It used to be cause for celebration to see the little ones on their way to school each September. Another school year had begun. When adults saw the children, they took special pleasure knowing that a new group of young Americans was being raised. They would learn essential skills like math, reading, and writing. They would gain crucial knowledge of the world through geography, social studies, and history.
Now when you see the small ones headed for class, you can’t help but worry that they will not be learning basic skills. You question whether their minds will be filled instead with confusion on even the most basic issues. Instead of opening worlds of wonder to their students, you worry that some educators are intent on opening worlds of debauchery and depression.
Basic skills are crucial for the future of democracy. A democratic nation needs voters who read, and not just a little here and there. They need to have learned in school the joy of knowledge acquired through the written word. They need to read and comprehend articles as well as books. One measure of success in creating this kind of reader is to ask if they read on their own just for the fun of it. According to Pew Research, in 2020, only 17% of 13-year-olds read for fun almost every day.
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The kids who say they regularly read for fun do better on all standardized tests than their fellow students. Learning to read and to write helps us learn to put concepts into words and words into orderly thoughts. These are essential communication skills. As of April 2021, two-thirds of American children did not read at grade level. And that’s a scandal. Educators know it got worse over the rest of the pandemic, but they’re not yet sure how much worse.
People without these basic skills are handicapped for life. And yet the education departments of some states seem more concerned with indoctrination than in teaching educational fundamentals.
On August 24th, The Daily Signal reported, “A US District Court judge denied Maryland parents’ request Thursday for an order allowing them to opt their children out of instruction using LGBTQ ‘Pride Storybooks.’ Atheist, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and other parents demanded the right to opt out of an LGBTQ book curriculum for pre-K through fifth grades in Montgomery County Public Schools…. Although Maryland law requires schools to allow parents to opt their children out of ‘all sexuality Instruction’ and to provide advance notice for such lessons, the new policy, adopted in March, excluded any opt-out right.”
Similar things are happening in other states. The Daily Wire recently reported, “California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a civil rights lawsuit against a school district on Monday to halt its recently adopted policy that requires schools to inform parents about student gender transitions.”
Big Brother claims to want what’s best for the children, but driving a wedge between child and parent is surely not the answer. In modern history, the attack on families has never been more severe than it is today. This is not about tolerance or caring, but about a militant government takeover of our children’s minds.
Be warned. Jesus said in Matthew 18:6, “whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”
