Education

Teen Vogue Tweets ‘Welcome to Marx!’

In a bizarre move, a major magazine designed to influence an entire generation of teenagers — Teen Vogue — tweeted “Welcome to Marx!,” promoting a 2018 article hailing Karl Marx as a “legend” and adding that the communist philosopher’s ideas “are more prevalent than you might realize.” “You may have come across communist memes on social media,” begins the 2018 Teen Vogue piece. “The man, the meme, the legend behind this trend is Karl Marx, who developed the theory of communism, which advocates for workers’ control over their labor (instead of their bosses).” But of course, anyone who has studied communism understands that the results of the ideology being put into practice isn’t what anyone in good conscience would refer to as “workers’ control over their labor,” but rather, a worldwide death toll of roughly 100 million. The Teen Vogue piece says the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx is taught in schools, and that Marx is one of the most assigned “economists” in U.S. college courses. So Teen Vogue sat down with two educators and interviewed them regarding how they teach their students about “the legacy of Marx’s ideas and how they’re relevant to the current political climate.” One of the educators the magazine interviewed was former Drexel University professor George Ciccariello-Maher, who “challenges his students to envision a society without capitalism,” and who also said in 2016 that all he wants for Christmas is “white genocide” — which is actually fitting for someone who flirts with Marxism, as “everyone who advocated genocide called himself a socialist,” according to George Watson’s 1998 book, The Lost Literature of Socialism. “Marx says we live under capitalism [but] capitalism has not always existed,” said Ciccariello-Maher to Teen Vogue. “It’s something that came into being and something that, as a result, just on a logical level, could disappear, could be overthrown, could be abolished, could be irrelevant.” “There’s this myth of the free market, but Marx shows very clearly that capitalism emerged through a state of violence,” added Ciccariello-Maher, ironically. Teen Vogue ominously went on to say that “many Marxists” believe “the current socioeconomic system is precarious and can be overthrown at any time.” The magazine also interviewed public high school teacher Mark Brunt, who said that he likes to do “a little role-playing” with his students, where he plays the bourgeoisie, and his students play the proletariat. “I do a little role-playing with [my class],” Brunt told Teen Vogue. “[I tell them,] I’m the boss, you’re my workers, and you want to try to take me down. I have the money. I own the factory. I control the police. I control the military. I control the government. What do you guys have?” Brunt goes on to explain that his students usually react by blinking at him and appearing clueless, until he hints that they have one thing that he, as “the boss,” doesn’t have. “It’s always just one student, whose hand shoots up and goes, ‘We outnumber you!’” added Brunt. Brunt said he goes on to introduce his students to Marx’s definition of the “proletariat” and the “bourgeoisie,” adding that the tension between the two groups make up the class conflict, or class struggle. Why Teen Vogue decided to dredge up this piece now remains unclear. But one can only assume what the magazine — which claims that “the proletariat will come together to overthrow the bourgeoisie and ultimately, win” — is suggesting.

Indeed!  Holy crap!!  If you, or your teen, subscribes to this rag, cancel it!  Communism is responsible for the slaughter of MILLIONS of people in (the now former) Soviet Union, China, North Korea, Cuba and elsewhere.  And, wherever it has been tried, it has FAILED economically.  Heck, Stalin murdered over 10 MILLION of his own people alone.  Why academia still looks up to that failed ideology, is beyond me.  Its really a failure of education.  These uber-liberal professors with their PhDs, who couldn’t begin to get a job out in the real world, use their positions in academia to brainwash “young skulls full of mush”…and that’s how this stuff is still perpetrated.  This article terrifying, and is a HUGE wakeup call to all parents.  Thanks to Alana Mastrangelo for bringing this to our attention!  You can follow Alana on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.

