Fwd: New High School Principal Institutes Some Changes…
This is another in a series of responses to my conservative relative’s forwarded emails. If you’re interested, you can read more about how this all started.
Received Jun 28, 2016 at 8:06 AM:
Subject New High School Principal Institutes Some Changes…
Listen to the young people, F-this, F-that, and nary anyone will step up and correct them- even with wife and kids in tow!
FINALLY – – Someone in the teaching profession had the courage to set the standards so badly needed NOW.
New high school principal
We watched high school principal Dennis Prager of Colorado, along with Sara Palin and Tom Brokaw on TV a couple of weeks ago…. What a dynamic, down to earth speaker. Even though Palin and Brokaw were also guest speakers they did little but nod and agree with him. This is the guy that should be running for President in 2016
A Speech Every American High School Principal Should Give.
By Dennis Prager.
To the students and faculty of our high school:
I am your new principal, and honored to be so. There is no greater calling than to teach young people.
I would like to apprise you of some important changes coming to our school. I am making these changes because I am convinced that most of the ideas that have dominated public education in America have worked against you, against your teachers and against our country.
First, this school will no longer honor race or ethnicity. I could not care less if your racial makeup is black, brown, red, yellow or white. I could not care less if your origins are African, Latin American, Asian or European, or if your ancestors arrived here on the Mayflower or on slave ships. The only identity I care about, the only one this school will recognize, is your individual identity — your character, your scholarship, your humanity. And the only national identity this school will care about is American.
This is an American public school, and American public schools were created to make better Americans. If you wish to affirm an ethnic, racial or religious identity through school, you will have to go elsewhere. We will end all ethnicity, race and non-American nationality-based celebrations. They undermine the motto of America, one of its three central values — E pluribus unum, “from many, one.” And this school will be guided by America’s values. This includes all after-school clubs. I will not authorize clubs that divide students based on any identities. This includes race, language, religion, sexual orientation or whatever else may become in vogue in a society divided by political correctness.
Your clubs will be based on interests and passions, not blood, ethnic, racial or other physically defined ties. Those clubs just cultivate narcissism — an unhealthy preoccupation with the self — while the purpose of education is to get you to think beyond yourself. So we will have clubs that transport you to the wonders and glories of art, music, astronomy, languages you do not already speak, carpentry and more. If the only extracurricular activities you can imagine being interested in are those based on ethnic, racial or sexual identity, that means that little outside of yourself really interests you.
Second, I am uninterested in whether English is your native language. My only interest in terms of language is that you leave this school speaking and writing English as fluently as possible. The English language has united America’s citizens for over 200 years, and it will unite us at this school. It is one of the indispensable reasons this country of immigrants has always come to be one country. And if you leave this school without excellent English language skills, I would be remiss in my duty to ensure that you will be prepared to successfully compete in the American job market. We will learn other languages here — it is deplorable that most Americans only speak English — but if you want classes taught in your native language rather than in English, this is not your school.
Third, because I regard learning as a sacred endeavor, everything in this school will reflect learning’s elevated status. This means, among other things, that you and your teachers will dress accordingly. Many people in our society dress more formally for Hollywood events than for church or school. These people have their priorities backward. Therefore, there will be a formal dress code at this school.
Fourth, no obscene language will be tolerated anywhere on this school’s property — whether in class, in the hallways or at athletic events. If you can’t speak without using the f -word, you can’t speak. By obscene language I mean the words banned by the Federal Communications Commission, plus epithets such as “Nigger,” even when used by one black student to address another black, or “bitch,” even when addressed by a girl to a girlfriend. It is my intent that by the time you leave this school, you will be among the few your age to instinctively distinguish between the elevated and the degraded, the holy and the obscene.
Fifth, we will end all self-esteem programs. In this school, self-esteem will be attained in only one way — the way people attained it until decided otherwise a generation ago — by earning it. One immediate consequence is that there will be one valedictorian, not eight.
