November 20, 2001
Tuesday, November 20 And
Tuesday, November 20
And just when I thought educational insanity was confined to places like Alabama, here's a story from my own backyard that makes me want to go beat my head on a wall (or more to the point, someone else's head). Parents at Newton North High School here in Massachusetts were alarmed that Howard Zinn spoke to their students about how maybe, just maybe, there's another side to the story about the goings-on in Afghanistan (and as an aside, when exactly did this change from a War On Terror And Evil Wherever We May Find It to a vendetta against Afghanistan?). The line I like best? "Parents questioned exposing young teens to Zinn's opinions." I guess since Howard Zinn's views won't be on the MCAS, they aren't worth taking valuable time away from rote memorization to ponder. And local man Tom Mountain made his case for mandatory parent-licensing, saying about Zinn's views, "It's horrifying. He told these things to an entire school audience of kids 13 to 17 who don't know any better." But they do know better! They've been thoroughly indoctrinated for weeks now about how everything America does is right and proper, and should be able to see through Zinn's hocus-pocus, the silly idea that Afghan civilians might have suffered from the bombings. Incredible.