Opinion: The left’s poisoning of the educational infrastructure

Courtesy of our educational infrastructure having been transformed into leftist indoctrination centers, the result is politicians who care only about ideology where citizens are collateral damage in their march toward a leftist utopia. Our media is populated with news-actors who are similarly bound to their teachers’ idols of social justice, political correctness and identity politics. All of our institutions are suffering from the twin masters of identity politics and woke philosophy. In New York City during the riots, two individuals were arrested for attempting to bomb a marked New York Police Department cruiser with a Molotov cocktail. Upon arrest, police found additional material in the car to make more Molotov cocktails, and the booking complaint alleges they intended to hand out the bombs to other rioters. The kicker? Both of the suspects are lawyers. One, Colinford Mattis, a 32-year-old man had been working with a corporate law firm in New York City, and is a graduate of Princeton University. The other, Urooj Rahman, a 31-year old woman, is a graduate of Fordham Law School and was admitted to the bar in 2019. On her Facebook page, she fashions herself a “human rights lawyer.” His background as an “anti-poverty intern” for a mayor of San Francisco was listed on LinkedIn, as well as being president of the Princeton Black Student Union. With such promising backgrounds and illustrious educations, we must ask, what went wrong? Education went wrong, which is a dangerous realization, considering its importance not just as a conveyer of information, but as an important and formidable influence on character and values. With the breakdown of the American family, for many, the leftist indoctrination at the academy is the only instruction on life and principles to which they’ve been exposed. On Twitter, the Federalist’s Molly Hemingway noted, “Battle lines are more clearly being drawn these days, between those who clearly believe America is irredeemably evil and must be violently overthrown and those who believe America remains the greatest country on earth, based on rule of law, individual liberty, and inalienable rights. Decades of public education have given the former group a *huge* advantage, reinforced by media that awards itself prizes to indoctrinate message. The seriousness of that side now being impossible to ignore, however, finally forces the rule of law side to realize the fight must be engaged.” As leftists consumed public education, they accepted open-minded young people into their realm and are now vomiting them back up as heartless anarchists. The issue is not just at Ivy League institutions, it is a systemwide problem. Case in point is brought to us by the University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB). In the midst of violent rioting in dozens of cities across the United States, and on the same night rioters set fire to Washington, D.C.’s historic St. John’s Episcopal Church, Sarah Parcak, a faculty member of UAB went to Twitter encouraging people to topple a local monument she deemed a racist insult. “Ms. Parcak began coaching rioters about how to tear down monuments as networks covered the unrest in Washington on Sunday night. ‘PSA for ANYONE who might be interested in how to pull down an obelisk* safely from an Egyptologist who never ever in a million years thought this advice might come in handy,’ Ms. Parcak tweeted. She went on to fire off more than a dozen tweets demonstrating how protesters could topple obelisks …,” The Washington Times reported. On Parcak’s bizarre tweet frenzy encouraging mayhem, Mark Bauerlein, the editor of First Things Magazine, a journal on religion and public life, said, “The crucial point in this maniacal tweet is that this professor has been honored by TED, the Smithsonian, and the Guggenheim,” and asked, “Many advocates of disorder now occupy elite institutions that have in the past been the guarantors of order. Who let them in?” Kyle Shideler, the director/senior analyst for homeland security and counterterrorism at the Center for Security Policy, has the most direct answer: “They took over the academy and all credentialing. The middle and lower-middle-class families in this country paid millions to let the Weather Underground raise their kids in hopes they would climb the social ladder,” as he responded on social media. A Fox News producer inquired with UAB if it had any comment about a faculty member encouraging the destruction of property and mayhem on a night when the nation was aflame in violence. UAB responded, “These are not the opinions of the university. Our 45,000+ students, faculty and staff often use social media to express thoughts that do not necessarily reflect the voice of the university. If a public comment by a member of the campus community needs to be addressed by Student Affairs or Human Resources, it would be. However, personnel and student conduct matters are addressed privately between the individual and the institution.” Whoever Mattis’ and Rahman’s professors were, they weren’t out fixing up Molotov cocktails Sunday night, but for some reason their young charges allegedly were. And Parcak was no doubt comfortable in a chair during the 10 p.m. hour on a Sunday as she was tweet-inciting others to put themselves and their futures at great risk. Why put yourself on the line when others who look up to you are too naive to know you’re stuffing them into a cannon?