Sixth, and last, I am reorienting the school toward academics and away from politics and propaganda. No more time will be devoted to scaring you about smoking and caffeine, or terrifying you about sexual harassment or global warming. No more semesters will be devoted to condom wearing and teaching you to regard sexual relations as only or primarily a health issue… There will be no more attempts to convince you that you are a victim because you are not white, or not male, or not heterosexual or not Christian. We will have failed if any one of you graduates this school and does not consider him or her inordinately fortunate — to be alive and to be an American.
Now, please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of our country. As many of you do not know the words, your teachers will hand them out to you..
Pass this along if you agree. . . . If not delete it!
My response:
Some points that I agree with in here, and many that I do not. As I kept reading though, I thought to myself: there’s no way a public school teacher gave this speech. And it turns out, that’s true.
http://www.snopes.com/
Her response:
I had a feeling it wasn’t really delivered by a principal. I don’t know any principals that have the guts and I worked for 8 different ones over the years. I liked what it had to say, so I thought I’d pass it on anyway and hope that perhaps there was someone out there that actually had the back bone to do it.
What didn’t you agree with ?????
This one seemed pretty harmless to me.
Love you!!!!!!!!!
My response:
As I sat down to say what I did and didn’t like about the “speech”, I ended up writing more than I expected to. My thoughts are below, in red. Enjoy!
A Speech Every American High School Principal Should Give.
By Dennis Prager.
To the students and faculty of our high school:
I am your new principal, and honored to be so. There is no greater calling than to teach young people.
I would like to apprise you of some important changes coming to our school. I am making these changes because I am convinced that most of the ideas that have dominated public education in America have worked against you, against your teachers and against our country.
This was the first place that my spidey senses started tingling. I find it hard to believe that someone who truly believes that education in America is systemically working against students, teachers, and our country as a whole would have risen to the level of principal of a school. I don’t deny that there are teachers who are frustrated (and have good reason to be) with their jobs, the administration, the legislators, and even the public and still remain teachers, but to become a high school principal and retain those attitudes seems strange. Most principals I’ve met or seen interviewed seem to have a fundamental belief in education and the system as a whole, even if it’s very flawed. That may just be me not knowing enough principals…
First, this school will no longer honor race or ethnicity. I could not care less if your racial makeup is black, brown, red, yellow or white. I could not care less if your origins are African, Latin American, Asian or European, or if your ancestors arrived here on the Mayflower or on slave ships. The only identity I care about, the only one this school will recognize, is your individual identity — your character, your scholarship, your humanity. And the only national identity this school will care about is American.
This strikes me as an incredibly white, privileged statement. Any time I hear someone say that they “don’t see color”, I can be pretty sure without looking at them that they’re white. There are tons of statistics out there that talk about how kids of color are treated differently in public schools than white kids (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/25/us/higher-expulsion-rates-for-black-students-are-found.html), even as young as kindergarten (http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/12/why-are-so-many-preschoolers-getting-suspended/418932/). And while it’s admirable to try to push towards a world where color doesn’t matter, to say that we’re living in that world now ignores realities on the ground.
This is an American public school, and American public schools were created to make better Americans. If you wish to affirm an ethnic, racial or religious identity through school, you will have to go elsewhere. We will end all ethnicity, race and non-American nationality-based celebrations. They undermine the motto of America, one of its three central values — E pluribus unum, “from many, one.” And this school will be guided by America’s values. This includes all after-school clubs. I will not authorize clubs that divide students based on any identities. This includes race, language, religion, sexual orientation or whatever else may become in vogue in a society divided by political correctness.
Your clubs will be based on interests and passions, not blood, ethnic, racial or other physically defined ties. Those clubs just cultivate narcissism — an unhealthy preoccupation with the self — while the purpose of education is to get you to think beyond yourself. So we will have clubs that transport you to the wonders and glories of art, music, astronomy, languages you do not already speak, carpentry and more. If the only extracurricular activities you can imagine being interested in are those based on ethnic, racial or sexual identity, that means that little outside of yourself really interests you.
There’s a fine line on this one. I agree with the sentiment, and in general I think that clubs and programs that divide kids aren’t good. However, I know of no school club that is allowed to exclude based on ethnicity, race, or sexual identity. In public schools, the Catholic Club or Hillel or, yes, the Muslim Students Organization welcomes people of other faiths who are interested in learning more. And, in fact, since they’re a group at a public school, they’re not allowed to exclude.
I also find the inclusion of sexual identity in this list to be troublesome. Even today, with all of the advances for LGBT people in this country, high schools can still be incredibly dangerous places for queer kids. Gay Straight Alliances (GSAs) are the most common type of school clubs that form to create a place where these kids can feel like they’re not constantly being persecuted by their peers. LGBT teens are still 4 times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers (http://www.thetrevorproject.org/pages/facts-about-suicide).
Moreover, studies have shown that schools with GSAs benefit tremendously, with the rates of discrimination, sexual discrimination, and suicidal thoughts and attempts dropping for all students, gay and straight (http://www.salon.com/2014/01/24/
Second, I am uninterested in whether English is your native language. My only interest in terms of language is that you leave this school speaking and writing English as fluently as possible. The English language has united America’s citizens for over 200 years, and it will unite us at this school. It is one of the indispensable reasons this country of immigrants has always come to be one country. And if you leave this school without excellent English language skills, I would be remiss in my duty to ensure that you will be prepared to successfully compete in the American job market. We will learn other languages here — it is deplorable that most Americans only speak English — but if you want classes taught in your native language rather than in English, this is not your school.
By all means, let’s focus on teaching kids English and leaving high school speaking it “as fluently as possible.” And I do agree that the English language has united a country of immigrants. It’s one of the many reasons why the US has been more successful in integrating its immigrant populations than many countries in Europe.
I’ve never heard of public schools teaching classes (besides foreign language classes) completely in another language. I have heard of bilingual education, where classes are taught in English AND another language, in an effort to bridge the gap for kids who don’t speak English well. Those make sense to me, especially if you’ve made it to high school and still don’t speak English fluently.
There do appear to be some very considered arguments for why bilingual education isn’t a good idea, and why it’s even limiting to non-native English speakers. However, I don’t know what a better solution is, and I don’t understand how you’d teach a kid who doesn’t speak English otherwise.
Ultimately, the “if you want classes taught in your native language rather than in English” argument sounds very much like describing an epidemic that doesn’t exist.
Third, because I regard learning as a sacred endeavor, everything in this school will reflect learning’s elevated status. This means, among other things, that you and your teachers will dress accordingly. Many people in our society dress more formally for Hollywood events than for church or school. These people have their priorities backward. Therefore, there will be a formal dress code at this school.
I have big, big problems with this. There’s lots of interesting discussion about school uniforms and the good that they do in schools: equalizing rich and poor kids, eliminating the “fashion” aspect of dressing for school, and in some studies even finding that they make kids more comfortable and happy.
However, this fictional principal doesn’t say uniforms, he talks about a dress code, and dress codes, time after time, treat girls way more unfairly than boys.
Time after time, and article after article, I read about dress codes where there are very little limits on what boys can wear, but girls’ wardrobes are highly proscripted, and it’s the start of rape culture and girls/women being told that they have to cover themselves up so as not to “rile up” the boys/men (http://time.com/3892965/everydaysexism-school-dress-codes-rape-culture/ and http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/10/school-dress-codes-are-problematic/410962/).
Moreover, if you believe in the rights of Trans people (which I do), then school dress codes are often tremendously problematic for that group, because they don’t allow Trans kids to dress according to their gender expression (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/fashion/08cross.html).
Fourth, no obscene language will be tolerated anywhere on this school’s property — whether in class, in the hallways or at athletic events. If you can’t speak without using the f -word, you can’t speak. By obscene language I mean the words banned by the Federal Communications Commission, plus epithets such as “Nigger,” even when used by one black student to address another black, or “bitch,” even when addressed by a girl to a girlfriend. It is my intent that by the time you leave this school, you will be among the few your age to instinctively distinguish between the elevated and the degraded, the holy and the obscene.
This was the paragraph where I was sure that it wasn’t a real speech given by a principal. There’s no way any public school principal, no matter what his/her race, would use the N-word in a speech.
