[IP] more on Pupils Being Given 'Patriotism' Tests in Washington State Schools
Begin forwarded message:
From: Tor Fosheim <tfosheim@xxxxxxxx>
Date: December 31, 2005 8:13:39 PM EST
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [IP] Pupils Being Given 'Patriotism' Tests in Washington
State Schools
Wow,
A little googling reveals that the "Politics, Patriotism and Protest
Opinionnaire" forms part of the recommended discussion activities after
reading Shakespeares play Julius Caesar;
http://www.bard.org/Education/Shakespeare/juliuscaesardisc.html
(taken from the National Council of Teachers of English discussion
boards)
The guide is prefaced with this paragraf:
1. In light of the 2000 presidential election controversy, have the
students
mark "Agree" or "Disagree" for each of the following statements, before
reading the play.
and syas at the end:
2. Now, have the students read the play and answer the questions again.
Discuss any changes. Are the answers dependent on the country and
period of
history? the character? the motivation?
So i guess theres no conspiracy here. Just an attempt to get students to
understand the dynamics of greed and power and (often misunderstood)
patriotism whilst getting some good reading done. Funny how a 500
year old
play can be so topical even today, though
Tor
(Happy new year!)
-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber [mailto:dave@xxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: 31. desember 2005 23:59
To: ip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [IP] Pupils Being Given 'Patriotism' Tests in Washington State
Schools
Begin forwarded message:
From: EEkid@xxxxxxx
Date: December 31, 2005 2:57:02 PM EST
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Pupils Being Given 'Patriotism' Tests in Washington State
Schools
Click the link at the bottom of the page to see a copy of the
questionnaire.
Pupils Being Given 'Patriotism' Tests in Washington State Schools
Children in Washington State are being given 'Patriotism tests' which
are
completely unrelated to their studies. The paper gauges whether or
not the
student shows fealty to the power of the state and whether the student
believes in the right to overthrow a corrupt government.
A reader from Washington State writes us to highlight a questionnaire
paper
handed out to her daughter and the rest of her 10th grade class.
The reader comments,
"We live in Washington state. My daughter is in 10th grade and found
this to
be interesting. She has a GPA of 3.75 and uses her brain.
This was given in her English class, and has nothing to do with the
materials they were studying. We thought you might be able to use
this. They
are grooming our kids. Keep up the great work. Christine."
The paper is shown below. Click for an enlargement.
Considering the fact that this paper is a complete one off in that it
is not
part of any standard curriculum, we must question the motivations
behind it.
Is the paper a means of gauging the level of obedience to the state
amongst
American teenagers?
We have covered several examples before where the government
identifies a
target group in society and canvasses their views on the nature of
power and
when that power goes too far. For example, in the 90's, American
marines and
national guard were occasionally asked if they would be willing to
fire on
American citizens in a time of crisis.
We are by no means against patriotism when it means love of country.
Unfortunately however, the new brand of so-called patriotism
translates as
worship of government, and that definition is something that the
founding
fathers never intended.
This may be an isolated case but if we receive anything similar then
watch
this space for any updates.
http://prisonplanet.com/articles/december2005/301205patriotismtests.htm
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