This morning at kindergarten, Mrs. F. was playing I Spy with the kids. The first one: something red. After being given a hint that it was something you sit in, they guessed correctly. The second one: something round. They got it right away; it was the clock. The third one: something red, white and blue.
"The blocks!" "The rug!" they called out. They guessed for about a minute, then Mrs. F. said, "Here's a hint. Something that starts with an 'F.'"
"Foot?" everyone called. I couldn't believe my ears. The moment I heard "Red, white, and blue" I knew what it was. These kids had no idea. And they never guessed it. Mrs. F. had to tell them that it was the flag. Maybe it was because they didn't have as much experience. Maybe that sort of thing comes later in the grades or curriculum. Of course, it could have been because the schools don't emphasize patriotism anymore...
"The blocks!" "The rug!" they called out. They guessed for about a minute, then Mrs. F. said, "Here's a hint. Something that starts with an 'F.'"
"Foot?" everyone called. I couldn't believe my ears. The moment I heard "Red, white, and blue" I knew what it was. These kids had no idea. And they never guessed it. Mrs. F. had to tell them that it was the flag. Maybe it was because they didn't have as much experience. Maybe that sort of thing comes later in the grades or curriculum. Of course, it could have been because the schools don't emphasize patriotism anymore...
"Schools don't emphasize patriotism anymore"
ReplyDelete(This post is inspired by patriotism and other mistakes by George Kateb)
Why should schools emphasize patriotism? I am playing devils advocate here. Patriotism is violent and negative. It is about the promotion of one group of arbitrarily defined geographically limited group of people over all other such groups of people. Patriotism promotes warfare and mistrust among nations. Saluting a flag is a pointless gesture. It would be better removed. Patriotism causes people to believe in causes that they shouldn't simply because a majority does. Patriotism silenced Trotsky and killed Socrates. Patriotism can be linked to every war since the creation of a state as a unit of geopolitical organization. Patriotism created Mccarthy and the Alien and Sedition Act. Patriotism has no inherently redeeming virtues beyond the benefit of belief in an ideal. Why should patriotism be emphasized in schools?
Question every assumption
Query every taught thought
Quibble with accepted wisdom
Quarrel with baseline values
Quietly think about everything
Quintessential thought is all that matters.
Well, that's a fairly good point. I guess the type of patriotism I meant was the part where citizens understand what their country stands for, that they stand up themselves for the freedom and justice that characterize America. The ideals that that type of patriotism stands for caused the ending of slavery, the civil rights and women's rights movements, the Declaration of Human Rights, and so forth. America stands for freedom and rights for all, and students, and in fact all citizens, should respect that.
ReplyDeleteI may disagree what America stands for and has been characterized by, but I agree that these are our ideals and our goals. I also agree that we have moved towards these goals over the course of this nations history. This is an amazing impressive thing. But why should that be represented by a flag?
ReplyDeleteThe flag is what has been chosen by the country to represent America and its ideals. The flag stands for these ideals because that is what America's citizens have seen it as for more than two hundred years. Though the flag has changed and America has gained new rights and imposed new laws, "The flag still stands for freedom / And they can't take that away."
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