That aside, I have mixed feelings about this paragraph. I do think that a certain amount of decorum in classes is appropriate, and I don’t think that it’d be inappropriate for a teacher to insist that students not curse in their classes, in the same way that I used to have teachers insist that kids took their hats off in class.
This paragraph, though, also talks about “in the hallways or at athletic events”. Now you’re starting to get into policing kids’ speech in semi-public or public places, and I find that troubling. I don’t like any time any organization of power does that.
In addition, words have context. They’re not always bad. Even the FCC guidelines referenced in this paragraph (https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/obscene-indecent-and-profane-broadcasts) speak to the fact that obscenity is based on context. (By the way, if you’ve never listened to George Carlin’s “7 Words You Can’t Say on Television” bit from the 70’s, you should: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dCIKqkIg1w).
Fifth, we will end all self-esteem programs. In this school, self-esteem will be attained in only one way — the way people attained it until decided otherwise a generation ago — by earning it. One immediate consequence is that there will be one valedictorian, not eight.
This feels like another stated epidemic in search of an actual, real problem. I’m not aware of a huge trend in schools across the country having eight valedictorians.
Sixth, and last, I am reorienting the school toward academics and away from politics and propaganda. No more time will be devoted to scaring you about smoking and caffeine, or terrifying you about sexual harassment or global warming. No more semesters will be devoted to condom wearing and teaching you to regard sexual relations as only or primarily a health issue… There will be no more attempts to convince you that you are a victim because you are not white, or not male, or not heterosexual or not Christian. We will have failed if any one of you graduates this school and does not consider him or her inordinately fortunate — to be alive and to be an American.
Schools have a major role in talking to and educating kids about social issues. Anti-smoking information in schools helps prevent kids from becoming smokers (https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0153.pdf). Sexual harassment and consent are real things that kids need to be taught about as early as possible if we want a safe society for girls and women (see Brock Turner’s recent trial and sentencing). Global warming is a real issue, especially for the youth of this world, and teaching kids about its effects might inspire some of them to develop a key piece of technology that could help solve the problem. Condom distribution programs have been proven to increase condom use, prevent HIV and other STIs, and save money – all without increasing the rates of sexual activity amongst teenagers (http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/programresources/guidance/condoms/ and https://www.guttmacher.org/about/journals/psrh/1998/03/impact-high-school-condom-availability-program-sexual-attitudes-and).
I do agree that sexual relations shouldn’t only or primarily be treated as a health issue. We should have comprehensive sex ed in schools that teaches kids about biology, but also about consent and about sexual agency. There are recent studies that show that many teenage girls don’t even know that sex is supposed to feel good (http://qz.com/674336/the-revolutionary-idea-that-sex-should-feel-good-for-teen-girls-too/), and as such sex becomes a strange and sometimes dangerous proposition for them.
That said, I guarantee you that the author of this passage wouldn’t agree with me on how sex ed should be handled in school. I’m virtually certain that he’d advocate for biology-only sex ed, or even absitence only education.
The last sentences, about being a victim because you are “not white, or not male, or not heterosexual, or not Christian” is another one that smacks of straight, white, male privilege. Non-white people, women, LGBT people, and (to a lesser extent) non-Christians, face a different reality in this country than straight white men do (I say this knowingly as a straight white man). Women are paid less than men for doing the same jobs. Despite the recent advances for LGBT people, they can still be fired from their jobs for no other reason than their sexual orientation. People of color continue to face overwhelming discrimination, and racism is still very real and very present. To not acknowledge these truths as part of educating students is to not prepare them for the world, and raise them in a bubble that ignores reality.
Now, please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of our country. As many of you do not know the words, your teachers will hand them out to you..
This is another place where I knew this wasn’t a real high school principal. Students are allowed, by law, to abstain from saying the Pledge of Allegiance. It’s been upheld by the Supreme Court (http://aclu-or.org/blog/students-not-required-participate-pledge-allegiance).
Her response:
Wow!!!!! I gave you quite a homework assignment! Sorry, but thanks for the input!
