The Purpose of Education

The Purpose of Education  by Stanley Jebb
"What is education for?  Surely it is to prepare children for life..."

Education vs. Training  by Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld
"Education, ... is concerned with the development of the mind, of the intellect, ... its main purpose is the enhancement of an individual's ability to use his mind for his own personal pleasure or gain..."

The Religious Nature of Education  by David Sant
"Most [people] think of education as a value-neutral arena in which children are taught the knowledge and skills they need to function as adults in society.  [But] we must realize that education is inherently religious.  What is education, if not teaching children about the way the world works?..."
 

Do State/Public Schools Educate?

The Exhausted School  by John Taylor Gatto
"Keep in mind as I speak that I spent 26 years in public [state] school classrooms. My perspective is that of an insider, not an outsider..."

The Problem of Schooling  by John Taylor Gatto
"Experts have consistently misdiagnosed and misdefined the problem of schooling..."

Public [State] Education The Point of No Return: Are We There?  by Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld
"In April 1983 the National Commission on Excellence in Education issued its now historic report, A Nation at Risk, in which it said: 'The educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a nation and as a people.' Then it added a comment which must have raised a lot of eyebrows:..."

The Charade of Education Reform  by Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld
"When we saw President George Bush and Sen. Ted Kennedy on television billing and cooing over the new education bill, fittingly called 'No Child Left behind', we knew that the reform is as phony as all the previous reforms that were supposed to leave no child behind..."

Goals 2000: Another Fed Fiasco  by Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld
"Back in February 1990, when President Bush proposed his Goals 2000 initiative in his State of the Union address, I expressed my usual skepticism over any government program that promises to 'solve' our education problem with catchy slogans..."

The Psychopathic School: The Failure of Modern Education  by John Taylor Gatto
"We live in a time of great school crisis linked to an even greater social crisis. ... We seem to have lost our identity. Children and old people are penned up and locked away from the business of the world to a degree without precedent; ... and without children and old people mixing in daily life a community has no future and no past, only a continuous present. ... School is a major actor in this tragedy..."

Confederacy of Dunces: The Tyranny of Compulsory Schooling  by John Taylor Gatto
"Old-fashioned dumbness used to be simple ignorance: you didn't know know something, but there were ways to find out if you wanted to. ... Now dumb people aren't just ignorant; they're the victims of the non-though of second-hand ideas..."

Mudshill Theory, the Lancaster Amish, and Jaime Escalante  by John Taylor Gatto
"The current system of government factory schooling is based on a belief that ordinary children cannot accomplish much, will not work hard unless coerced, tricked, or bribed, and will inevitably work for the balance of their post-school lives - if they work at all - in large government, corporate, or institutional employment pyramids managed by a professional elite..."

The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America  by Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt
"In 1971 when I returned to the United States after living in the West Indies for three years, I was shocked to find public education had become a warm, fuzzy, soft, mushy, touchy-feely experience, where its purpose had become socialization, not learning..."

When Teachers Become Psychotherapists  by Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld
"Most parents of public school children are unaware that teachers ... are now practicing psychotherapy in the classroom without a license. Not only do they not have a license, but they haven't even had adequate training. In fact, many teachers don't even know that they are practicing psychotherapy. They think that what they are doing has something to do with education..."

Three Rules for This Evening's Class  by Victor Gonzales
"Good evening. ... Tonight we hope to teach you something about school... and something about education..."

Ten Good Reasons to Keep Your Child in Public [State] Schools  by Joel Turtel
"Here are ten reasons why parents should keep their kids in public [state] schools...

Public Schools - Public Prisons  by Joel Turtel
"Why have we put our children into education prisons called public [state] schools?  What crimes have they committed? ... Do I exaggerate by calling these schools 'prisons'? Well, let's compare prisons and public schools..."
 

The New Education

General Articles

Brave New Schools: Introduction - Before You Begin  by Berit Kjos
"Remember the frog that landed in a pan of water and stayed until it boiled? Had the pan been hot, the frog would have noticed and hopped out. But the water felt cool at first, and the frog sensed no danger. It simply relaxed and conformed to the gradual change. Subdued by the rising heat, it grew too sluggish to act. By the time the water boiled, the frog was dead..."

Outcome-Based Education: Behavioral Psychology in the Classroom  by Gene Zimmer
"Do you want your first grader to be taught arithmetic by using a calculator, or to guess at words rather than read? Do you want him to do his very best and then be given another child's grade? Do you want educators to change the beliefs and behaviors you have taught your child? Do you want homosexuality, bisexuality and transsexuality to be taught as normal and acceptable?..."

Education Reform for the New World Order  by Al Dager
"The traditional classroom where the teacher dispensed information to students who were expected to learn certain facts and truths is being done away.  In its place is a new, unstructured 'teaching environment' in which the teacher will no longer teach, but 'facilitate' the learning process..."

Education and the New World Order  by Erica Carle
"An organization called the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) which is an offshoot of the National Education Association and a promoter of the New World Order, has claimed power to determine what students should learn and should not learn in history, geography, government, economics, religion, psychology, etc..."

Public Education or Pagan Indoctrination? A Report on New Age Influence in the Schools  by Craig Branch
"'What did you learn in school today?' used to be a fairly benign question to ask one's children, but this is no longer the case. Thousands of parents ... are awakening to the startling reality that there is something terribly wrong infecting public education. What these parents are beginning to understand is that the New Age movement has made significant inroads into the educational establishment and has infused many curricula and programs with its practices and ideology..."

Education or Indoctrination?  by L. Michael
"Imagine a country where the curriculum taught in preschool through college is designed by humanists and based on occultism. ... A place where the school system ... is designed to directly undermine parents' authority and destroy the natural child-parent relationship..."

The Fraud of Education Reform  by Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld
"There was a time when the NEA openly admitted that its goal was world government. In a 1946 NEA Journal editorial ... the editor wrote, 'In the struggle to establish an adequate world government, the teacher has many parts to play..."

Humanism and Public Education  by Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld
"In the January/February 1983 issue of The Humanist magazine, a young scholar by the name of John J. Dunphy expressed the aim of humanists in education with these very blunt words: 'I am convinced that the battle for humankind's future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly perceive their role as proselytizers of a new faith'..."

Columbine High and New Age Philosophy  by Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld
"One of the reasons why the educrats ... focused on guns as the chief cause of the Littleton massacre is because Columbine High School was supposed to be the kind of progressive school where such things could never happen..."

Glossary of Education Terms  by Berit Kjos
"Most of these definitions come from the glossary in Brave New Schools.  Hopefully this will help ... parents identify: (a) Educational terms that sound nice but hide a contrary meaning, ...  As time permits, we plan to add more definitions..."

Reinventing the World: The Seamless System  by Berit Kjos
"Strange new labels have begun to define our schools, workplaces, clinics and other institutions. We all hear them, but few understand them: OBE, STW, TQM, CGM, PDC, HMO, Third Way... What do they really mean? ... Who defines the terms and sets the standards?..."

Reinventing the World: The Mind-Changing Dialectic Process  by Berit Kjos
"The world's path to success is changing fast. In the new 21st-century institution - be it a school, church, corporation or government - hard work and dedication won't suffice. Getting ahead in the global community will mean compromise, conformity, group thinking and submission to the ground rules of the consensus process..."

Reinventing the World: Managing the Masses Through Global Standards and Continual Assessments  by Berit Kjos
"We are told that globalization calls for accountability and that accountability demands uniform, universal standards. That sounds reasonable, doesn't it? But what about standardized people? Or standardized beliefs and values?..."

Moulding Human Resources for the Global Workforce  by Berit Kjos
"Do you wonder who really plans your child's education? What their true motives are? ... You will find some revealing answers at UNESCO's website on Worldwide Action in Education..."

Brainwashing in America: Why Few Dare Call It Conspiracy  by Berit Kjos
"Brainwashing is not, as some anti-Christian educators and students contend, the Biblical process of training our children to love and follow God. The word 'brainwashing' refers to a planned, step-by-step attempt to 'wash' family-taught beliefs from the minds of those who oppose government ideology..."

Mind Control: How to Resist Three UNESCO Strategies for Training Children to Reject Truth...  by Berit Kjos
"'You're going to consult an oracle. It will tell you that you're going to kill your best friend. This is destined to happened and there is absolutely no way out...'.  Emotional shock therapy has become standard fare in public [state] schools from coast to coast. It produces cognitive dissonance - mental and moral confusion..."

Using Children to Spy on Families: Changing Values and Monitoring Minds in the Guise of 'Prevention'  by Berit Kjos
"Theater and role-playing are powerful tools for social change. ... T.A.L.K. Theater fits right in. 'It's psychological examination on the students without parental consent'..."

All Men Are Good by Nature  by David Norris
A "line of thinking that has influenced modern education" ... is that of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), known as 'Romanticism'. Rousseau believed "that everything was good as it came from the hand of God and Nature, but all things deteriorate in the hands of men. ... In 1762, Rousseau published Emile, a classic guide to education according to nature..."

Teen Rage and Deadly Delights (Part One)  by Berit Kjos
"Social changes that drive teens to irrational rage..."

Teen Rage and Deadly Delights (Part Two)  by Berit Kjos
"Using violence to justify snooping, snitching and statist control..."

Public Schools: Manufacturing Center for Mindless, Immoral Slaves  by Rob Ronning
"The world system being placed into operation realizes that the family is the backbone of resistance to their plans, and that children are the key to the final implementation of their designs. A battle is raging on many fronts for the minds and futures of our children, and the public school system is one of the main battlefields..."

14-Year-Olds Studying Al Qaeda Propaganda in Schools  (4 February 2007)
"Pupils as young as 14 are being exposed to Al Qaeda propaganda in history lessons, experts have claimed..."

Pre- and Primary Schooling / Literacy / Dyslexia

The New Illiteracy  by Charles J. Sykes
"Joan Wittig and Beverly Jankowski are not experts. They just didn't understand why their children weren't learning to write, spell, or read very well. They didn't understand why their children kept coming home with sloppy papers filled with spelling mistakes and bad grammar and why teachers never corrected them or demanded better work..."

How Public [State] Schools are Destroying the American [British] Brain  by Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld
"Have you ever corrected a teenager on a bit of factual information, or a misspelling, or an incorrect usage of the language, and gotten the response, 'Whatever'? ... Where does this casual, numb response come from?..."

Why Children Fail  by Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld
"It is said that only about 20% of all Americans can be considered truly literate, in the sense that they can deal with the written word at any level..."

A Child's Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste  by Joel Turtel
"About two years ago, I became a volunteer reading instructor in a local public [state] school. I wanted to teach kids to read for a few reasons..."

How to Dumb Down a Nation  by Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld
"Easy. Destroy its literacy. ... And once dumbed down, it becomes the potential victim of any power that wants to dominate it..."

Whole language: Deconstruction in the Primary School  by Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld
"The ultimate goal of the whole language movement—described by its promoters as “nothing short of a grass-roots revolution in education”—is the replacement of our biblically based Christian civilization by a world pagan, socialist system. This may sound like an extreme statement..."

Defining Whole Language  by Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld
"The other day, I received an e-mail from a lady in California who asked, 'What on earth is the whole-language system?' ... Fortunately, the answer is easy to give, because whole-language professors have been quite open in defining what they mean by their pedagogic philosophy. So I shall quote some salient passages from their writings..."

Look-See Reading Method vs. Phonics: How Psychologists Have Destroyed Reading Ability  (Gene Zimmer)
"Given its importance, it is not surprising that the dispute over the teaching of reading is the site of some of the most intense and emotional battles in the school wars..."

Dyslexia: The Man-Made Disease  by Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld
"For years I have been telling parents and educators that the kind of reading difficulties afflicting perfectly normal children in our schools today are being caused by the teaching methods and not by any defect in the children themselves..."

The Season for Dyslexia  by Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld
"What most parents don't realize is that the reason why their child is having a problem learning to read is because of the way he or she is being taught..."

Newsweek and Dyslexia  by Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld
"In the sight approach, children ... are taught to look at each word as a whole configuration, ... This sort of practice produces the symptoms of dyslexia: reading words backwards, reversing letters when writing, gross misspellings, word guessing, ... etc. The reason why dyslexia is so hard to cure is because the child has acquired a holistic reflex..."

Our Lobotomized Children  by Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld
"Some months ago, a father brought his 15-year-old, ninth-grade son to me to be tested. This very intelligent boy had a reading problem which was preventing him from advancing in his education. ... This youngster was no different from so many others I have worked with over the last 30 years. He was a typical sight-reader..."

Language as a Battlefield  by David Norris
"[I]f the way in which we use language can be undermined, so can the authoritarian belief-systems which determine it and society can be changed. ... Language generally and grammar in particular reflect precisely the way we look at things. ... Those able to influence the way language is used will also direct the way in which the users of that language think. ... Educationalists, ... have dictated the methods by which children are taught to read and use the English language..."

Friedrich Froebel's Kindergartens  by John Taylor Gatto
"Since in Froebel's scheme the sacred scientific undertaking of state schooling suffered from the 'state of raw material brought to it' his plan was to gently remove or weaken the influence of parents, transferring it to 'gardeners of children' ... That Froebel's purpose has been substantially achieved in the West is the curse of our time and lies at the heart of the problem of modern schooling..."

Psychologist Warns of 'Educational Television' Myth  (12 February 2008)
"[F]or Dr. Aric Sigman, ... the author of 'Remotely Controlled: How Television is Damaging Our Lives', the battle against what he calls the 'recreational junk food' of TV is one well worth fighting. ... 'There is a definite inverse relationship between time spent watching any kind of television or screen when you are young and your ability to read and concentrate when you are older'..."

Science and Just-So Stories

Kid Con: How Biology Texts Mislead High School Students  by Gordon Howard
"I have been a high school music teacher for over 40 years and recently retired from full-time teaching.  Since then I have been casually employed as a supply and short-contract teacher, and had the opportunity to see the text books and lesson plans for a wide variety of school subjects..."

Theory of Evolution: Fact or Fairy Tale?  by Dr. Samuel Blumenfeld
"Back in 1987 the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a 1981 Louisiana law which mandated a balanced treatment in teaching evolution and creation in the public schools. ... The court adopted the atheist position that creation is a religious myth..."

God the Educator (Integrating Evolutionary Theory into Educational Practice)  by Dr. Samuel Blumenfeld
"Telling children that they are animals, part of the animal kingdom, and training them as animals has been the downfall of American education. ... We are producing barbaric children and young adults who do not know how to use their minds because they no longer have them. ... For as long as behavioral psychologists control the curriculum, including the content and instruction methods of public education, the schools will never be able to attain the intellectual competence they once were capable of..."

Environmental and Ecological Studies

Saving the Earth  by Berit Kjos
"With today's emphasis on whole education, thematic learning, and integrated curriculum, it's difficult to know where environmental education begins and other studies (math, reading, social studies...) end..."

Training Children to Thank a Goddess  by Berit Kjos
Recent United Nations Environmental Programme books for children "are designed to arouse fear, anger and determination to fight for the planet. But no genuine environmental problem can be solved without factual understanding..."

Is Earth Our Mother?  by Berit Kjos
"During Earth Day 1990 celebrations, children wrote poems to Our Mother, visualized her healing, used guided imagery to connect with her spirits, and committed their lives to her preservation..."

Transformational Education and the Global Warming Fantasy  by Allen Quist
"In early 2007 the government of the United Kingdom sent copies of Al Gore's global warming DVD, An Inconvenient Truth, to all secondary schools in England, Wales, Scotland. This action was part of a nationwide 'Sustainable Schools year of Action' which had been launched in 2006..."

Social Science/Studies

Sociology Hates Christianity  by Erica Carle
"Theorists in the 'social sciences' have a special way of looking at their fellow humans..."

MultiCultural and MultiFaith Studies

Secularization of Education  by Al Dager
"Because of the influx of immigrants of various religious persuasions [to America, but also the UK - Ed.], particularly since the turn of the last century, state governments, as well as the federal government, have deemed it necessary to remove as many elements of Christianity from their indoctrination programs as they can.  This has been a gradual process which began with education reform in the late 19th century..."

More British School Indoctrination  (4 February 2007)
"[British school] children will be taught race relations and multiculturalism with every subject they study - from Spanish to science - under controversial changes to the school curriculum announced by the Government..."

Eastern Mysticism in Western Schools

The Mystical Science of the Golden Compass  by Berit Kjos
"It's hard for children not to conform these days! The new Golden Compass Curriculum helps break down any resistance. Using the dialectic process to encourage conformity, it's designed to build group consensus and imbed the story's occult themes into 'open' minds. Ponder these discussion topics: 'What sort of dæmons might your friends, relatives, classmates, or coworkers have? Describe your own dæmon.'..."

In the Classroom, a New Focus on Quieting the Mind  (16 June 2007)
"The lesson began with the striking of a Tibetan singing bowl to induce mindful awareness..."

Yoga for Children (in Public School, That Is)  (6 December 2006)
"Kids in public [state] school are learning yoga. According to yoga instructor, Mark Blanchard (of Progressive Power Yoga), he taught children at Colfax Elementary school in California this past November. On his blog, he states: 'I will be introducing yoga to all of the kids at the school as I donate a full yoga program'..."

Filmmaker Wants Transcendental Meditation in Every School  (9 March 2006)
"A Hollywood filmmaker who practices a specific form of Transcendental Meditation is helping one leader of the movement in his quest to bring the activity to every school worldwide..."

Waging Jihad Through Education

Across the Centuries: The Day of Islam  by Al Dager
"Until recently, Eastern religion and American Indian religion have been the favorite subjects for teaching young children in the public schools. Of late, Islamic religious practices are increasingly infiltrating schools..."

Jihad in Schools?  (9 July 2007)
"Political Correctness: Seems the ACLU couldn't care less that a San Diego public [state] school has set aside 15 minutes of classroom instruction time for Muslim students to pray, while non-Muslims twiddle their thumbs..."

Teaching Johnny About Islam  (22 May 2006)
"In our brave new schools, Johnny can't say the pledge, but he can recite the Quran.  Yup, the same court that found the phrase 'Under God' unconstitutional now endorses Islamic catechism in public school..."

Look Who's Teaching Johnny About Islam  (3 May 2004)
"A top textbook consultant shaping classroom education on Islam in American public [state] schools recently worked for a school funded and controlled by the Saudi government, which propagates a rigidly anti-Western strain of Islam, a WND investigation reveals..."

Islam Studies Spark Hate Mail and Lawsuits  (16 January 2002)
"Word of public-school students pretending to be Muslims, wearing robes, simulating jihads and memorizing verses from the Koran in a seventh-grade California classroom touched off a firestorm of debate, but WND has learned these classroom exercises are neither isolated to one school district nor are they anything new..."

See also here for further general information concerning Islam

Harry Potter and the New Education

Bewitched by Harry Potter  by Berit Kjos
"It's not surprising that Harry [Potter] has suddenly soared to the peaks of popularity in schools across the country. His story fits right into the international program for multicultural education. The envisioned global community calls for a common set of values which excludes traditional beliefs as intolerant and narrow - just as the Harry Potter books show..."

Movie Magic and Unconscious Learning  by Berit Kjos
"Harry Potter fans ... share a new language with terms and meanings that they validate and cheer in each other. The fact that the new language makes little sense to mugglish parents ... only strengthens their bond. Together, they explore and affirm the values defined by the story. This exploration has been brought into classrooms across the country..."

More Harry Potter Articles  by Berit Kjos

Revisionism
(This subject has replaced History which has, sadly, long been consigned to the dustbin...)

So What Was Your Child Taught Today, Sympathy For Mr. Hitler?  (2 March 2008)
"The amazing thing about Britain's slow-motion national suicide is that so many seemingly sensible people attack and damage their own homeland, without having a clue about what they are doing..."

Sex Education

What About Abstinence?  by Robert Layton
"I was holding a notice from my 13-year-old son's school announcing a meeting to preview the new course in sexuality.  Parents could examine the curriculum and take part in an actual lesson presented exactly as it would be given to students..."

Sex Ed and Global Values  by Berit Kjos
"When fifteen-year-old Kevin walked into his American History class ... he was given a handout. He glanced at the title: 'Heterosexuality: Can it be cured?' It came from the American Public Health Association Caucus of Gay and Public Health Workers..."

Seduction to Destruction: The Homosexual Agenda  by Gary Yinger
"Homosexual activists have set a well planned and well financed agenda that started in the 1960s and now includes not only tolerance of their lethal lifestyle but acceptance with privileges as a special class, as a minority group. The key target is our youth..."

Now They Want to Ban Mums and Dads  (5 February 2008)
"Schools are being ordered to drop the term 'mum and dad' in case it offends pupils from a single-parent, homosexual or turkey-baster 'family'. Ed Balls, who runs the department of social engineering, also wants four-year-olds to be taught about same-sex relationships..."

The Weirdos We Pay to 'Talk Dirty' to Our Children / Depravity: One Thing Our Children Are Being Taught  (23 September 2007)
"If state schools were training nine-year-olds to fire handguns, or 11-year-olds to ride motorbikes, you might possibly protest. Why, after all, would children need to learn at such young ages to do dangerous things that only adults are supposed to do ... Might they not use their new knowledge before they are ready? Yet we do something just as mad, and everybody approves of it. What is more, the main argument for doing that thing has been repeatedly proved to be wrong..."

Ban on 'Mom' and 'Dad' Considered - Again  (27 April 2007)
"A plan that has been launched in the California state Assembly - again - could be used to ban references to 'mom' and 'dad' in public [state] schools statewide by prohibiting anything that would 'reflect adversely' on the homosexual lifestyle choice..."

Fear-Based Sex Education  (8 September 2006)
"Much has been said about fear-based sex education in the past few years. And I finally think I have figured out what they're talking about..."

Ninth Circuit Body Slams Parents' Rights  (8 November 2005)
"America's favorite appeals court has done it again! The 9th Circuit Court in San Francisco, notorious for ruling against 'under God' in the Pledge, upset families across America last week with another controversial decision, this time undermining parents' rights. ... the 9th circuit ruled that parents have have no constitutional right to prevent a school district from introducing sexual ideas to their children..."

The New Show and Tell: How Homosexuality is Being Promoted in the Classroom  (27 October 2004)
"In schools all across ... this nation, we are seeing a very aggressive plan by gay activist organizations that are boldly taking their agenda into our schools. ... How do these pro-homosexual programs get into the schools? One way is through diversity and anti-bullying programs..."

Short Comments/News Items  (Various Commentators)

Death Education

A GCSE English Lang/Lit Assignment  by a Concerned Adult Student
"Last year [2007] the teacher asked us to play a game in one of the GCSE lessons. We had to imagine that we were all in a hot air balloon that was going to crash land in a desert island. The balloon was too heavy and the only chance to survive was to throw one person overboard to a certain death..."  

Death Education at Columbine High  by Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld
"Last weekend, the seniors at Columbine High School graduated. They tossed their caps into the air, celebrating their liberation from twelve years of public education where they were indoctrinated in the system's moral and academic chaos and were undoubtedly glad to come out of it alive. Some of their classmates did not..."

See also this related article:
Toying With Death: Learning to Love Evil and Crave Violence  by Berit Kjos
"'After the Jonesboro shootings, one of the high-school teachers told me how her students reacted when she told them about the shootings at the middle school. 'They laughed', she told me with dismay. ... We have raised a generations of barbarians who have learned to associate violence with pleasure..."

