john-taylor-gatto-weapons-of-mass-instruction

Weapons of Mass Instruction 127
fully enthusiastic about following orders, ever eager to please. Training
for this position begins in the first grade with the word,"don't:'
In primary school, when all the endless possibilities of self-development
and the varieties of good life should be explored, the principal
element taken up is limitation, signaled by the word, "don'e'
Don't run; don't talk; don't climb trees; don't play rough; don't talk
unless you raise your hand; don't fidget; don't get out of your seat; don't
stare out the window; don't take your shoes off; don't eat or drink in
class; don't laugh; don't take too long; don't read ahead; don't go off the
path; don't say 'I'm bored'; don't mix with older kids; don't complain;
don't bring toys, etc. together with the implied don'ts: don't have your
own ideas; don't show initiative; don't be independent; don't make
your own choices; don't take responsibility for your own learning.
There are more don'ts than days in the calendar, a tattoo without
end. This non-stop negativity, so reminiscent of William Playfair's
prescription for schooling in Scotland, breaks many a spirit. The
most enduring legacy of the DON'T drill is indifference to everything
except narcotic anodynes like violence, rudeness, cruelty, alcohol,
and actual drugs with which the negativity can be escaped.
How do I know I spent 30 years in classrooms with nearly 4000
teenagers, many of whom I spoke with personally; another 20 in
classrooms as a student myself, and 20 more studying the school business
and talking about it allover the world.
A school trip permission form sent in September, 2005, to parents
of eighth grade pupils at the Queen Elizabeth Junior and Senior
High School in Calgary, Canada will give you a good idea how
schools discourage direct experience among parents as well as kids, as
an important component of the negativity program:
POTENTIAL HAZARDS MAY INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT
LIMITED TO THE FOLLOWING:
Bus travel to and from site: Motion sickness, injury from
other person's motion sickness, injury from being thrown
during sudden massive negative or positive acceleration,