Deliberate Dumbing Down of America Public Education

70 of goals that would reflect the problems society faces in the world of today.... Measures of conventional academic achievement, for instance, are at a more advanced stage of develop ment than measures of attitude and values. Measures of progress toward the ten goals are unequally developed. Some are more dependable and valid than others. For example, tests of reading comprehension are relatively well developed and reasonably well understood while tests of such qualities as self-under standing and tolerance are less well developed and poorly understood.... Where the available measures are clearly inadequate, intensive research and development should be undertaken immediately to bring them to the point where they can have full effect in the evaluation program. J AMES C LAVELL WROTE T HE C HILDREN ’ S S TORY (D ELACORTE P RESS /E LEANOR F RIEDE : N EW York, 1963). In this book Clavell, author of King Rat , Tai-Pan , Shogun and Noble House , explains most eloquently how little children can have their minds manipulated into believing anything the teacher wants them to believe, even to the point of believing their parents are old-fashioned and should go back to school to unlearn bad thoughts, and that God does not exist. On the dust jacket of the book we learn: It was a simple incident in the life of James Clavell—a talk with his young daughter just home from school—that inspired this chilling tale of what could happen in twenty-five quietly devastating minutes. He [Clavell] writes: “ the children’s story came into being that day. It was then that I really realized how vulnerable my child’s mind was—any mind for that matter—under controlled circumstances.” “Sit down, Johnny, and we’ll start learning good things and not worry about grown-up bad thoughts. Oh yes,” she said when she sat down at her seat again, brimming with happiness. “I have a lovely surprise for you. You’re all going to stay overnight with us. We have a lovely room and beds and lots of food, and we’ll all tell stories and have such a lovely time.” “Oh, good,” the children said. “Can I stay up till eight o’clock?” Mary asked breathlessly. “Well, as it’s our first new day, we’ll all stay up to eight-thirty. But only if you promise to go right to sleep afterward.” The children all promised. They were very happy. Jenny said, “But first we got to say our prayers. Before we go to sleep.” The New Teacher smiled at her. “Of course. Perhaps we should say a prayer now. In some schools that’s a custom, too.” She thought a moment, and the faces watched her. Then she said, “Let’s pray. But let’s pray for something very good. What should we pray for?” “Bless Momma and Daddy,” Danny said immediately. “That’s a good idea, Danny. I have one. Let’s pray for candy. That’s a good idea, isn’t it?” They all nodded happily. So, following their New Teacher, they all closed their eyes and steepled their hands together, and they prayed with her for candy. The New Teacher opened her eyes and looked around disappointedly. “But where’s our candy? God is all-seeing and is everywhere, and if we pray, He answers our prayers. Isn’t that true?” Some excerpts from the last pages of this remarkable book follow: