Supposed Gifted Program

I just stumbled onto your site.

I have been irate about the government schools for a decade, ever since I found out that the gifted program our daughter had been recruited for in '84 was not academic enrichment but was brain-washing. Before I allowed her to take part, I asked the teacher if it involved "values clarification". He told me "no". I was never shown the books used in class and by accident our daughter brought one home once. It was one of the Jr. Great Books. I had thought they would be reading "dumbed-down" versions of Classics but when I read some of the stories I found they were odd and upsetting. I asked the teacher about it and she was nervous and evasive. When our daughter was a senior, I read Schlafly's Child Abuse in the Classroom and I started to understand. I asked to see the books used in the PACE class and was horrified to see how awful they are. The class books are from the Great Books Foundation and also from PHILOSOPHY FOR CHILDREN out of Montclair State University. The latter is especially wicked.

I fought hard for nearly a decade to inform others and stop this but it was fruitless. I had asked our daughter what she remembered from the 5 years she was in this special class and she said it was a waste of time but she remembered 2 things. She remembered the teacher had them lie down and imagine a light traveling around their bodies and she remembered how the students had talked among themselves outside of class about something the teacher did. She would pick a kid with more conservative views and then pit several less conservative kids against that kid to try to use peer pressure to get the first kid to change her/his mind about something. When I confronted the teacher about these things, she denied doing them and told me she was a "Christian" and would never do anything to harm a child. Then she refused to let me see the materials. I had to fight the school board for months before I was allowed to see them. This was in '92-93 in Bexley, Ohio, which is a very affluent suburb of Columbus, Ohio.

Consuelo

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