presidential Musuem this weekend and he told me lots of details about the Iran hostage situation, including how they were released once a new president was in place. But he is failing social studies?

 

[ScoutParent]

Items like US puzzles where states are the pieces, presidential placemats, history pocket trivia games are inexpensive and help teach a child social studies from a young age. Trips to museums, especially living history ones, are great for young children. We've taken our son to Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown Settlement, Presidential houses, Smithsonian, plantations,natural bridge, niagara falls and he loves those types of trips still. Don't forget to include a section on independent thinking and have them read some of the books that are no longer included in school like Anthem, Animal Farm, 1984, etc.

[Quixote]

sctmom,

 

I understand exactly what you're talking about, my 5th grader in NJ must be reading the same book for social studies (btw, what ever happened to HISTORY?). The math program is better than when we were kids (at least at my school), but american history, state history, world history are all exercises in trying to understand how people (usually the downtrodden) felt about things. Social Studies has become sensitivity training.

 

One of the fun things your den can do is to conduct a flag ceremony at school - fulfills a requirement as well as provides a service to the school.

[sctmom]

My son's former pack does the flag ceremony at the PTA meetings each month. Also, the school does do the pledge every morning. I have found that young children, especially boys, are very fascinated with the flag. What a great oppurtunity to teach!

 

My son's teacher has 2 main activities the kids have done ALL year --- one is draw maps. They have copied almost every map out of that book. The other is draw pictures of people. My problem with this is that even some great artist have a problem drawing people. My son seems to be gaining nothing from this. But tell him something is "trivia" and it is locked into his brain.

 

Quixote said:

"Social Studies has become sensitivity training."

That's a good way of putting it.

When my son was studying Reconstruction (post Civil War), there was a section in his book about sharecroppers. It lead the kids to believe all sharecroppers were black. Wrong! Many were white, including my grandparents. Not to mention how sharecropping has really been around for centuries, often called by other names.

 

Right after that, I saw a letter to a newpaper where a lady said "sharecropping was started after the Civil War to help blacks". Guess she had never heard of land barons in the Europe.

[Rooster7]

Quixote,

 

Math has no politics.

 

sctmom,

 

History is all about politics. How a story from the past is presented to our children today, may very well determine who will be president in 20 years. Many look upon conservatives with disdain because we point to the liberalization of our institutions and cry foul. Your complaint concerning your son's history book demonstrates this fact. I hope you're a member of the PTA. I hope you show the same fire there as you do on this board. Better yet, take a good look at the candidates running for your local board of education (next year?).

 

As for your son's grade...obviously, your son would do much better if he got in touch with his feelings ...why memorize all of those boring facts?

[Weekender]

It seems more like social engineering than socials studies. We were fed up by third grade and homeschooling by 4th. I know homeschool is not the answer for everyone but for those who are considering it...it was THE best thing we have EVER done about our childrens education.(This message has been edited by Weekender)

[Quixote]

Rooster,

 

Only when it involves some guy named Chad.

[sctmom]

Rooster writes:

"As for your son's grade...obviously, your son would do much better if he got in touch with his feelings ...why memorize all of those boring facts? "

 

Feelings? Hey, when I was that age my parents and teachers told me what I would think and feel!!

 

 

No, I'm not on the PTA, since it only seems to be about fundraising (i.e. selling junk) to buy school playground equipment. Some of the principals around here have started an "advisory committee" made up of parents and teachers that meet 4 times a year to discuss issues. That is not very effective either. Not to mention I have only recently learned to be adamant about things (thanks to BSA..LOL).

 

 

 

[slontwovvy]

I just find it appalling what passes for history in our nation's schools. Sadly enough, in most public schools, the "don't offend anyone" rule gets put into play. The KKK is pictured as just a little men's club, not the lynching, disrespectful and racist organization it is. Slavery is covered over, so as to make believe that it never happened. They can't even discuss Thomas Jefferson in some places because he owned slaves.

 

Schools are focusing too much time and effort on the so-called "emotional needs" of the child while neglecting the real information they need to live.

 

"Those who don't learn their history are doomed to repeat it."

[sctmom]

I took a look again at my son's 5th grade American History textbook last night. It is published by Harcourt Brace and called "United States in Modern Times". Each chapter is made up of 3 or 4 "lessons". The teacher gives a test on each "lesson". I noted one 40 page chapter had 8 terms at the end to study and about 8 short discussion questions. Each lesson has some discussion questions. Thumbing through the book I saw the question of "What would you have felt living in the dust bowl?"

 

The other assignment my son recently was related to a book their were reading for "language arts". They had to write an essay to answer this question: "Would you give your life to save someone else's life?"

 

My problem with this is that I'm not sure that 10 and 11 year old kids have the cognitive ability to answer these questions. Their brains are not fully developed in some areas. They are just beginning to understand the world outside of themselves. I remember at that age having a hard time understanding that school went on as usual without me there!

 

[sctmom]

Oh, one other thing I found in the Social Studies book was sort of funny. It was a picture of an old painting with the caption of "Daniel Boone lead settlers through the Cumberland Gap". The funny part was that in the picture one guy is dressed completely in white -- white shirt, pants and boots. AND it was SPOTLESS!

Yeah, right! LOL

He has been traveling on foot and horseback through the wilderness in WHITE and is clean!! They also all looked like they had just showered and shaved! Also, the trail is nice, clean and wide -- no leaves, limbs, etc.

 

Now think about what you looked like after your last 2 night campout, where you drove in a car and camped in a "developed" area.

 

 

[Rooster7]

Interesting observation...But how did Daniel feel about his white pants?

[sctmom]

Rooster, that is TOO funny! LOL

 

Perhaps he felt "lovely" and I should not judge the way he dressed.

 

As a Scouter, I'm wondering did he practice Leave No Trace ethics (doubt it!). Did this cause him guilt in his later years?

 

 

[eisely]

I may be revealing something more about my age, but when I grew up "leave no trace" was something that thieves and murderers aspired to. Not quite as old as Daniel Boone though.