No kidding…  Thanks to Tammy Bruce for that outstanding op/ed.  Tammy is president of Independent Women’s Voice, is a radio talk-show host, and a New York Times best-selling author.   Excellent!!    🙂

Comprehensive Sex Ed Proponents Admit Teaching Children Sexual ‘Pleasure’ Is a Primary Goal

May is being touted as #SexEdForAll month on social media platforms, and a look at many posts using the hashtag shows teaching children about sexual “pleasure” is now included in the language of “medically accurate” sex ed. Cathy Ruse, senior fellow and director of human dignity at Family Research Council, wrote, “The ‘facts of life’ have not changed, but ‘inclusivity’ and ‘sex positivity’ and other popular buzz-word concepts have changed sex education.” Ruse is the author of a new brochure titled, “Sex Education in Public Schools: Sexualization of Children and LGBT Indoctrination.” She observed that while many studies have demonstrated comprehensive sex education “fails to achieve its stated goals and results in increased student sexual activity, school systems are devoting up to 70 hours of classroom time per child to sex education,” with many of those hours now spent on “the concept of ‘sexual rights’ and radical sexual ideology for youth.” The American College of Pediatricians also asked the question, “After 40 years of comprehensive sex ed in schools, why are STDs at epidemic levels?” Most of the proponents of “pleasure-centered” sex ed appear to be connected to the abortion industry. In February, the American Journal of Public Health published an article titled, “Pleasure and Sex Education: The Need for Broadening Both Content and Measurement,” by Leslie Kantor, Ph.D., chair of Rutgers’ Urban-Global Public Health Department and former vice president of education for Planned Parenthood, and Laura Lindberg, Ph.D., research scientist at the pro-abortion rights Guttmacher Institute. The authors asserted public health policy regarding sex ed should include “content related to sexual pleasure.” “Young people express frustration about the lack of information on sexuality and sexual behavior that is included in sex education programs; sexual and gender minority youths, in particular, feel overlooked by current approaches,” they wrote, lamenting that most sex ed curricula are focused on avoiding pregnancy and sexually-transmitted diseases. Kantor and Lindberg praised the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) guidance that “suggests numerous learning objectives related to the topic of ‘friendship, love, and romantic relationships’” for children aged five to 18 years. The authors wrote UNESCO’s recommendations for children’s instruction include: “[D]escribe ways that human beings feel pleasure from physical contact (e.g. kissing, touching, caressing, sexual contact) throughout their life,” which is a learning objective for children aged 9 to 12 years; “state that sexual feelings, fantasies and desires are natural and not shameful, and occur throughout life,” which is a learning objective for those aged 12 to 15 years; “understand that sexual stimulation involves physical and psychological aspects, and people respond in different ways, at different times,” which is a learning objective for those aged 12 to 15 years, and which includes as a key idea for ages 15 and older that “Engaging in sexual behaviours should feel pleasurable and comes with associated responsibilities for one’s health and well-being.” “Pleasure-based” sex ed is now acknowledged as a primary goal of “medically accurate” education that includes the radical LGBTQ agenda. Certified sex educator Irma Garcia said she is providing “medically accurate, pleasure-based” sex ed information in Austin, Texas, to black people and others of color. “I was always interested in sex, but never really had language to figure out the curiosities that I was feeling in order to be able to transfer that information over to others,” Garcia told the Austin Chronicle, adding that her own education and experience made the difference in her life. Following college, Garcia worked at a local Austin abortion clinic and then completed a certificate in sex education. She then launched her social media platform, titled Dirty South Sex Ed. “It’s fairly new, but it has been received wonderfully and it has grown so quickly,” she said. “It definitely makes me feel very happy that this information is helpful for some, but at the same time, it’s sad to know that our education system is failing us 100%.” As the Chronicle reported, Garcia now works as a client services manager at Jane’s Due Process, an organization that helps minor girls obtain abortions through the judicial bypass process, whereby young girls seek a judge’s permission to have an abortion without their parents’ consent. “Obtaining an abortion here in Texas for anyone, minors and adults alike, is definitely very burdensome and hard for a lot of folks, especially if there are different hurdles such as financial insecurity,” Garcia said. “And, so, for minors, as an extra burden, if they are not 18 they have to get their parents’ permission.” Garcia said she believes emphasizing sexual pleasure is important to help reduce “trauma” in the world. “I love to be able to tell people what sex toys to buy or what lubes to consider, but I think my passion lies more in the social and emotional skills than anything else,” she said. “I want my community, people of color, to be able to have access to medically accurate and pleasure-based sex education, because that is what is going to connect their humanity to all of the other aspects in their life. With that, we’re going to be able to create a more trauma-free, healed world.”

