You Ontarians can correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t the premier of Ontario some kind of failed school teacher/washed up golf pro/red-necked bone-head who wears the “full Winnipeg” (matching white shoes and belt)? And isn’t his minister of education a high school dropout?
Anyway, this is a pathetic and desperate attempt to try and instill some sense of citizenship and morality in the students.
I spent the weekend with an old friend who is a youth corrections professional. Neither he nor I are religious but he says the character of youth went downhill when religion was removed as a subject in school. At present, there is no teaching of any kind of moral philosophy in the schools. My friend’s solution was that some kind of philosophy/religious philosophy course should be taught. All the great religions should be covered and their basics discussed. Every class probably has a few Catholics, Buddists, Hindus, Moslems, etc. and students could actively participate. Essays and exams could be based on comparative analysis and moral discussions. This would at least make the students think a little about morality and right and wrong.
In any case, those of us who remember our childhoods know that chanting and singing the same thing over and over hundreds of times every morning at school is going to have zero effect, other than to increase contempt for the system. They’ll weed out some little radicals, free-thinkers, etc. who won’t fit into a bureaucratic corporate culture anyway, but it is, as usual, another stupid idea from stupid politicians.
in re: the aforementioned hijack to the subject of the American pledge;
When, as a teenager, I read Red Skelton’s commentary on the pledge of allegiance, I had an important decision to make. Basically, it came down to whether I was going to take the words seriously. Specifically, the words “pledge” and “allegiance.”
The way Skelton described it, to “pledge” your “allegiance” was to swear an oath binding yourself to promise your life, your worldly goods, and all of your aspirations to the entity to which you are pledging. I concluded that I have too much respect for the pledge itself to allow myself to give it lightly, or especially by unthinking rote.
Which was fine for me as an individual. But now Kayla is attending a preschool, and I have reason to believe that by next year, they’re going to be teaching her that thing. I’m not really sure how I feel about her learning it. On the one hand, I really believe that the pledge is properly taken only by a free citizen, acting with consciousness and deliberateness, and that to recite it by rote is to trivialize both it and the noble stated ideals of my country that it expresses. Obviously, a four-year-old is not an appropriate pledger by these criteria. On the other hand, given a few truisms about our society (e.g. “the nail that sticks up gets hammered down” – and not only in Japanese society, “patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel”, and “as long as it is done in the name of God or country, there is no atrocity so egregious that it will not be forgiven by the general public”), I find myself wondering if allowing her a bit of protective coloration might not be a wise thing to do.
Perhaps this would be better as its own debate. So go look under “Blame it on Red Skelton”.
[/hijack]
FYI, these actions are in response to a school shooting that took place in or near Ottawa.
Katt wondered…
Hmmmm… well if you’re feral and in Ontario, I expect the government will be after you soon to either give you rabies shots, or shoot you dead on sight… So if I were a Katt in Ontario, I’d be domesticated.
[/purring]
My boys (Bubbaloo the Orange Persian and Arthur the Psycho-cat) send their regards. Domesticated in the loosest sense of the word.
Regards,
Jai Pey
The Ryan,
we thrashed out Canada’s constitutional structure in a couple of threads last fall, which you may find interesting:
Canada’s Relationship with Britain
Does the Queen actually OWN Canada?
C fury said:
Ah, of course. I love it when government officials push for simplistic solutions to complex problems.
“What? There was a shooting? Make 'em recite a pledge! That’ll stop violence!”
:rolleyes: