Feasting on Children, by Edward Dunnigan

Special to TLE

It is the hope of every parent that their children do well in school. It is the joy of every parent when his or her child indeed does well and is recognized for it. Logically, one would think that the educators and the administrators that run the education system rejoice when a child under their tutelage excels in his or her studies.

Recent events have led me to believe that this is true only so long as the student in question stays within the accepted "norms".

Take the controversy surrounding Derek Loutzenheiser. Mr. Loutzenheiser is a sixth grader attending Harbor Lights Middle school in Holland, Michigan. While participating in a class discussion regarding what might make him feel safer in school, Derek stated that he would feel safer if some of the adults at school were trained in the use of, and allowed to carry firearms.

Imagine that.

A student wants those people that his parents have entrusted with his health and education, to have the training and the means to protect him and his classmates. Rather than stand helplessly by as a student is abducted by some deviant, shot by some lunatic, or even attacked by a rabid dog, Mr. Loutzenheiser wants some responsible adult to proactively minimize or even eliminate the threat by using a firearm that he or she has been trained to use. Considering the rampant demonization of firearms in the media, one might conclude that his instructors would applaud the depth of thought displayed by this young man. His insight could be used to illustrate that teaching of critical thinking and logical reasoning is not yet dead in public education today.

Shockingly, instead of praise, Mr. Loutzenheiser has been subjected to what amounts to ostracism on the part of his educators. He was flagged as potential violence risk and it was suggested that he be separated from the other students. Further, the school wanted to force him into their "mentoring" program where his thought processes could be "monitored".

In another example, this time in Post Falls, Idaho, another young man has been "flagged" for daring to question the statist dogma to which he's been subjected. Russell Dunne, a 17 year old student and contributing columnist for the Post Falls High School newspaper, The Trojan Times, has been told that future articles of his must pass through an "editorial review board". Apparently the pro-liberty and anti-globalist views in his editorials have alarmed the administration to the point where he too must be "monitored".

Both of these young men exhibited the courage and intelligence that was once the hallmark of our educational system. Using their considerable intellects, they identified and analyzed the respective problems that were presented to them and came up with viable solutions. Their mistakes, if you can call them that, was that their solutions ran contrary to the accepted party line.

Once again, The Leviathan is revealed.

What passes for education in today's government schools is a sad reminder of just how far this nation has declined. Instead of teaching our children how to think, now they are just taught what to think. Social Studies is just another propaganda venue to indoctrinate our children into the global mindset. American History taught today is revised to make it more politically correct. Our nation's founders are presented as rich white slave-owners that stacked the government deck so as to maximize their profits on the backs of the downtrodden. The three 'R's; Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmatic have been replaced with the three new 'R's; Ratting, Reproduction, and Rationalization. That's right, children are being taught that they should report their family or friends that engage in some illicit act such as smoking or hunting. The same children that can't do a simple math problem without a calculator are being given instructions on using a condom. When all of this backfires and it's determined that Johnny can't think, let alone read, the statist swine in the various administrations chalk it up to Attention Deficit Disorder and recommend counseling and drugs, guaranteeing that sometime down the line the state sponsored press have more grist for their propaganda mills.

Deprived of the ability to analyze and assess, our children are helpless to counter the onslaught of dishonesty and illogic with which they are inundated daily. As in the above examples, any that question the philosophical drivel that passes for education today are treated like some sick herd animal, segregated and carefully watched until such time as they can safely be reintroduced to the general population. Should someone threaten to revise the system by giving parents even token power in the form of vouchers, the statists form ranks and howl angrily about their already too small budgets and how the quality of education will suffer. Worse, if a parent no longer wishes for their child to suffer the indignities of pseudo education, and decides to home school, again the statists will sound the alarm. They will point out that the child will not be properly 'socialized' into society, that they won't have the 'people skills' to interact with their peer group. As if the intellectually bankrupt robots that the schools have churned out for the last twenty-five years are something to be proud of.

The Leviathan feasts on our children's minds.

Without the intellectual underpinnings of a true education, our children can be subjected to the whim of those in power. They can be lured into the military and sent off on some "peace-keeping" mission. If they can be deceived into believing that their rights are granted by the state, and only as interpreted by the state, they can be easily controlled. Being ignorant of the contents of The Constitution and The Bill of Rights, those that find themselves in law enforcement won't even the question the Constitutionality of kicking in someone's door while serving a "no-knock" warrant. If by some chance they did question it, they wouldn't know how to express their misgivings (more than likely, they'll follow the examples of their antecedents in those bastions of mindless obedience, the SS and the FBI and just follow orders).

The most remarkable thing in all of this is that from out of the depths of the intellectual cesspool that is our public education system emerge Derek Loutzenheiser and Russell Dunne.

Somehow, when challenged to express their thoughts on a given subject, they were able to think outside the accepted boundaries and, in each case, present a well thought out, factually based opinion, not because of their respective education experiences but in spite of them. When challenged by those in authority, they stood by their convictions.

I salute you both, gentlemen. You give me hope.

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