I agree with Superfluous Parentheses. Every one of my high school literature and history teachers was strongly and obviously left-leaning. This bled through into their teaching in a way that, when I think about it now, gobsmacks me.
Nifty. Sort of a happy ending, huh? Since you and your son are both conservative, I won’t bother asking if any teachers have said anything outrageous pointing toward the other end of the political spectrum, (he won’t have noticed, or have told you) or if your son has noticed a lot of comments that he might both characterize as dumb and with which he and you agree (nobody makes that association). 'Cause, you know, there ain’t really no point in arguing with the folks who already know they’re right.
The Palin quote has yet to be verified or debunked, and that’s enough to prevent a good teacher from using it in class. Or anyone from jumping on the bandwagon.
In general, I’m suspicious of accusations of anti-Semitic activity in a NYC magnet school, as I might be of someone who teaches that:
“… They were talking about colonial times and how King George played one group off against another. He specifically scapegoated the French. Then he said something like: And that’s what some American government officials are doing now. Just today…”
…provided there was something illegal or criminal there. 'Course, that quote says absolutely nothing, without the whole speech, which says, well, not nothing, but certainly very little. You’re trying to get a bunch of people to condemn someone for a speech you’re quoting but of which you’ve left out the best part, which still ain’t that good.
Call back when you think someone’s said something specific and unambiguous and hurtful or insulting or demeaning toward someone for whom you are or feel responsible, or to whom you feel obligated. Okay?
[QUOTE=The King of Soup;10243343Since you and your son are both conservative, I won’t bother asking if any teachers have said anything outrageous pointing toward the other end of the political spectrum, (he won’t have noticed, or have told you) [/QUOTE]
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Unless you know Plan B a lot better than I do, you can’t possibly make this call.
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His son’s a kid. When you were 16 your gauge for what’s dumb and true or not true probably wasn’t particularly keen either. In fact that’s one of the reasons they’re in school= to learn the facts (and not the teacher’s version of same).
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I’ve most definitely heard left-wing crap that pissed me off (comments by Michael Moore, Al Franken, Keith Olbermann, etc.- all of whom I really like at their best). Many other Dopers will call bs on people from their own half of the political bed for making misguided statements. Right wing or Left wing doesn’t mean Flavor Aide calls.
My high school civics teacher was pretty hardcore right wing and was pretty willing to proselytize. I survived.
So was mine, oddly. I say oddly because he was the only teacher I’ve had at any level that was overtly conservative. I’ve had some pretty extreme left wing ones recently, and I say that as a democrat.
Most of my high school teachers- those who expressed an opinion- were conservative. Some were outright racist (this was a private school in Alabama). It was a shock to get to college where the balance flipped; even the southern and Alabama born professors were heavy weighted to the liberal. Something about the extra graduate work I guess.
It’s unacceptable and out of line. If it helps you any, I had plenty of teachers who did the same thing in the opposite direction, fascist teacher/liberal student. But by the time I was in the 8th grade, when this shit started, I already knew a lot more real history than my teachers. Just have junior start debating the teachers in class on the details not in the textbooks, and then they know nothing, as the teachers know the textbooks only and they are written to be bland, uninformative and inoffensive to mainstream beliefs: there’s nothing there. That’s why they are written that way.
Political ideology is not about who is factually right or wrong, there is plenty of evidence to support both and neither side (and there are more than two sides). Political ideology is about a lifetime of experience brought up against a person’s personal values, how others should be treated and why.
Palin is right. I singlehandedly caused the banks to collapse when I sold all my stock in Manischewitz (and a few bagel IPOs). It was a triumphant day. I was riding high on cocaine and the blood of Christian children.
Nah, it was me and Mr. Neville. We sold some of our stock when we moved to Pittsburgh last year to get money for a down payment on our house. If only we’d gone with a zero-down loan, none of this would have happened…
Thanks once again and here’s the follow-up.
We (Ms. B, Son B and I) read all the posts. We talked it over and decided it would be best for Ms. B and I to stay out of this and for Son B to handle it himself. So today after class, he approached the teacher and asked for a cite on that Palin quote from yesterday. The teacher said that he got it from a friend who got it from a website, but apparently it was one of those websites where people say outrageous things without proof. He looked for independent verification but couldn’t find it so apparently it wasn’t true.
In short, the teacher admitted he made a mistake but didn’t tell the class; he only told my son.
Thanks again, especially to the Dems, and of course the comedians. I’ll keep looking back here if there’s more to say.
For your son’s sake, you should probably leave it at that… but if I were your son, I’d demand that he admit it in front of the entire class.
While I’m not opposed to political debate in the classroom, especially in History class, the teacher probably shouldn’t be taking any particular viewpoint, instead asking pointed questions and encouraging dialogue to encourage critical thinking. And definitely the teacher shouldn’t be making negative or derogatory comments, and absolutely the teacher shouldn’t be judging or denigrating the students for their points of view (though being critical of their use of logic and debating techniques is fine). So yeah, document the situation and report it to the principal. (Mostly Democrat here).
Well, hopefully the teacher has learned a lesson and knows your son is on to him. I think your son should continue to respectfully and politely confront the teacher…maybe next time, do it in class, “Yo, Mr. Bias! Where did you hear that?” Embarrassment, I’ve found, can be a great teacher.
I see that my Criminal Justice HS teacher has left the school, or I might remind him how he sat me on the conservative side of the classroom (after a political attitudes test) with a comment about Hitler.
He was a pretty decent teacher overall, but that comment was completely out of line. Wow. I can’t imagine saying that to my students.
It sounds like it’s resolved, and probably the best way possible. My advice for situations like this is to lighten up, or toughen up. He is going to be running into these situations for the rest of his life. He can fight back every time, let it go, or pick his spots. The idea of parental involvement is on the level, though other end of the spectrum, of those touchy-feely tee-ball leagues that don’t keep keep score. Kids need to learn about the real world.
My boss is a conservative. I can speak about politics (somewhat) intelligently, and not express my views, and not insult his either. A large part of this is because it’s in my interest not to get on my manager’s bad side. That’s part of being an adult, is knowing when it’s appropriate to say something. Sometimes you figure out those types of things by seeing others acting inappropriately.
In high school a teacher would spend half the class on a soapbox, and make appearances on the school news talking about how Clinton had dishonored the office of the presidency, and owed it to the nation to resign. If he said something I didn’t agree with, I would call him on it, or there would be a class discussion.
In college I was a business major, but took some English classes. I went to school in a red state, and the humanities building was a little blue oasis, but there were still Republicans/conservatives in those classes. They made up about 40% of the English classes, and would go on and on about how they couldn’t get a fair shake, how oppressed they were, how no one respected them, etc. The conservative professors said the same thing. This was right after Bush started his second term and the war was going strong. All I could do was roll my eyes and tell my classmates to quit whining.
In a business class (of about 15) there was a group presentation, and they were talking about empathy or something along those lines. For the “exercise” they divided the room and said to go pick a side based on your stance on the death penalty. Another girl and I were the only ones against the death penalty. At another point in the class there was a discussion about the importance of accountability and credibility among managers; and how bad managers didn’t have the respect of their employees. The professor started by saying how there was a great recent example in the government. Rather than bringing up Bush getting us in to a war on false pretenses, and having an administration policy of being as secretive, and deceptive as possible, he talked about Clinton. Clinton hadn’t been president in four years. Bush had just gone through one term, and won another.
This isn’t the last time you or your son is going to disagree with someone. In fact, it sounds pretty tame. I’m glad it worked out for him, but keep things in perspective. Your son wasn’t being abused, and it doesn’t sound like he’s a target. Think of it as a learning experience.
As long as he isn’t insulting your kid I’d leave it alone. I’ve had plenty of retarded H.S. teachers. You just have to accept the fact that the only real education your son will get comes after H.S.
This stuff happens. As long as your son is smart enough not to take it seriously then he’ll be ok.
I had my ethnic studies professor casually mention to the class that the Jews controlled the media. When pressed about it by a classmate he said he would provide proof later, but never did.
FWIW, I like politically biased teachers. I always ace their class, because it is always obvious what kind of answers they’re looking for.
For the teacher above all my assignments were essays on reading material. The guy was clearly a black activist, so I made sure to rail against the white man in everything I handed in. I got an A in the class.
I’m curious… was this a textbook, or material excerpted from historical writings such as those of John Smith? There is a difference, of course—I can’t fathom a modern textbook referring to Indians as “savages,” except to mention that people at that time frequently called them savages, or unless it was a direct quote.
I’m not a fan of sanitization, and I think people who take offense at the mere presence of certain words—regardless of their historical context—are misguided at best. (Not saying you’re one of them.) One could also complain about a teacher forcing students to use a book that contained the word “nigger,” without noting that the book is Huckleberry Finn or a work by Faulkner.
For whatever reason our teacher decided to use a textbook from the 1940s instead of our assigned textbook.