Brainwashing Propaganda, or Morality Lesson?

[Kevin]

Link.

Usually, FoxNews has a tendency to exaggerate the truth, so unless I see it posted on more than one news site, I am hesitant to post my finding here, but I found the implications of this too disturbing not to share:
I've always thought they should teach morals through history instead of relying on the parents to take their kids to their god of choice for moral lessons and teach dry history classes, but I'm not sure this is what I had in mind... Using Obamas own speeches as learning material for our children to base their opinions on is bull, and getting them to read books written about him and by him if close to brain-washing if you ask me. If you want to teach kids responsibility and morality, do it through history - stop all the dry boring history lessons they teach in school and give them moral lessons, but don't use propaganda to do it...

It's asks them to read books about past and current presidents. This was required of me in school. I was also asked to write letters to myself saying how I could help President Reagan make this a better country. This is not a new tactic. The reason why the younger kids are asked to help the President and not just offer ideas is that younger students generally can't grasp the abstract as well so having the specific person involved helps them focus in on the idea. Students are often asked to write letters to the teacher that are used just for the student. Or at least this used to be a common practice. Perhaps the fact that it isn't anymore is part of why our education system is failing? I don't know. I've realized that the public school system I went through in Southwest Wisconsin as a kid was significantly better than the ones that most of my peers went through in the rest of the country decades ago. Sadly the district I went too is now pretty much in the crap like all the rest.

Reading is good. Setting goals for yourself is good. Exploring what YOU can do in the specific is good. Of course there will be political overtones. There are political overtones every time any politician on the planet speaks pretty much by the definition of who is doing the speaking. Of course and agenda is being pushed. It's rare that any politician on the planet doesn't push an agenda when they open their mouth.

Of course in the end all this will mean very little. How much to you really remember from Grades 1-4? Hell most of my classmates turned out to be die hard democrats, those letters to Reagan warped our minds pretty hard. Trickle down forever!!! Really is humanity that much of a herd? Maybe 1-3% of kids will get a little extra motivation out of it that might actually impact them. It's not new and it's a non issue in my mind. I guess I didn't need to spew quite as much vitriol as I did.