Photo by Bill Oxford on Unsplash
Our public schools need to remove science from the curriculum altogether. It’s all a bunch of “theories” anyway, so the kids will not have missed out on anything. If we can’t convince our politicians to remove science, then we should at least encourage our children to stop trying in those classes. That shouldn’t be too hard, the message that knowledge is to be disregarded is already widely repeated throughout our society.
Imagine if climate science were on the curriculum? After a day spent subjecting kids to lessons from “learned” men and women who have spent decades doing research in their fields, what would our children think when they came home and turned on the TV only to hear our wise President declare climate change a “hoax” perpetuated by the Chinese?
“Oh, thank goodness, all those scientists had me all worked up for a minute!” “Stupid school! Lying to me again!”
The more rebellious ones might even feel empowered to descend into sarcasm. They might even call into question the wisdom of our wise leaders, which would be an impertinent act for an adolescent who has not yet spent a single minute in the real world, or sat upon a gilded toilet.
But even the good kids are only going to be increasingly more confused by all this “science talk” and I foresee an increase in disciplinary problems. To some extent I can understand where they would be coming from, after all on the one hand we say that students should take their teachers seriously, but then we, as parents, mock the standard lessons every chance we get.
“Do your homework.” “Try hard in school.” “Go on to college and get a degree.”
But then when the students come home and say something disrespectful like, “evidence suggests climate change is man made,” they’re met with scorn and derision.
Aren’t they better off not knowing?
When I was student teaching, the biology teacher had taken upon himself to remove any lessons on evolution from the curriculum. I suppose he felt he was sparing his children from inevitable problems. After all, if a child is taught to cultivate ideas radically different than those held by their parents, it can only lead to familial strife.
I encouraged the math teacher to remove the number 6 from the curriculum out of similar concerns, but he just looked at me like I was crazy.
The funny thing is, I used to be quite a disciple of science. I hold a Bachelor of Science with a minor in Physics and graduated with top honors. But I’m coming to accept that all “book knowledge” is hardly worth the paper it’s written on. Many of the people I encounter in everyday life become quite agitated when I try to share the things I’ve learned through, experience, study and hard work. These people have eyes and ears of their own, and they feel intruded upon at the suggestion that there are conclusions in the world they might not have been able to arrive at just by sitting around and thinking.
When you come right down to it, the only time anyone claims an education is really important is when they’re giving you a lecture. But nobody ever defers to your education when a decision needs to be made on an important point. Referendums are never passed to pay for education, in fact, educational funding is continually cut. That alone should be a lesson to young people to stop trying. When was the last time a Presidential candidate had to take an aptitude test? Why should you try on yours?
Plain and simple: Society doesn’t care about your education, so why should you?
So please, quit telling your children to go to school and study hard. Tell them they can skip the science classes and ignore all facts. Or don’t tell them, just show them. Show them with your actions, your facebook posts, and your vote. In other words…keep doing what you’re doing.
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