One-size-fits-all is a myopic approach. — I like sushi
I personally would look to forming several bodies to assess information, if needed, — I like sushi
The UN could certainly provide some expertise as it had a history of trying to manage complex cultural and political interactions. — I like sushi
What they can know about and what they should learn in school are not the same thing. In school, especially elementary school, it makes sense to me that the focus should be on commonalities in understanding and values among the citizens of the country. — T Clark
What is it that would be harmful in a math book that meets the educational standard?
How is a math book, or a short story collection supposed to present 'commonalities' in a deeply divided nation? — Vera Mont
why should elementary school students have the truth concealed from them? — Vera Mont
Would they not notice on the street or on the news that everybody isn't the same, and wonder why their school books don't reflect reality? — Vera Mont
Who should be in charge of deciding?
I'm in favour of the UN setting up an international monitoring committee for the internet, assuming no major powers have a veto... and I know that it's about as realistic an expectation as that commercial owners of communications media will fact-check every item they print or broadcast or that politicians dependent on the support of special interests and religious sects would make informed, unbiased choices of topics to promote or suppress in public education. — Vera Mont
Why would you possibly bring anything political or social into a math textbook. — T Clark
8 x 4 = 32 is definitely what I would call a commonality. — T Clark
Sensible liberal and conservative parents don't want their second graders to have to figure out what it means to be transgendered. — T Clark
It is a very broad question. If you honed in on a particular instance then maybe I could offer up a more precise answer. — I like sushi
So let it be a case that individual wrongs are corrected in context of how they came about. — Benj96
The law, which is called the Stop Social Media Censorship Act, was proposed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in January 2021, shortly after then-President Trump was banned or suspended from multiple social media platforms — most notably Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube — for encouraging the January 6 insurrection of the Capitol building.
So, I can't see North Korea or Sudan or Venezuela going along with whatever rules the UN might set up. — Vera Mont
Who then do we censor and how? How do we know who to believe? — Benj96
I'm in favour of the UN setting up an international monitoring committee for the internet, assuming no major powers have a veto... and I know that it's about as realistic an expectation as that commercial owners of communications media will fact-check every item they print or broadcast or that politicians dependent on the support of special interests and religious sects would make informed, unbiased choices of topics to promote or suppress in public education. — Vera Mont
The unlikely, even the very very very unlikely, is only so until people make it happen — universeness
So, I can't see North Korea or Sudan or Venezuela going along with whatever rules the UN might set up. — Vera Mont
I hear you sister! (even though I suspect you are being sarky! :smile:)Power to the people! — Vera Mont
Are you attracted to the concept of a world government via uniting nations? — universeness
That's a much more difficult question. In principle, yes. Realistically, no. Pessimistically, I don't see a future for humanity as we have known it.Do you think 'people power' in the future, could reform the united nations into what it really could be, the conduit to a world government?
I wonder if it will take something like a catastrophic event such as climate change payback to unite us as a single species that currently exists on a single pale blue dot of a planet? — universeness
Wad some power the gift ti gie us.
Tae see oorsels as ithers see us. — universeness
seeds and DNA. — Vera Mont
I don't think there is any controversy over that one. I didn't realize what you meant by commonality. Some facts are just facts, but some facts are disputed and become controversial. — Vera Mont
When I was in second grade, no adults would discuss any aspect of sex, which made it so much more confusing when a friend of the family made some lewd advances. (Yes, those kind of people have always existed.) As for reproduction, I was told by a fourth-grader, who was herself woefully uninformed, which resulted in a good deal of unnecessary anxiety - exacerbated by the secrecy and shame with which adults shrouded the subject, so I couldn't ask anyone who actually knew. Thank goodness for the encyclopedia! — Vera Mont
Curiosity about the world and how things work hasn't been killed out of them yet. It's a good idea for parents to be prepared for this, so that when (not if) their children ask, they can probe for exactly what aspect of the process the child is interested in at the moment, and answer specific questions directly and truthfully, without laying out all the biological detail at once. For many parents, the subject is uncomfortable, because it involves them personally. If it's taught in school, they're spared that long, speculative stare. Plus, all the kids of the same age get the same facts and can't misinform one another, that's a bonus. When my children were that age, we went to the library and found a very useful picture-book aimed at their comprehension level. — Vera Mont
is that all that will be left of us in your scenario?
Now you are looking through that mirror you mentioned, too darkly! — universeness
The exact opposite. I wrote a utopian one. That/s why I dislike the disparagement of utopian ideology.Did you write a dystopian sci-fi book? — universeness
. I believe young people coming up today are often set adrift on a bewildering ocean of unsorted fact, biased news, partisan jingo, opinion, propaganda, hostility, mis- and disinformation. They're also living in a very much more dangerous world than I did. They need some guidance in discovering and assessing the information they will have to use in difficult decisions in difficult situations. They'll need every erg of critical thought they can muster. — Vera Mont
I'll say it again - not everything children need to know has to be taught in school. — T Clark
As for biology, I disagree: it is just as factual as any other science, as factual as math. It can be very damaging - in some situations, deadly - for young people to be misinformed about the health and function of their own bodies. Not knowing about reproduction until they're of reproductive age is only inconvenient in a tolerant, supportive society; life-destroying in a repressive, punitive one. — Vera Mont
That's exactly to purpose of shutting down debate, restricting college courses, hiding (and burning) controversial literature — Vera Mont
I think only because I worded my response ambiguously. I meant that the purpose of not allowing ethics and critical thinking to be taught in schools, including university is to render the young helpless and prone to manipulation.I strongly disagree. — Benj96
We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.
all of which i strongly supportIt opposes, among other things, early childhood education, sex education, and multicultural education,
while I believe religion has no place in school. Good citizenship, yes - informed citizenship.but supports “school subjects with emphasis on the Judeo-Christian principles upon which America was founded.”
But encouraging basic civility is not out of place in a classroom or a textbook — Vera Mont
I would prefer parents to teach values, courtesy and empathy, but I don't feel they are always the best source of useful information - especially on subjects of which they are either ignorant or ashamed. — Vera Mont
As for biology, I disagree: it is just as factual as any other science, as factual as math. It can be very damaging - in some situations, deadly - for young people to be misinformed about the health and function of their own bodies. — Vera Mont
Education is just education. Values do not come into DNA replication; it happens in amoeba, earthworms and wombats just the same way it happens in people. Who says any health teacher is recommending any 'practices'? Just tell the kids how it works - not how to do it.Sex education, on the other hand, is not just biology. It also expresses values and may recommend practices that parents consider inappropriate. — T Clark
Of course. Some communities are concerned about outbreaks of herpes, hepatitis and AIDS; some trust none of those things will happen.Community concerns should be taken into account. — T Clark
True, I asked what you prefer. And you have been very clear. Thank you.What you prefer isn't the question. — T Clark
Sorry, I left a post that i had thought had been pertinent, but it was not; I talked about the issue of morality vs empathy. Apologies. — god must be atheist
No. Those seed banks libraries, archives and DNA repository are being prepared for the people who will restore biodiversity and agriculture after the climate crisis has passed. These are very optimistic and ambitious projects undertaken by dedicated specialists. — Vera Mont
The exact opposite. I wrote a utopian one. That/s why I dislike the disparagement of utopian ideology. — Vera Mont
It seems to me that all official (legislated, legally enforced) censorship tends toward propaganda. Even if with the most benign intentions, — Vera Mont
And there is no way that legal standard can be nuanced enough to fair in all cases; a great deal of unjust prosecutions and persecutions get swept up in a general intention to protect the public. (And of course, we can't really depend on all governments to have the best intention.) — Vera Mont
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