Do Our Schools Encourage or Discourage Democratic Engagement

I recently read an interesting article by John W. Whitehead entitled "Teaching Totalitarianism in the Public Schools" first published on June 24, 2010. He wrote that totalitarianism is effectively being encouraged by adopting the mindset that students have no rights. From a curricular standpoint, the focus is contributing to the economy rather than knowledge of civics and Constitutional principles.

The article additionally provides the example of a school which prohibited the distribution of a student newspaper because it disapproved of an editorial questioning if student athletes should be required to take gym classes. Although Whitehead's article did not comment on whether the school prohibits other speech, I would presume that if gym class for athletes is too controversial, an article addressing other controversies would likely be censored.

For instance, what about a controversial article regarding immigration, affirmative action, or whether American history is taught from a too liberal or too conservative stance? What about an article frankly discussing drug use or sexual behavior among students. Any of these articles could be extremely newsworthy, yet might go unwritten or unexamined by the student press due to their being "too controversial."

This article hits a chord. I recall in high school that in many classes, the memorization of facts was favored over insight. History was presented as series of facts, rather than an exploration into human nature and why different people do different things.

The article raises another point I had not considered. The article says that "young people today are immersed in a drug culture—one manufactured by the pharmaceutical industry— almost from the moment they are born, and you have the makings of a perfect citizenry for the Orwellian society in which we now live: one that can be easily cowed, controlled, and directed."

This seems particularly troubling. Not all problems are chemical, and thus not all problems can be treated chemically. Some people need discipline, need love, need to exhibit their artistic and other creative endeavors. Unlike the article, I am not advocating a particular purchase or a particular result, but I would like to see an expanded conversation about how students can be seriously invited to join the creative civic discussion.