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July 12, 2023

Over the past two decades the classroom has been hijacked by an army of ideologues trumpeting empty slogans like “mindfulness,” “caring”, and “celebrating diversity.” Combined with recent “diversity, equity and inclusion” policies forced on teachers and students, American education has devolved into an unhealthy “totalitarianism of compassion” that oftentimes is anything but compassionate and inclusive. Though these trends might appear benign on the surface, they have led to a perversion of the learning process, thwarted the acquisition of basic knowledge and contributed to an epidemic of anxiety and depression among the nation’s young.

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Consequently, it’s time to abandon educational policies that sow confusion and discord in developing minds.

Instead, educators should return to teaching the basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills young people need to navigate the world around them. Current “woke” attempts to substitute fake subjects like gender identity, critical race theory, and “kindness and caring” for meaningful history, literature, and math lessons designed to inspire rather than indoctrinate, often leave students with the sense that they are crushed by historical giants rather than standing on their shoulders. On the other hand, if students possessed stronger reading, writing and math skills, they would be better equipped to undertake the arduous work of self-reflection needed to understand themselves and their society and, maybe, discover a positive and unifying meaning in their lives.

But as the great education critic Neil Postman noted decades ago, modern education leaves students with schooling that “has no meaning.” And, as Postman reasoned, “without meaning, learning has no purpose. Without purpose, schools become houses of detention, not attention.” With 20% of high school students recently reporting serious thoughts of suicide, it is time to return to merit based skills development that promotes meaning and purpose.

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This, of course, is a difficult task given the current infatuation with making schools “safe spaces” that promote “well-being” over intellectual development. However, as Jonathan Haidt notes, “Education is not intended to make people comfortable; it is meant to make them think.” Would that schools adopted Haidt’s philosophy and again produced resilient citizens with the requisite skills to propel America forward.

Unfortunately, the current “safe space” and “well-being” craze demands students narcissistically obsess about their “identities,” devoid of any of the basic historical, religious or literary understanding essential for self-reflection. Haidt, Jean Twenge, John McWhorter and many others have meticulously documented the devastating results of this “coddling” of student egos, not only on their mental health, but also on the vitriolic and intolerant attitudes those very same students take toward professors, teachers and classmates who dare disagree with them. 

The current focus on “identity” and “feelings” has left students without the analytical skills needed to understand their place in a multiracial but monocultural society like the United States. This has produced conceited and self-righteous citizens with a misunderstanding and disrespect for the values and traditions that helped previous generations of Americans embrace “e pluribus unum” and establish a unified nation.

Analytical skill development is more likely to lead to a balanced and reasonable reckoning with the past that acknowledges both the failures and successes of society. On the other hand, feelings-based education could leave students vulnerable to educators pushing woke activism in the classroom. John Dewey outlined the dangers of this a century ago:

For in spite of itself any movement that thinks and acts in terms of an ‘ism becomes so involved in reaction against other ‘isms that it is unwittingly controlled by them. For it then forms its principles by reaction against them instead of by a comprehensive, constructive survey of actual needs, problems, and possibilities.

Perhaps this is why we are currently inundated with young people who engage in hostility to opinions that differ from theirs and the insidious labeling of those from previous generations as racist, sexist or homophobic. In this sense, the renowned 19th century education reformer Horace Mann’s sound advice rings true today: