De-Programming Children

I have many nephews and nieces who are being brainwashed in school about a whole host of things: government is the source of money and wealth; corporations are evil; socialism is good and necessary; conservatives are heartless fascists; the earth is a Goddess and Gore it’s high priest; etc.

Okay, so does anyone have any good, relatively simple material to send to them? They aren’t quite ready for Hayek or Mises, LOL. Videos are good.

I seem to remember a cartoonish video that described how fascism/total government and socialism are on one side of the spectrum, and not on opposite sides. It kind of illustrated what is meant by a Republic.

Does anyone remember this ^^ video? Someone posted it here.

Anyway, since some of you have kids I thought you might be able to advise me.

Found that video in case anyone’s interested:

My daughter was in the 2rd grade and she came home during the election season a couple of years ago talking about how Obama was going to change the US. I told her to ask her teacher a couple of questions for me. Needless to say I got a note home from the teacher saying she was sorry for talking about politics with the children.

Children understand that they want money in their pocket. Show them a paycheck and show all the taxes that come out. Ask them do they like working to pay someone else. They see that money come out of their paycheck and they do not want that number to get larger. Vote Democrat if you want that number to get larger faster. I will agree that the Republicans have not done a good job bringing the taxes down, but at least it does not grow as fast.

I always liked this scenario for kids:

You, talking to kid: “Let’s say that you work hard in school, do all your homework on time, attend every class, study hard, do the extra credit assignments, etc.”

Kid: “OK”

You: “…and Jimmy is in your class. Jimmy skips school, talks back to the teacher, doesn’t do his homework, and is generally stupid.”

Kid: “OK”

You: “So you get a 100 in the class and Jimmy gets a 60.”

Kid: “That sounds fair.”

You: “I agree. But, if your teacher is a socialist, you will both get an 80 in order to ‘spread the wealth’ How does that sound?”

That seems to be a good way to put it at a kids level.

So actually what you want to do is not de-program…but RE-program, correct?

Mufasa

By the way…

I see nothing worng with instilling one’s own children with their beliefs.

Mufasa

Home School…otherwise your 1 hour attempt at reprogramming will not be effective against the 8 hours they get at school.

I’ve told my son that a couple of his worst teachers are actually retarded and the school just lets them work there because they feel sorry for them. This started after his art teacher told him that ice cream is crucial to a healthy diet and his music teacher told the class that everyones parents would lose their jobs if Obama wasn’t elected.

It worked really, amazingly well. He’s very good in these classes now and he’s proud of his teachers for overcoming retardation and getting jobs, even if they do say some really silly things sometimes.

I don’t know what I’m going to do when the problem is with a math teacher or history teacher but I haven’t had to deal with that yet.

Depending on the age of the children, have you considered “Economics in One Lesson” by Henry Hazlitt.

Also, the Foundation for Economic Education (http://fee.org/) has good stuff. Most aimed at high-school and above students.

Or use dmaddox’s idea with the allowance. Take X dollar bills, and say, “here’s your allowance. 8 Dollars. Minus 1 dollar for retirement, minus $3 for the kids down the block who don’t get allowance…” et cetera

[quote]Mufasa wrote:
By the way…

I see nothing worng with instilling one’s own children with their beliefs.

Mufasa[/quote]

Nothing wrong at all if you are the one who is doing it, but if it is a bunch of D.C. cock suckers doing it then there is a problem.

[quote]MarvelGirl wrote:
I’ve told my son that a couple of his worst teachers are actually retarded and the school just lets them work there because they feel sorry for them. This started after his art teacher told him that ice cream is crucial to a healthy diet and his music teacher told the class that everyones parents would lose their jobs if Obama wasn’t elected.

It worked really, amazingly well. He’s very good in these classes now and he’s proud of his teachers for overcoming retardation and getting jobs, even if they do say some really silly things sometimes.

I don’t know what I’m going to do when the problem is with a math teacher or history teacher but I haven’t had to deal with that yet.[/quote]
That is hilarious. And probably more accurate than not.

This is pretty damn goooood.

I just focus on teaching my daughter to ask questions and think for herself. I don’t need to instil my ideology on her, I don’t worry about the school instilling their ideology on her. I am confident that she will grow up to work things out for herself.

Teach them how to think. Not what to think.
Reason and inquistiveness shall prevail.

All great ideas. Thanks guys.

I do think that, especially if they are your children, teaching them how to think for themselves - and the importance of doing so - is the main thing; and, your values anyway will be absorbed by “osmosis.” Those things will always be with them, even if they go through a period of rejecting those things.

I don’t have kids though; and I’m thinking about how to provide my nephews and nieces a different perspective. I don’t see them all that much so I can’t really do much beyond saying, “hey, watch this - it presents another perspective that you might find interesting…”

Anyway, thanks all!

[quote]pushharder wrote:

[quote]Cockney Blue wrote:
I just focus on teaching my daughter to ask questions and think for herself. I don’t need to instil my ideology on her, I don’t worry about the school instilling their ideology on her. I am confident that she will grow up to work things out for herself.[/quote]

Naivete.[/quote]

Not at all. What is Naive is assuming that you have all the answers and can drill your child to think like you do. More likely they will rebel against you and end up with opposing opinions. Possibly they humour you when you go on one of your old man rants over thanksgiving dinner but it doesn’t mean they are not laughing at your outmoded views behind your back.

I know for a fact that teachers are not ALLOWED to talk about politics to their students, unless of course they are teaching that particular curriculum. During the elections, teachers are also not allowed to discuss their own personal views about any candidates, the pros and cons of one candidate or another, or their views about the result of an election. This is probably why DMaddox got an apology from the teacher. So, if they are being “brainwashed” in school, as you say, then maybe you should bring this up with the school.

As for MarvelGirl, I sense your sarcasm, and your post is funny, but I do hope that every parent teaches their children to actually respect their teachers. It all starts at home, and parents are the most influential voices in a child’s life… not their teachers. A teacher spends less time with your children than their parents and their own friends do. A teacher’s job is difficult enough, without having to deal with disrespectful, arrogant children, no matter what age.

Children watch what their parents and other adults who are role models in their lives do. They imitate the behavior of adults, and repeat what they hear. As they get older, they imitate the behavior of their peers and friends. You can help to guide your own children, and your nephews and nieces. Monitor who they hang out with, and be vigilant of WHO you expose them to, and behaviors of your own that you expose them to. Teach them respect and to take responsibility for their own actions. Teach them the difference between right and wrong, and like the others said, teach them to think for themselves. You can’t control what they will think and do, but you can give them a strong foundation to make the best decisions for themselves.