Educate Children, Don't Indoctrinate Them
This is a follow-up to my post yesterday about The Climate Project's (TCP) slide show which Al Gore's apostles are taking to local schools. There's a showing on Wednesday, April 30 at 7 PM at Framingham High School in Massachusetts. It's open to the public. Please bring your critical faculties with you and ask lots of questions! In May, TCP is showing their propaganda to 8th graders in Malden, MA. As I've said before, I'm all for getting off fossil fuels as much as we can, for reasons of national security, reduced emissions, public health and greater energy efficiencies. But not because of the alarmism and junk science these folks are peddling. We should be educating our children, not indoctrinating them.
Last fall, Stewart Dimmock, a father of two in Kent, England, asked the British court system to ban the film "An Inconvenient Truth" (AIT), arguing that the film was unfit for schools because it was "politically partisan and contained serious scientific inaccuracies." Dimmock's case was upheld by a High Court judge in October 2007, who said that the film promotes "partisan political views."
"...the judge said nine statements in the film were not supported by mainstream scientific consensus. In his final verdict, the judge said the film could be shown as long as updated guidelines were followed. These say teachers should point out controversial or disputed sections."
"Without the guidance, updated after the case was launched, the government would have been breaking the law, the judge said."
What law? The law against "unlawful contravention of an Act of Parliament prohibiting the political indoctrination of children." Ironic that this movie can't be shown in any school in England without discussing the inaccuracies and exaggerations, but here in the U.S., we don't give such caveats to young, impressionable minds. And the CPT slide show being shown in Framingham is a distillation of the AIT movie.
You can download the teachers's 60-page guidance document here. It points out the many inaccuracies of IAP and contains lesson plans for different subjects. The point is to teach children about scientific principles and how to evaluate scientific evidence. It warns teachers against promoting partisan political views, or using emotional images to "teach" people about science. "Stranded" polar bears, anyone? Floating dead bodies from Katrina?
I'd advise parents that if their children's school shows AIT or the TCP slideshow, ask the schools to also present the other side. Yes, there is another side, and no, the dissenting scientists are not kooks. (Paradigm shift, anyone? It's bound to happen here.) Some recommended videos your school can show to balance the TCP propaganda are "The Great Global Warming Swindle" and "Apocalypse? No!" Another one I've heard of is American Enterprise Institute's "An Inconvenient Truth or Convenient Fiction?" The book "The Sky's Not Falling" looks refreshing and positive, too. Ask your school and local public library buy these videos and books too.
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