There have been a lot of discussions lately about keeping “indoctrination” out of public classrooms. Since this is an ongoing conversation, it’s important to explore what this concept means.
It’s relevant that this discussion is taking place with regard to public schools. A school is a place where our children go to learn new skills and, hopefully, develop into productive human beings.
Students often take tests. When a student fails a test, that indicates an area where that student has to do some additional work. Responsible teachers and parents encourage students to take ownership of their mistakes and work harder.
An entitled child might say, “Why are you so fixated on my mistakes? Why do you hate me?” They confuse the momentary discomfort of taking ownership of a mistake with enduring prejudice. This response, too, is a mistake.
Children who claim you “hate” them when you point out insufficient work lack fundamental maturity. The truth is that teachers and parents that encourage their children to take ownership of mistakes and work hard to correct them are the ones that show the most love and affection for a child.
Children that recognize when they’ve made mistakes and who learn to do better, grow up to be productive and responsible adults. Children who have to be told they’re “perfect” even when they fail every test grow up into the type of human beings that throw an entitled temper tantrum when their candidate loses a presidential election.
It’s a very simplistic definition of “love” to think you’re not allowed to discuss any flaws. I would contend that this is an unsustainable approach to love.
You show more love by recognizing mistakes and helping the people you love to do better. The idea that you aren’t allowed to offer any criticisms is like handing out participation trophies.
“Oh, I know that you didn’t get a single question correct on this math test, but here’s a trophy anyway because people who offer criticisms hate their children.”
That idea is ridiculous, and the same thing is true about the concept of patriotism.
For some reason, Americans seem to believe that any criticism of our nation is completely unacceptable. We’re trained to believe that our nation is the “best” at everything. When somebody offers a constructive idea as to how certain areas of our society could be improved, people reply, “Why do you hate our country?”
Constructive criticism doesn’t represent hate. It represents the responsible inclination to work hard and make our society better.
However, the outrage criticisms always get the headlines. People become furious in the United States if anyone organizes a respectful protest during the National Anthem. In our schools, many students are forced to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
A certain amount of patriotism is healthy. However, rarely do we discuss the dangers of excessive patriotism. Love of country is one of the sacred concepts, along with religion, that can be used to radicalize people.
Our country would have a better chance of achieving greater strength if more of our population recognized there’s nothing wrong with offering criticisms. Why is it so hard for Americans to accept that not all of the decisions of our forefathers were the correct ones? They were imperfect people. They made both good and bad choices.
For some reason, Americans bristle when you suggest anyone in this nation’s history ever did anything wrong. It has gotten to the point where history books have been altered to remove embarrassing facts. For example, the ‘Lost Cause’ narrative has replaced the truth about the Civil War to the extent that many Americans insist the war was fought about something other than slavery.
It’s shameful to think that American students are indoctrinated with lies about our nation’s past out of some absurd commitment to patriotism.
It’s time to stop handing out the participation trophy. It’s time our country started owning and correcting its mistakes. Our healthcare is too expensive. Too many Americans live in poverty. Our education is failing. Too many children are confronted with violence.
The list goes on and on.
Our nation has the potential to be great. However, like anything worth having, it’s going to take a lot of hard work. Anyone who tells somebody they “hate” the country when they point out a better way to do things is simply enabling mediocrity.
Let’s take the energy we currently waste on excessive patriotism, and put it towards something that will move our nation forward. That, to me, demonstrates the greatest possible respect a citizen can have for his or her country.