The New Classroom Discipline

Is the Public [State] School Destroying the Male Child?  by Jeffrey Leving and Glenn Sacks
"Many modern educational practices are counterproductive for boys. Success in school is tightly correlated with the ability to sit still, be quiet and complete paperwork and assignments which are sometimes of questionable value. ... Many young boys are bodily kinesthetic learners who respond to hands-on lessons. The educational establishment finds this inconvenient, and thus largely ignores it..."

My Life as a Troublemaker  by Jamaal M. Watson
"My name is Jamaal Watson ... and together with my buddy Victor, I'm the creator of 'Elvis Impersonator' ... If you went to our school records you might find us listed as 'troublemakers' ... and 'below average' in many subjects. ... Let me tell you a few ... things about Victor and myself that schools don't know..."

Zero Tolerance for Non-Compliance: Ten Steps Toward Lifelong Behavior Modification  by Berit Kjos
"Should Twana Dawson be expelled for bringing a nail clipper to school? ... John Turner was arrested during a school recess, handcuffed, fingerprinted, and forbidden to call his mother. ... Amber Nash brought a knife to school to cut a friend's birthday brownies. She was suspended for ten days. ... Kameryan Lueng didn't realise that the little knife attached to the chain of her grandfather's old pocket watch would violate the 'zero tolerance' policy. Her punishment was suspension from school and remediation at Redirection Academy. ... How can schools justify their harsh punishment when their victims intend no wrong?..."

Learning Fascism in American Schools  (3 May 1998)
"Today's topic, class, is ethics: If somebody offered you $50, would you be more inclined to turn in a fellow student who did something wrong?..."

The Myth of ADHD  by Joel Turtel
"The vast majority of Ritalin and Adderall is given to school children to treat an alleged disease called ADHD. Children who suffer from ADHD are said to be inattentive, impulsive, and hyperactive. They get bored easily in class, squirm in their seats, are always on the go, or don't get along with other students or the teacher. In other words, many children diagnosed with ADHD may simply be normal kids, full of energy, and bored out of their minds sitting in mind-numbing, public-school classrooms..."

Why Public [State] Schools Pressure Parents to Give Their Kids Mind-Altering Drugs  by Joel Turtel
"Nothing condemns our public-school system more than the fact that many school authorities across America pressure parents to give mind-altering drugs to millions of normal, innocent children to stop bored kids from fidgeting in their seats of 'not paying attention' ..."

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Ritalin, Drugging Children, and Psychiatry  by Gene Zimmer
"Ritalin is given to millions of children every year, with the amount growing. Psychiatry has convinced a majority of the public that up to 20% of our children are 'mentally ill' and need these drugs to correct their 'brain imbalances'..."

The ADHD Fraud: How Psychiatry Makes 'Patients' Out of Normal Children  (Death From Ritalin)
"On March 21, 2000, fourteen-year old Matthew Smith was having a good time skateboarding with two of his cousins. Suddenly, he collapsed to the floor and started turning blue. ... At the hospital he was pronounced dead from a heart attack - a heart attack caused by Ritalin..."

What Drugmakers Don't Want You to Know  (Death From Ritalin)
"Thousands of children have suddenly died over the years, as a direct result of using psychotropic drugs used for ADD and ADHD..."

Vital Information About Ritalin, ADHD, and the Politics Behind the ADHD/Ritalin Movement  by Peter R. Breggin, M.D.
"Our society has institutionalized drug abuse among our children..."

Drug Information  (Death From Ritalin)
Drugs used for ADD and ADHD and their side effects.

Drugging Kids and School Violence  by Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld
"Believe it or not, there are now over 5 million school kids in America on psychotropic drugs, most of which are prescribed and administered by the schools themselves. ... What is most disturbing, however, is the growing awareness that the increased violence among school children may have more to do with the drugs than with the guns they use to carry out their violence..."

ADD, ADHD, and Antidepressant Drugs  (8 March 2007)
"According to the U.S. National Institute of Health, an estimated 3-5% of North American children have been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD. Many of these kids, as well as adults, make use of prescription drugs to help them manage the impact of AD/HD on their lives..."

Colorado School Board Passes Resolution Warning About Ritalin  (December 1999)
"The Colorado State School Board passed a resolution on November 11 warning of the possible negative effects of psychotropic (mind-altering) prescription drugs on schoolchildren..."

A Different Kind of Drug War - Violent Behavior in Children Taking Prescribed Psychotropic Drugs  (December 1999)
"A school-board member's resolution calling for a higher standard of care when prescribing mind-altering drugs for schoolchildren has erupted in controversy in Colorado..."

'Old Paradigm' and 'New Paradigm' Education Charts  by Berit Kjos

New Emphasis in Schools and Culture
The new social and educational emphasis.

Three Sets of Meanings for Educational Buzzwords
The same double-speak pervades the UN and all other parts of the new global management system.

Three Cultural Paradigms or Worldviews
The three global absolutes which children are trained to see as fact in our schools are: pantheism, monism, and evolution.

Postmodern Culture
If we don't understand the changing worldviews of influential leaders, we can't prepare for the impact of this social revolution.

Transformation From Personal Freedom to Collectivism and Control
From the Christian paradigm through the Humanist paradigm to the Global paradigm.

Biblical vs. Consensus Thinking
Transformed by the Word or Conformed to the World

Three Kinds of Group Relationships
The Christian - led by the Spirit; the Secular - led by felt needs; and the Dialectic - driven by organizational outcomes.

Brainwashing and How to Resist It
Comparing standard brainwashing tactics with New Paradigm education methods. 

Towards a Conceptual Model of Life-Long Education
Similarities between America's Goals 2000 & UNESCO's Education Plan.

From Soviet Education to US [and Western European] Education
Merging labor and 'lifelong learning' with socialist ideology, psycho-social manipulation, and high tech monitoring.
 

Teachers: The New Parents For The New Age

The Incredible Shrinking Parent  by Marlin Maddoux
"Nobody likes to get fired. But if you're an average American parent, the chances are you've already lost that job..."

Whose Children are They Anyway?  by David Norris
"We stand today in a battle zone. Two kingdoms are locked in a fight to the death. Each kingdom claims total authority over every aspect of life in our world and over everyone in it. ... Nowhere is this battle more in evidence than in the struggle for the hearts and minds of children taking place every day in state schools..."

What Happened to Parental Rights?  by Berit Kjos
"When the state assumes power to tell any parent what and how to teach their children, all parents need to be on guard..." 

Public Schools Are Un-American  by Joel Turtel
"Compulsory-attendance laws force parents to send their children to public schools. These laws presume that the politicians we vote into office, our agents whose salaries we pay with our taxes, have the right to take away parents' liberty and inalienable rights..."

UN Wants Final Word on Rearing Your Kids  (28 January 2008)
"If the Senate ratifies the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the state, acting under UN direction, will decide what your children read, who they associate with, what discipline (if any) can be imposed and whether or not they can be home-schooled..."

See also this related article:
Child Abuse by the Government  (20 February 2008)
"Government rips an autistic boy from his home because it prefers a different treatment than the one offered by the parents ... after a teacher called Child Protective Services..."
 

A Wee (Real) History Lesson

How Public [State] Education Cripples Our Kids and Why  by John Taylor Gatto
"Do we really need school? I don't mean education, just forced schooling:... We have been taught (that is, schooled) in this country to think of 'success' as synonymous with, or at least dependent on, 'schooling', but historically that isn't true in either an intellectual or a financial sense..."

Chronology of the National Education Association  by Berit Kjos
"Has our education system failed [our] children? Not in the minds of 'progressive' educators and utopian globalists. ... [they] cheer the changes that have traded facts for fantasy, truth for myths, academics for collective socialization and individual thinking for group manipulation..."

Chronology of Steps Towards International Education  by Berit Kjos
"Notice the powerful people, organizations and foundations that inspire, plan, and fund the transformation ... to (a) Purge the beliefs, values, individualism, independence and free enterprise that made [each] nation unique; (b) Promote global beliefs and interdependence, universal values, a managed economy, and controlled human capital--even at the cost of constitutional rights and personal freedom; (c) Implement the psycho-social strategies of Mastery Learning to modify beliefs and behavior to match the needs of a global economy..."

Are American Public [State] Schools the Same as Russian?  by Joel Turtel
"Many parents might think it a bit farfetched to compare our public [state] schools to schools in socialist or communist countries. However, if we look closer, we will see striking similarities between the two systems..."

Some Lessons From the Underground History of American Education  by John Taylor Gatto
"From the beginning, there was purpose behind forced schooling, purpose which had nothing to do with what parents, kids, or communities wanted. Instead it was forged out of what a highly centralized corporate economy and system of finance bent on internationalizing itself was thought to need; that, and what a strong, centralized political state needed, too. School was looked upon from the first decade of the twentieth century as a branch of industry and a tool of governance..."

Radical Democracy and Our Future: A Call to Action  by John Taylor Gatto
"[T]he vital warfare ... in school and society is independent of the traditional historical dichotomies like Left/Right, rich/poor, Democrat/Republican, conservative/liberal, etc. A poor, radically leftist, self-styled liberal Democrat who wants to stick his nose in my family's business, ... and force my children to swallow his notion what an education should be about is exactly the same sort of enemy that a rich, radically rightest self-styled conservative Republican who wants to do the same thing is..."

Bush, Gorbachev, Schultz, and Soviet Education  by Berit Kjos
"George W. Bush, Mikhail Gorbachev, George Schultz, and your children - how are they linked? Why does it matter? ... If you are as concerned as I am about America's shift from traditional values and factual education to global values and psycho-social strategies for 'lifelong learning' you would want to know the answers..."

Homeschooling

Homeschooled  by Michael Pearl
"Our Western culture is evangelistic and totalitarian in its zeal to promote secular humanism. Their primary means of achieving universal compliance is the public [state] designed educational system. It is not because it is public nor because it is universal that it is evil. The evil is found in two things:..."

Home Schooling: An Alternative to Public 'Education'  by Gene Zimmer
"It is becoming clearly obvious to many parents that something is very wrong with the public education system. Each year fewer students graduate with sufficient academic and cognitive skills, violence and immorality continue to rise, ... the reasons for this are simple to understand..."

How to Get an Education at Home  by Pat Farenga
"There is a revolution going on in education, but it is not happening in schools. It is happening in the homes of American families in every state. It is happening every time a family decides to help its children learn at home instead of sending them to public school. Fourteen years ago there were roughly 10,000 children being homeschooled; now there are upwards of 600,000 children learning at home..."

Thinking of Homeschooling?  by Dr. Samuel Blumenfeld
"Many working parents wouldn't dream of homeschooling. Yet there is enough growing concern among some parents that is leading them to think of homeschooling as an alternative to the public school..."

Homeschooling Saves Your Child From Destruction  by Joel Turtel
"Home schooling removes children from public [state] school. That alone makes home schooling worthwhile. Unlike public-school children, home-schooled kids are not prisoners of a system that can wreck their self-esteem, ability to read, and love of learning. Home schooled kids don't have to read dumb-downed [sic] text books, study subjects they hate, or endure meaningless classes six to eight hours a day..."

Homeschooling: Can I Do It?  by Joel Turtel
"Many parents would like to homeschool their children but are afraid they don't have the training or ability to be their children's teacher. This is certainly understandable, because most parents never had any formal training to be a teacher. However, most parents don't have to worry about this issue..."

The Three Myths of Homeschooling  by Berit Kjos
"Myth 1 - They won't learn the needed social skills if I teach at home.  Myth 2 - I could never teach! I don't have any degree.  Myth 3 - My kids are going to a good school. Public [state] schools may be changing in other parts of the country, but our school is different!..."

Revolution via Home Schooling  by Dr. Samuel Blumenfeld
"The only effective group of citizens today in open opposition to big government are the home schoolers. They are the only Americans willing to take on the public education system that props up the entire statist enterprise of big, intrusive government..."

Homeschooling and Global Tyranny  by Dr. Samuel Blumenfeld
"America is at a very crucial period in its history. Our national sovereignty is being continually diminished by the New World Order clique that wants to spearhead the movement into world government. ... Meanwhile, American children in American schools are being indoctrinated in world citizenship and away from patriotism, which is called ethnocentrism. But there's a fly in the ointment. it is called homeschooling..."

The Reformed School of Alexandria  by Michael Pearl
"We did not raise our children in a classroom environment. I conducted my 'classes' in the front seat of the pickup or in the cabinet shop. Debi conducted her classes in the kitchen or sitting at the kitchen table enthusiastically discussing points of interest to the children..."

What Curriculum Do You Recommend?  by Debi Pearl
"Remember, God did not make classroom education. It is the invention of humanists seeking to usurp parental authority. Why recapture your rights and duty only to adopt their methods of teaching?..."

Homeschooling As a Way of Life  by Rebekah Joy Pearl
"For many, 'school' is the main focus in 'homeschooling'. As for me 'home' is most important. ... The essence of homeschooling is equipping a child to learn for the rest of his/her life. ... From time to time I meet young mothers who want to start homeschooling, but they are terrified by their own inadequacy..."

Deliberate Dumbing of America: Home Schooling Has Come A Long Way  by Phyllis Schlafly
"It takes uncommon commitment by parents to undertake a home school regimen, but they soon discover they can do in a couple of hours what takes all day at regular school..."

Homeschooling Pioneers: Interview With Rebekah (Pearl) Anast  by Deborah Wuehler, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
"Ever had a child training problem and not known what to do? I have, and I have turned again and again to a wonderful little book entitled To Train Up A Child by Michael and Debi Pearl. ... The Pearls also happen to be among the pioneers of homeschooling in the early 1970s during the movement's turbulent beginnings. We are so pleased to have Rebekah Anast (formerly Rebekah Pearl) with us to let us in on what it was like being a homeschooled child under the tutelage of the infamous Pearls during this breaking movement called home education..."

Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson Never Went to Public [State] School  by Joel Turtel
"Most of our Founding Fathers, ... like most average colonial Americans, spent few years, if any, in formal grammar schools of the day, yet they knew how to read and write well. ... At least ten of our presidents were home-schooled..."

Have Christian Schools Turned the Tide?  by Ronald E. Williams
"In the past many years, we have witnessed dramatic growth in the area of Christian Education. Churches and pastors who had never given serious thought to being involved in the Christian school movement are now daily teaching their youngsters in the own school..."

Prosecutor Wants Homeschool Parents Jailed  (19 May 2007)
"A federal prosecutor in the German state of Hesse has announced plans to seek three-month prison terms for a mother and father who homeschool their six children..."

Western Homeschoolers Need Political Asylum From Democracy  (15 April 2007)
"A growing crackdown on homeschool families - most of whom are Christian - is the 'edge of the night that's coming' for believers, according to an expert in the field..."

Homeschool Student Disappears From Psych Ward  (13 February 2007)
"The case involving a 15-yr-old homeschool student in Germany who suddenly was snatched from her home by a SWAT team of police officers and sent to a psychiatric ward for her 'school phobia' suddenly has taken a turn for the worse..."

DfES Consultation on Suitable and Efficient Home Education by Parents  (Email received 20 December 2006)
"So the [British] government think that some parents opting for home education 'may not be in a position to offer their children the well rounded education to which they are entitled'..."

Parents Jailed, Fined in Germany for Homeschooling  (No date.  Email received 1 November 2006)
"What if you had to choose between not home schooling and being arrested? In a western democracy that is tolerant of just about anything, except teaching your children at home, German parents who want to home school have to decide..."

European Human Rights Court Upholds Nazi Ban on Homeschooling  (28 September 2006)
"The ECHR does not protect European citizens against Hitler's laws. ... The EU Court's decision states that the right to education 'by its very nature calls for regulation by the State.'..."

Christians Patronize Public Schools at Their Children's Peril  (11 September 2006)
"[A]dvocates for Christian home education say parents should not delegate their God-given responsibility to 'raise up a child in the way he should go' to godless schools with increasingly anti-Christian curricula..."

Constitution Threatened by Homeschool Case  (12 August 2006)
"A couple in Brussels has been threatened with criminal neglect for schooling their children at home, and a U.S. expert on the issue told WND the case actually could pose a threat to the sovereignty of the U.S. constitution..."

Brussels Journal Editor Threatened With Prosecution Over Homeschooling  (15 June 2006)
"Yesterday, my husband Paul Belien, ... was summoned to the police station and interrogated. He was told that the Belgian authorities are of the opinion that, as a homeschooler, he has not adequately educated his children and, hence, is neglecting his duty as a parent, which is a criminal offence..."

The New World Disorder: U.N. Making Home Schooling Illegal?  (27 May 2006)
"A U.N. treaty conferring rights to children could make home schooling illegal in the U.S. even though the Senate has not ratified it, a home schooling association warns. ... The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child ... places severe limitations on a parent's right to direct and train their children..."
 

Christian and Home Schools / Support Groups 

Home Service
48, Heaton Moor Road, Stockport, SK4 4NX, UK.  Tel: 0161 432 3782,  Website: www.home-service.org
"A growing number of families are educating their children at home in the UK, and many of them are Christians, motivated by a desire to bring up their children in 'the nurture and admonition of the Lord'.  Many others are considering such a move, but are uncertain as to its legality and practicality. ... Home Service is a help and advice organisation for Christians teaching their children at home..."

Preschool with Ace and Christi
Christian Education Europe, Maranatha House, Unit 5, Northford Close, Shrivenham, Swindon, SN6 8HL, UK.
Tel: 01793 783783 / 787927,  Fax: 01793 783775,  Email: cee@christian-education.org  Website: www.christian-education.org
"Every child needs proper preparation for a successful school experience. Preschool with Ace and Christi prepares children to learn to read and develop the physical skills they need for success..."

Family Resources
40, Leivers Close, East Leake, Loughborough, LE12 6PQ, UK.  Tel: 01509 854340
"God's definition of education (i.e. comprehensive education) is the task he has given to every father in Ephesians 6:4.  It involves the whole of a child's life in his parents' care.  This is far more than most of us envisage when talking about education. ... For us, home education came about because ... we became convinced that the Bible teaches that parents are responsible for the education their children receive..."

