Check your kids' textbooks ...

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Mulliga

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I was sifting through my sisters' "American Government" textbook. Naturally, every such textbook should have a section on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, right? I was dismayed when they never even talked about the Bill of Rights except in the most general terms, and of course they never even hinted about the Second Amendment's existence (in fact, they say the Third Amendment is 'outdated' :what: ). In their minds, constitutional law began with "Brown vs. the Board of Education" and ended with today's "Campaign Finance Reform").

Worse still was the section on PACs and lobbyists. They mentioned the NRA only as "one of the most powerful groups in Washington," but said that even with such a powerful "special interest group," gun laws can still get passed (this is of course true, but they certainly slanted it Feinswine style).

The appendix had the Constitution and BOR, but no preamble to either. Without the preambles, the documents are left without context. No Declaration of Independence discussion, either. Arghh!:barf:
 
Can't recall. I'll look it up when I'm in South Florida. Had a big flag on the cover, but they all do. :rolleyes:

If you ask me, though, not having high-school age kids read the entire text of the Constitution and all the Amendments and their preambles is asking for trouble. Yes, they were there, but shoved into the back of the textbook where no one but a RKBA/civil liberties nerd like me would ever look.
 
Everyone concerend about this trend needs to read a book titled "Fed Ed". It's an easy afternoon read, slightly less than 200 pages. It is avalible through JPFO.

I can't remember the author at the moment but it deals with the new "federal education curiculum". It breaks down how many times different amendments are discussed. While the first amendment is dicussed and referenced to dozens of times, the 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 10th are in the single digits. The second rates exactly 2 IIRC.

The jist of the book is: The curriculum states that the community/governments well being/safety trumps individual liberty.

Considering a lot of your federal money is directly tied to following this, guess what your school districts are doing?:cuss: :fire:
 
thats too bad. my american govt book had the whole constitution in the back and had a chapter on the bill of rights with a section for each amendment.
 
they say the Third Amendment is 'outdated'
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Well, it kind of is. How often has someone tried to quarter soldiers in your home.

Naturally, every such textbook should have a section on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, right?
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I think kids should be covering the Constitution, but given the limited amount of time they have, I would focus more on the Articles of the Constitution and the structure of the government. If they have time to go into the Bill of rights, then all of them should be covered.

Frankly, the 2nd amendment gets ignored in most Constitutional studies. I am currently in law school and have had 3 Con. Law classes and only one of them has even mentioned the second amendment and only to say 2nd amendment challenges to laws have been mostly unsuccessful.

Schools in my state (MI) choose their own textbooks and have community members on the panels that make these choices. If you don't like the textbooks, make your opinions known and get involved.
 
There was an article recently in the local paper about WW2 vets, and in an interview with a parent, they had stated that in their childs history book, there were only 4 paragraphs covering the entire war...

Now it hasn't been that long ago, but I still remember a lot more than 4 paragraphs in my old history book. It's amazing how subtly our past is being rewritten...
 
Well, it kind of is. How often has someone tried to quarter soldiers in your home.
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Or maybe it's worked all these years and still is. ;)

For all we know, rather than being outdated, it might be before its time.
 
Schools used to have a class called civics, where students were taught about the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights, etc.

In the 1960’s it was replaced with social studies. :rolleyes:
 
If you ask me, though, not having high-school age kids read the entire text of the Constitution and all the Amendments and their preambles is asking for trouble.
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Actually, we covered both the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence in elementary school, somewhere around 7th or 8th grade. (A lasting impression was made by the part about tyrannical acts of the British king - go back and re-read it, and see if anything has changed. )
There was an article recently in the local paper about WW2 vets, and in an interview with a parent, they had stated that in their childs history book, there were only 4 paragraphs covering the entire war...
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Things are getting worse. Some years ago, I was visiting my cousins, and had a look at their kid's American history textbook. There were two full pages on WWII, but whole chapter was devoted to the women's movement. Good source material to write your own editorial.
 
I went to school in a relatively rural area, as is evident in my spelling and grammar at times. I recall being taught the BOR in elementary school and even having a teach explain the Second Amendment as a right to protect oneself and provide a way to defend oneself from the government of the United States. Funny thing is that in elementry school it was Social Studies, in Jr. High it was Social Studies, Freshman year of high school (9th Grade) I was required to take Civics (which was local govt level) 10th grade was World History, 11th Grade and final history class in public schools was US history taught by a self descibed "yellow dog Democrat." She was an absolute Democrat that thought the left was the only solution. By the time I took her class it was to late, I was already leaning right from previous teachers and one teacher (I wish I could remember who) teaching me the BOR was absolute and that individuals had rights. I wound up just barely passing that US history class.

It was fun though as I took that class in 1988. Stuck a nice Bush in 88 bumber sticker on her desk one day. Her reaction was priceless.

The point being it is not what is in the book but what the teacher teaches.
 
Public schools, like television, are designed to rot your brain.
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I only had to wait 8 postings for such an insightful comment. ;)

The point being it is not what is in the book but what the teacher teaches.
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This is absolutely correct. I went to school in the 1980’s and had two years of history (one was an elective) and a ½ year of government. My history teacher was a vet that fought in WW II and Korea so he spent a great deal of time on these subjects. Unfortunately, the textbook ended at around the late 1950’s or early 1960’s. Government class was only one semester, so there really wasn’t enough time to go into great detail since we had to cover all levels of government (federal, state, and local).

I don’t think that teachers get much of a say in choosing textbooks. In college, the professor could assign whatever materials they wanted. In high school (or elementary), they are limited to what the school buys and I don’t know what choices there are. I remember reading that many government textbooks consistently promote the collective right to bear arms that, while popular with the media, is widely discredited among legal scholars.

If this is the case at your child’s school, do something about it. As I previously mentioned, volunteer for a textbook committee and help choose the books. You can also volunteer to speak to your child’s class. I did a presentation to some 4th graders on the Bill of Rights last year. I only had an hour, but I was able to cover the entire Bill of Rights and give the facts.
 
George Orwell had it right, he was just 20 years off.......

It's just taken us 'till 2004 for the "ministry of information" to surface, not 1984.:fire:
 
for a textbook committee and help choose the books.
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That doesn't help when ALL of the books available are full of same statist agenda.



If you aren't checking ALL of your student's textbooks, you are a lousy citizen and parent.



And if you don't understand that the school board election is at least as important as the Presidential election, you don't understand the battle your in.

If you can even be said to be IN the battle.
 
My textbook has little 'explanations' after each ammendment.

My textbook(old 86):
Citizens have the right to protect themselves by serving in militias but the government can regulate ownership of some weopons.

Thats a little leftish but not so bad.

My sisters book(new 96):
The national guard(militia) is allowed to use arms to defend the USA

Hmm slowly slipping into the dark ages.
 
Well, what can we do to change this? I mean really do. Writing, emailing and faxing wont get it done.
 
You have to make the time to teach them properly at home.

Hillary & co need to understand it does not take a village. It takes proper parenting and family structure(this being the very fabric of society as we know it) to support the village, not the other way around.

Outside of this societal structure the Constitution will not work.
 
Those of you who see such blatant untruths and distortions in the textbooks should IMMEDIATELY and uncompromisingly fight against such nonsense, starting with the administration of the school and working your way up. Talk to the principal. Do something, don't just shrug and sigh and hope that people learn some other way.

If that doesn't work, try writing letters into your local newspapers. Get the word out.
 
Ah, the national guard (militia) BS was taught somewhere else, too!

When I was in high school my civics teacher said that when the national guard was created, that became the new official "militia", and preached that the 2nd amendment only guaranteed the militia (aka the national guard) arms. I told her the United States Code defined the militia as all able bodied male citizens over the age of 17, she just restated the national guard is the militia. And then she went off about how guns are bad, guns kill people, people shouldn't have guns, how gun nuts like me cause so much death in this country, blah blah blah.

Why would the Bill of Rights, which guarantees rights for individual citizens, guarantee a right to the federal government? The amendments were ment to limit the powers given to the federal government by the constitution, not grant them more power. My teacher was a socialist fool and knew she was stretching the truth, so she never flat out said I was wrong when we had arguments, she just didn't respond and went onto another subject or tried to play off some ad hominem nonsense to make everyone else get all emotional and stop thinking rationally.

I can't believe that people can get away with preaching this stuff in our schools. It is treason to lie to ignorant children in school about the constitution when you are entrusted as their teacher just to further your personal socialist agenda, if you ask me.
 
And if you don't understand that the school board election is at least as important as the Presidential election, you don't understand the battle your in.
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I agree %100! Most parents have little to do with their children's schools. Recently, a local school held an forum to discuss renovations. They wanted input from the community. IIRC, 30 people showed up, most of them teachers. My district's last election was a joke. No one ran unopposed. If I had time to make the meetings, I would have ran.

Well, what can we do to change this?
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We need to do what Mr. Shepherd suggests. Discuss these things with your children. Parents have way more influence over their kids than the schools do. My love of history came from my parents, not my school. I read plenty of things outside my textbooks.
 
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