Wow..  Thanks to Dr. Susan Berry for that deeply disturbing report..

Pediatrician: Keeping Children Out of School Could Have Long Term Consequences

Dr. Dimitri Christakis knows a thing or two about children as the director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, including the consequences of keeping children out of a school setting for an extended period of time because of the threat of coronavirus. His latest addition to the more than 170 original research articles published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics has a stern warning about decisions made in the wake of the virus: ‘They will hold us accountable,” Christakis wrote. The article, published this week in the Journal, said that it will be long after the pandemic that “historians, epidemiologists, psychologists, and economists will provide extensive explanations of the damage done, mistakes made, and lessons learned.” In the meantime, decisions must be made because they can have “considerable and lasting implications.” Christakis titled his article, “School Reopening—The Pandemic Issue That Is Not Getting Its Due:” The decision to close schools was among the first action that many states took to stave the impending pandemic and was based on a strong theoretical foundation. Children are typically at greatest risk of infectious diseases, and they transmit them to each other and their families with considerable speed. Many drew parallels to the 100-year-old influenza epidemic, in which it was true that children played a central role in transmission. But in the 6 to 8 weeks since most schools in the U.S. have closed, we have gathered new evidence about both children’s risks from the virus and their likelihood of transmitting it, as noted by Esposito and Principi in this issue of JAMA Pediatrics. We know only what we know today about the benefits and harms associated with school closure. However imperfect these data are, they must inform a critical decision that many states and school districts will be making in the very near future. Notably, even as states provisionally plan on opening workplaces, most are giving no consideration to opening schools. Many have already canceled the rest of the year, and all are now considering what to do in the fall. The risks posed by delaying school openings are real and sizeable, particularly for students from low-income families. The phenomenon of summer learning loss has been well established, with children losing a mean of 1 to 3 months in varying subjects. Some estimate that there will be a 9-month to 12-month loss when children return to school in the fall, and this will only be compounded if distance learning continues. No credible scientist, learning expert, teacher, or parent believes that children aged 5 to 10 years can meaningfully engage in online learning without considerable parental involvement, which many families with low incomes are unable to provide because parents must work outside the home. Christakis said that in addition to a coronavirus task force, the government should be “convene immediately” a school closure task force and include “epidemiologists, infectious disease experts, educational scientists, and child psychologists, among others.” “They should review the state of the evidence regarding horizontal transmission among children and their families, as well as what is known about the feasibility of distance learning and the psychological implications of children continuing to stay at home,” Christakis wrote. He added that the decisions should be “developmentally framed” because “kindergarten is not the same as high school or college.” “Using all existing and emerging data—however incomplete—they should make their best-informed recommendations to help states make this crucial decision, based on science and not politics, as soon as possible,” Christakis wrote. “We owe this to our children. Years from now, when they reflect on the pandemic, they will hold us accountable.”

To read Dr. Christakis’ article, click on the text above.

Storytime with Dana: ‘The Box Turtle,’ ‘Can I Be Your Dog?’

In the midst of all of these abrupt changes, with offices and schools closed during the coronavirus outbreak, so many people are grappling with how to manage taking care of their children while also taking care of business. I have lots of friends who were staring into the future thinking, “How are we going to do this?” I had an idea of how to help: Provide a few minutes each afternoon of “Storytime with Dana.” I loved being read to as a child, and I remember Mrs. Laura Bush encouraging families to keep a storytime routine with children as much as possible, especially during times of stress and uncertainty. I hope that parents will be able to take a breather while I try to keep their kids occupied and entertained for a few minutes every day. Happy Monday! I hope all of you little ones had a nice weekend. To kick off the week, I’ll be reading two books for you: “The Box Turtle,” by Vanessa Roeder and “Can I Be Your Dog?” by Troy Cummings. Click here to watch and listen!