Action for Home Education
"Action for Home Education (AHEd), an internet-based rights group for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, launches today [6th January, 2007] in Derby with a pledge to act to protect the rights of parents and children who wish to enjoy home-based education without undue state interference, which they claim has reached an intolerable high and is set to worsen. ... According to New Labour mantra, every child matters, yet it blatantly attempts to prescribe the same diet of schooling to every child regardless of his or her individual needs and wishes. ... AHEd asserts that EACH CHILD MATTERS individually ... to parents and it is parents who have the duty to make important educational decisions. But AHEd members are deeply concerned that current proposals by government threaten to remove parental responsibility and substitute the state as arbiter of what is best for children..."

HSLDA - Home School Legal Defense Association  (USA / Canada / with links to HSLDA sites for 35 further countries)
"Home School Legal Defense Association is a nonprofit advocacy organization established to defend and advance the constitutional right of parents to direct the education of their children and to protect family freedoms. Through annual memberships, HSLDA is tens of thousands of families united in service together, providing a strong voice when and where needed.  HSLDA advocates (a) on the legal front, (b) on Capitol Hill, (c) in state legislatures, (d) in the media, (e) for the movement..."

HSLDA - Home School Legal Defense Association  (United Kingdom)
Details as above.

The Old Schoolhouse  The Magazine for Homeschool Families
"This full-color, 200-page quarterly publication can be found across North America and on almost every other continent too! Each issue of TOS is distributed on newsstands throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in Borders and Barnes & Noble. Also, be on the look out because we’re coming to Christian bookstores soon. In addition, we support and encourage subscribers and homeschool groups the world over – copies of journey to South Africa, England, Germany, Australia, Brazil, Thailand, Japan, China, the Philippines, India and many other lands..."
 

General News Items and Comments

Schools Must Make Pupils Mix With Minorities or Face Sanctions  (16 July 2007)
"[UK s]chools with mainly white pupils could be labelled 'failing' if they don't encourage children to mix with other races and religions..."

Save Our Kids From PC 'Cops'  (17 March 2007)
"My two little girls have just come crashing into the kitchen with new dolls that can squeak and gurgle and w** themselves. Izzy, six, cradled hers carefully, demonstrating how it can coo and flutter its eyelids. Willow, three, said: 'Mine does squeak too - when I jump on it. Look.' And she jumped up and down on its stomach while it squeaked in a slightly stunned way. Under the newly proposed national curriculum for the under-fives, I'm assuming this would be a fail for Willow..."

Sacrificing Truth on the Altar of Diversity  (31 August 2006)
"You're a publisher of children's textbooks, and you have a problem. Your diversity guidelines - quotas in all but name - require you to include pictures of disabled children in your elementary and high school texts, but it isn't easy to find such children who are willing and able to pose for a photographer. ... How can you meet your quota?... Well, you can always do what Houghton Mifflin does..."

Critical Thinking: or, Making Me the Straw Man  (12 May 2006)
"They are one of the biggest publishers of textbooks in the world, and they wanted to use some of my writings in one of their products.  My first thought was, 'Gee, I'm coming up in the world.'  The second was, 'How do they intend to use it?'  So I asked for a sample.  A good thing I did..."
 

External Links

Kjos Ministries - General Articles  |  EdWatch Index  |  Education Quotes
"We hope to provide vital facts ... that will help you prepare for a global society that shows little tolerance for the Christian world view. You will find resources that demonstrate and document: The cultural shift from a Christian to a global paradigm; The classroom shift from truth, fact and logic to myth, feeling, and imagination; The growing acceptance of an earth-centered spirituality and code of ethics ... ; How movies, television and schools promote this global spirituality; Why the "group thinking" or "consensus process" taught in schools and workplaces around the world turn young and old against absolute truth..."

No Greater Joy
"No Greater Joy is the ministry of Michael & Debi Pearl under the auspices of No Greater Joy Ministries Inc. Michael has been a pastor, missionary, and evangelist for 40 years. The Pearls have 5 children, all homeschooled. They have grown up to become missionaries and church leaders. Though holding a BS from Crichton College, when Michael is asked for his credentials on child training he points to his five children. As goes the child so goes the future adult—and the future parent. At every moment, parents holding little children are holding the future. Parenting, the most important and demanding job in the world comes on us by default. Ready or not, prepared or ill equipped, all parents produce fruit that lasts throughout eternity..."

No Greater Joy - Homeschooling Articles
"This is a general section with articles that pertain to homeschooling or home based education of just about any type."

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine - Articles
"Here you'll find a treasure trove of articles hand-picked from past issues of The Old Schoolhouse magazine."

EdWatch: Education For A FREE Nation
"EdWatch.org is full of informative articles, links to radio interviews, links to newspaper articles, and links to other resource materials..."

Death From Ritalin: The Truth Behind ADHD
"Parents have concerns about being pressured to diagnose, treat and drug their child for ADHD, attention deficit. The true story about our Sons death caused from Ritalin use. There are natural alternative treatments besides Ritalin..."
 

Materials
Some books we would especially recommend:

Brave New Schools: Guiding Your Child Through the Dangers of the Changing School System by Berit Kjos Harvest House Publishers, 1995

"Parents have every reason to ask serious questions about the state of their children's education.  Instead of academics, schools today are aiming squarely at another goal - preparing children to become part of a global community ... and a global spirituality.  With concrete examples from public [state] school material, Berit Kjos demonstrates how myths, feelings, and imagination have replaced facts, logic, and history in out classrooms.  Brave New Schools will equip you to: (a) recognize dangerous teaching methods and content; (b) understand the national computer monitoring system; (c) help your child resist the seductive myths and misinformation; (d) communicate your valid concerns to teachers and administrators; (e) discover the inner workings of the new educational system.  You can make a positive difference in your children's education.  This book will show you how."

This book is available from the following distributors:

http://www.crossroad.to/text/1-books.htm