I do not watch the Glenn Beck show. I’ve heard him speak, and find him to be inflammatory, self righteous, and just a little too evangelical for my taste.
However, last Friday he did a show entitled- The Indoctrination of Our Kids: An American Epidemic.
See what I mean with the being inflammatory? You’re scared already aren’t you?
I watched it.
I watched it because my mother in law called and asked me to watch it with an open mind- that it was very important.
So, what is this indoctrination of our children? Well, apparently, the public education system (among others) is launching a “progressive assault” on our youth. Now, I felt like perhaps I should’ve been shaking in my boots a little, but I wasn’t. Progressive isn’t really a dirty word to me. I wanted to be sure I wasn’t missing anything- you know, keeping an open mind and all. And his tone of voice seemed to be telling me that I should be very afraid. So, I looked it up.
progressive – a person who favors a political philosophy of progress and reform and the protection of civil liberties
progressive – favoring or promoting progress
Ahhhh… yes, I see. Those nasty civil liberties- how dare people try to protect those. Freedom of religion is highly overrated, and the whole speech thing?- Half the time I don’t know what to say anyway, so if the government, or better yet, Glenn would just tell me what to think and say, I’d have a lot less stress. And of course I’m afraid of progress! I do not favor it in any way. Whenever I put a cake in the oven, I pray as hard as I can that it doesn’t rise.
Who am I kidding… I don’t bake.
My absolute not-so-favorite part is when he shows this video that is supposed to be absolute “progressive propaganda” and dedicated to the “twisting of youth”.
This video is of young people talking about their generation. They are describing themselves as:
- “more globally oriented”
- “ethnically diverse”
- “technologically adept”
- “better educated”
- “less politically partisan”
While these young people on the video are saying these things, Glenn Beck is standing next to the screen scoffing, guffawing, and rolling his eyes. He’s obviously telling us that these are ridiculous, and we should take offense.
I, however, find these statement to be true. And I am glad they are. I want my kid to be all of those things. Our children should be better educated than we are. They should be more open minded. They should be more tech savvy.
I wanted to stop watching his show. But I didn’t. I watched the whole, freakin’ thing. Alas, the things I do for family.
Most of it was what Hot Nerd calls “drive by journalism”. I sat through a series of sound bytes and clips taken out of context. I sat through ridiculous attempts to provoke fear and panic in parents.
He even held up a poster that was made by some students attempting to deliver a message about conservation. This poster (which I thought was creatively done) said “I pledge Allegiance To The Earth” across the top, and had a beautiful picture of the planet in the center. I thought the poster was nicely done and delivered an important message about how we should treat our planet. But, Mr. Glenn Beck used it to warn parents that in some schools, our kids are actually being taught “planet worship”! *music* dun dun DUN.
There was even a little snippet about how “in 2008, California lawmakers voted that children in schools be taught by communists”. I’m not kidding!
Perhaps it is true. Perhaps the ballot looked like this:
Please place an x next to whom you would like to teach the children of California:
__ teachers
__ pandas
__ communists
Then I sat through the claims of brainwashing our youth. Of turning them into “progressive zombies”. Of teaching them to not listen to their parents (this one was actually accompanied by a film clip of some random man, and the words DO NOT LISTEN TO YOUR PARENTS scrolled across the screen in bold, red letters).
Now, a lot of us still have respect for public teachers and educators. I just don’t see most of them as evil masterminds, brainwashing our kids, and twisting their long mustaches, as they talk about revolting against parents.
If you haven’t already seen this episode of his show, you can watch it on several sites on the internet, including here: one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever forced myself to watch.
He spoke of America’s children as if they have no wits about them. He, at one point even said, ” Maybe our kids are mad because the teacher won’t let them text their BFF in class”.
To that I say- STOP PUTTING DOWN OUR YOUTH! They are not being taught to disrespect their parents- they are being taught to think for themselves. Maybe they’re not mad because they can’t text- maybe they’re mad because they know how messed up everything is and that they are the ones who will have to try and fix it.
Age doesn’t always make you right. Sometimes it just makes you old.
Change has always rested on the shoulders of the young.
Each generation surpasses the other. That’s what evolution is about. Oh, dare I say- progress. And it is a weak, scared man that tries to hold them down. Or that tries to incite a population to do so.
I suppose I must be progressive.
I am also a good mother, with a strong moral compass.
I see no epidemic. I see evolution.
I also see… that you are a douche.
Douche
I think you just voiced every single issue I have with Beck in one awesome post. So you're kind of my hero today.
My recent post The Essentials: Traveling Mom (sans kid) Edition
Awww, thanks!
I hope you’re not just saying that because I happen to be wearing a cape right now…
Well said. And as a teacher… part of the evil progressive regime… I'm upset that someone has finally caught on to my nefarious plot.
My recent post Low Tide
I just, what the, how can this? WHYYYYYYYY? I don’t understand what is wrong with people. Thank you MommyNaniBooboo!~ Hooray Progress, booooo Douche-baggery
I love you!!! My thoughts exactly!
I don’t know who Glen Beck is so I confess to not reading every word
But I don’t bake either and based on that alone, this post rocks 
My recent post Cool Beans
It is so good that you don’t know who he is. You don’t ever need to know.
Trust me, he is way worse than baking!!
What a dumbass. Seriously old jackasses like him scare me. Because they honestly believe the jackassery they are spouting off. It’s sad that uneducated or ignorant people can listen to him and believe.
Wow. that is pure ridiculousness. How can someone make an argument about our youth being brainwashed and then use examples of them voicing their own opinions?
I don't know who Beck is either, but I do wonder that people like this get to voice their prejudices to an entire nation.
I am with you. I hope that my children grow to become more globalized and educated and empathetic than myself. I hope that they surpass me so that they can be a part of working towards the changes that need to be made in this world.
Also, I don't think that disagreeing with one's parents or questioning their 'absolute' authority is negative. Of course, I want my children to be respectful and polite. They can, however, respectfully question my motives and reasoning. I don't want my child thinking that everything an adult (even me) says is golden and untouchable. Because then when my racist MIL makes her comments, my daughter would take it as fact.
From what you said, it sounds like his entire broadcast was a cop-out excuse for feeling out of control as a parent. How many times have we all heard the old "my child is *insert negative behaviour here* and it because of the education system/teachers". If Beck believes this to be such a problem, perhaps he should be doing a broadcast on how to redirect funds to education and support teachers and resources to ensure that there is a quality of education for every child in America?
*clap, clap, clap, clap, clap*
yes
this is an excellent post. I am so glad I was clicking through your older writing. Glenn Beck is a douche but what’s worse is so many don’t think so. he is ridiculous and so is Fox News. they are all about drive-by journalism there. no facts just sound bites that the cattle (meaning the non-opinionated because they lack the drive to gather all the information) just grab onto. Ask the every day Fox News watcher if they clicked over to CNN or MSNBC lately. Yea, didn’t think so but people like us? Always leary and need to know what those douches at Fox are up to.
I call it \”Fox Spews\”- because it can hardly be considered news.
I am all for our children growing up to be better people than we are, but do you really believe that this is going to come from our schools and teachers rather than from you as the mother. I think you missed Glenn’s point. I saw the show. He was making the point that our children are being taught that they are more capable right now than you are as their parents, and that they don’t need to listen to you. As a mother myself this is not something I encourage in my children. They need to listen to me now and as they grow older they need to make choices and decisions with their own minds. Even if their choices conflict with mine. I admit Glenn can be rather scary at times but he has opened my eyes to things I did not know were going on. When I look, I see that these things are happening and how they affect my life.
Actually, I don\’t believe that would come from the schools at all. I don\’t think I ever stated that I did. I agree with you that it comes from the home.
But I also want to encourage my kids to think for themselves, but most importantly have a dialogue with me.
I believe Glenn Beck has a habit of raising the fear level to a point that is unnecessary. People who parent out of fear usually wind up doing their children a disservice by trying to control them too forcefully.
Parents who are active in their childs\’ school know if they agree with the curriculum or not. I believe there are very few teachers out there that are teaching our children to \”disobey\” or \”not trust\” their parents. He deliberately says things that are inflammatory- which I find in poor taste.