Sexting, Socialism, and Studying History

Here I am simply going to encapsulate a facebook post that I was referred to and commented on.

The initial post was about this lesson on "sexting."

My commentary on facebook was a response to a few people saying that they understood why schools had to teach on such things.

I want to tell you about a woman named Frances Wright. Bear with me, here, while I explain a little. She was a social reformer in America in the 1830s. Along with Robert Owen, Jr., son of the Scottish father of socialism who emigrated here circa 1800, they set about to ensure universal public education which America did not have at that time (that is a separate story).

First, you must understand that all of this was based not only in the hatred of God and Christianity but also of the family. The Owenites wanted children taken from their parents at age TWO and placed in state boarding schools where the parents could "visit at suitable hours" but never "interfere or interrupt the rules of the institution."

Here is a quote of Owenites: "In these nurseries of a free nation, no inequality must be allowed to enter. Fed at a common board, clothed in a common garb, uniting neatness with simplicity and convenience; raised in the exercise of common duties, in the acquirement of the same knowledge and practice of the same industry, varied only according to individual taste and capabilities; in the exercise of the same virtues, the enjoyment of the same pleasures; in the study of the same nature; in pursuit of the same object-their own and each other's happiness-say! would not such a race, when arrived at manhood and womanhood, work out the reform of society-perfect the free institutions of America?" (Blumenfeld, Is Public Education Necessary, p. 72, available free online)

Now, 150 years later as we discuss the state teaching our children moral values, do we see any connection? How did we get here? Was it an accident? Will capitulating and enabling this system make it go away? What is the state trying to accomplish? What is coming out of our current administration regarding education and equality? Is UNESCO spouting the same ideals? Are these ideals American, based on our founding principles or are they rooted in something else?

And has anyone bothered to ask the question, "This lesson is teaching SELF CONTROL in reference to "sexting" but, if we allow the state to instruct our children in moral issues, who is to say if the next teacher will do so in an appropriate way or not?" In short, we trust too much. We abdicate too much. We do not know our own history. We must educate ourselves on how we came to be in the mess we are in with finances and families if we ever hope to correct it. Digging a deeper hole will not make the next generation more free or moral.