Today is a two-fer!   Thanks Dana!!      🙂

Dana Perino grew up in Colorado, and was the Press Secretary for former President George W. Bush.  She currently hosts FOX News Channel’s (FNC) The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino (weekdays 2-3 p.m. ET) and also serves as co-host of The Five (weekdays 5-6 p.m. ET).  Follow her on Twitter@DanaPerino

Storytime with Dana: ‘Make Way for Ducklings’

In the midst of all of these abrupt changes, with offices and schools closed during the coronavirus outbreak, so many people are grappling with how to manage taking care of their children while also taking care of business. I have lots of friends who were staring into the future and thinking, “How are we going to do this?” I had an idea of how to help: Provide a few minutes each afternoon of “Storytime with Dana.” I loved being read to as a child, and I remember Mrs. Laura Bush encouraging families to keep a storytime routine with children as much as possible, especially during times of stress and uncertainty. I hope that parents will be able to take a breather while I try to keep their kids occupied and entertained for a few minutes every day. Happy Friday! Here is a classic for you: “Make Way for Ducklings,” by Robert McCloskey. Click here to watch and listen!

A classic indeed!  I remember it as a kid.   Thanks Dana!!      🙂

Dana Perino grew up in Colorado, and was the Press Secretary for former President George W. Bush.  She currently hosts FOX News Channel’s (FNC) The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino (weekdays 2-3 p.m. ET) and also serves as co-host of The Five (weekdays 5-6 p.m. ET).  Follow her on Twitter@DanaPerino

Education Department Releases Final Rule on Campus Sex Misconduct Allegations

The U.S. Education Department released Wednesday its final rule under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 that specifies how schools that receive federal financial aid are required to respond to allegations of sexual misconduct. The final rule requires schools to respond promptly to allegations of sexual misconduct, to provide support to those making a claim of having been sexually harassed or assaulted, and to provide a fair grievance process that delivers due process protections to the accused as well as alleged victims. Additionally, the regulations stress colleges and universities must also address dating violence as part of their obligations to receive federal funding. In a media call, Secretary Betsy DeVos said the new regulations were two years in the making: ” Today’s announcement builds on our work to vigorously enforce Title IX. As many of you have reported, this administration has taken decisive action to hold schools accountable when they have fallen short of their responsibility to protect students. Look no further than the sweeping reforms we required at Michigan State University, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Southern California, and Chicago Public School.” The secretary emphasized that one of her primary goals has been “focus and efficiency” in dealing with cases of sexual misconduct allegations. DeVos noted that her department has not only been addressing these issues at the college and university level, but also, for K-12 students. Despite much blowback and a planned legal challenge to the rule from feminist activists who claim DeVos is ignoring the plight of women who say they have been harassed or assaulted, the secretary has consistently said she has taken their concerns seriously. She maintained, however, she rejected the Obama administration’s decision to set its path for campus sex assault allegations via a “Dear Colleague” letter, one that led to “kangaroo courts” that often destroyed the academic careers of young men accused of sexual misconduct. DeVos said, “[W]e can continue to combat sexual misconduct, without abandoning our core values of fairness, presumption of innocence, and due process.” She added the new regulations will actually provide alleged victims “with more tools than ever before,” with support for alleged victims of sexual harassment or assault, including changes in class or dorm environments and no contact orders. Schools must respond with options for reporting the alleged misconduct, including in writing, by email or telephone. The secretary said, under the new rule, alleged victims, their parents, friends, or bystanders may also make reports of misconduct. In addition, an alleged victim is not required “to file a formal complaint or to provide proof or evidence about the sexual harassment.” A Title IX coordinator is required to contact the alleged victim to discuss supportive measures and explain options for filing a formal complaint. Colleges will be responsible for off-campus sexual harassment “at property owned or under the control of the school,” DeVos said. The regulations also require schools to train Title IX personnel to be “unbiased” and “impartial.”

We’re very glad to see such progress being made in this area.  Kudos to Sec. Betsy DeVos, and her team at the Dept. of Education, for their efforts here.   These reforms, especially due process for ALL involved, were long overdue.  Thanks to Dr. Susan Berry for this update.  Excellent!!        🙂

Storytime with Dana: ‘All Are Welcome’

In the midst of all of these abrupt changes, with offices and schools closed during the coronavirus outbreak, so many people are grappling with how to manage taking care of their children while also taking care of business. I have lots of friends who were staring into the future thinking, “How are we going to do this?” I had an idea of how to help: Provide a few minutes each afternoon of “Storytime with Dana.” I loved being read to as a child, and I remember Mrs. Laura Bush encouraging families to keep a storytime routine with children as much as possible, especially during times of stress and uncertainty. I hope that parents will be able to take a breather while I try to keep their kids occupied and entertained for a few minutes every day. The title of today’s book is also a motto to live by. Here’s “All Are Welcome,” by Alexandra Penfold. Click here to watch and listen!

A great motto, indeed!  Thanks Dana!!    🙂

Dana Perino grew up in Colorado, and was the Press Secretary for former President George W. Bush.  She currently hosts FOX News Channel’s (FNC) The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino (weekdays 2-3 p.m. ET) and also serves as co-host of The Five (weekdays 5-6 p.m. ET).   Follow her on Twitter@DanaPerino

Hillsdale College K-12 Expert to Parents Teaching Children at Home: ‘You Can Do This’

Parents are fully capable of teaching their children at home, said Dr. Kathleen O’Toole, associate provost for Hillsdale College’s K-12 charter school initiative, in an interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Daily with Breitbart News editor-in-chief Alex Marlow. Hillsdale College and its Barney Charter School initiative have launched a series of more than 40 free YouTube videos for parents and their children engaged in at-home learning during the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. O’Toole said her group’s usual work has been advising a network of charter schools and some private schools, but that, since the coronavirus shutdowns have closed schools, they have switched gears to helping parents provide American classical education at home. “We’re making the curriculum that we use in our charter schools available to the general public,” O’Toole said. “It’s a liberal arts curriculum. If you sent your child to a Hillsdale-affiliated school – there are 21 of them across the country and more happening all the time … they will receive a well-rounded liberal arts education,” based on the same education as Hillsdale College students. Asked by Marlow how education has changed in the U.S., O’Toole responded that a liberal arts curriculum places value on every subject. She said such a curriculum is different from what is found in most public schools today. “Public schools today, in many, many cases, focus on career training,” she said, adding that some fifth-grade students say it is stressful to be expected to know which type of work they want to do when they are older. O’Toole said in the Hillsdale-affiliated charter schools, they let children know they will be learning about “every single subject” and teach them how to study effectively. This classical education format will prepare them for the future when it is time to decide their career, and for their lifelong learning, she said. O’Toole acknowledged the current coronavirus shutdowns have presented parents with a challenge. “Our message to parents at Hillsdale College is, ‘You can do this. You have been teaching your child since the first day that child was born. And, maybe you haven’t been teaching them math, maybe you haven’t been teaching them cursive, but you have been teaching. We’re here to help you with the content … with what to teach and how to teach it in the most effective way.” O’Toole continued that parents know their children best, yet many parents of children who attend public schools believe teachers and schools are “privy to some kind of special secret knowledge of how to teach kids,” and that parents “can’t hope to do the expert work teachers are used to doing.” In addition to challenging that idea, O’Toole said “parents have got to know what are you teaching my child about right and wrong.” “A school should be able to answer that question and a school should not think of itself as providing lessons in that without the consent and the help of the parent,” she asserted. In addition to addressing the concept of at-home learning and parenting for academic success, the Hillsdale video series covers the topics of phonograms, Latin, Singapore Math, science, classical literature, composition, history, grammar, physical education, and more. O’Toole invited parents to visit k12athome.hillsdale.edu for more information and access to the curriculum. Click here for more: