This is actual educational lunacy. Bringing it into the light is the first step. Thank you for your bravery. And I’m sorry you had to endure that and also miss out on important learning. But I can tell that you are going to be fine. You have what it takes to overcome. Believe in yourself. ❤️
I don't know if I should feel better or worse that I'm not the only one...
While I won't reveal my exact school, definitely wasn't in Seattle. It's scary to know more schools are like this but reassuring to know I'm not just complaining about a single edge case.
With that kind of education, I’m surprised you are able to compose even a basic sentence, instead of the coherent and insightful essay that you wrote.
I have 2 recurring thoughts about the state of education. First, if I had school-age children now, I’d be in jail, either for refusing to send my children to school, or as a “domestic terrorist” for acting up at school board meetings. Second, school districts should declare a state of martial law and appoint every remaining Catholic sister to run the school systems.
High school years are hard enough for those of us who aren’t struggling with being considered autistic or doubting their judgment.
But your ability to look back, and analyze the craziness of it all, has got to be helpful. It’s not your fault for not speaking up. It sounds as if your parents thought they were doing what was right for you; it makes it more difficult to “complain.”
Keep writing. It helps to get clarity, to say what you need to say without feeling guilty, or ungrateful, or as if you’re being critical or offensive. For many of us, it’s easier than trying to speak about the things that bother or haunt us, or even the things that bring us joy. And it will help you to gain confidence and learn to trust your own feelings.
I wish I had the courage to tell my parents I hated what my school was doing back then... They would've definitely seen things much differently. Granted, I did tell them some, but there was a lot I held back or only brought up in the sense of "I have to do what they want!"
People thought I was crazy - I was just barely able to dodge a diagnosis of OCD. I can see why they thought I looked that way given my paranoia over offending people. To be clear it's not in any way their fault they didn't know to look for something like my school's extremism... But all the more reason for me to speak up about it!
But after reading my articles, my parents have told me, "I see why you were like that now!"
I know that your school is not an exception - the emphasis on victimhood and safe spaces has been growing year after year. Instead of preparing the child for the road, schools have been clearing the road for the child. The problem being - will the real world do the same? Not likely. We should be asking why? Why was our educational system hollowed out? I think we know that we've been sold out to outside interests, hoping to use our democracy against us - laughing that we could allow ourselves to become so weak. I sent my child to a private school in a nice red state - Florida, and yet some of what you've written was creeping into her school as well, and I found it disgraceful. My child could not take many AP courses unless she did so online. There were NO courses in European history, yet if one did not take Gender Studies, one was asked about it. History will not look back kindly on those who buckled to "Equity, Inclusion and Belonging" or whatever. We don't believe in Equity - we believe in EQUALITY. Pretending as though each person should get the same outcome (for that is equity) regardless of their work ethic is the definition of communism.
Wow. That's even stranger given it happened in Florida...
I can feel the peer pressure coming back to me when you mention being questioned on not taking gender studies... Ugh!
Our lunch clubs were kind of like this. We had "affinity groups" to talk about race and gender, that's it. I felt like a weirdo for wanting to have hobbies!
Margo, I hope that your school was the exception to the rule. Obviously the Coddling of the American Mind was a wake up call for me. Also the books Bad Therapy and Irreversible damage by Abigail Shrier had me questioning this "new" ideology. Thanks for being honest about your high school. It sounds like a cautionary tale that hopefully we can all learn from.
Thanks for your comment, and I hope we can learn from this too. I know these extreme ideologies can leave people livid, but I don't want people to hold grudges to the point where they discount or even oppose legitimate progressive causes.
I write this for my school's sake as much as my own. It was a safe-in-the-normal-way community for LGBTQ+ and neurodiverse students my first year there. I don't want those students to lose that because of extremism leading the school to shoot itself in the foot.
Margo, I always love your voice. Thanks for sharing. I’m homeschooling my high school sons and two of their friends. This helps me reflect on our path as we move forward.
Your voice and evidence of schools falling to their knees to woke ideology is so important! The only way to break the cycle and spotlight the tragedy is to hear from voices like yours. Please tell me you did jot go to my kids’ school….mid atlantic east coast state? Ugh. Or daughter was indoctrinated in the theater department and by an English teacher and GSA. The similarities of the mini term have me wondering. I fear the girls schools are worse than the boys and I was thrilled to see our son’s school included an article with a positive review of the Anxious Generation book in their latest magazine! Keep up your good work and continue to earn what I see as well deserved praise. You are unique.
It worries me how many others are sharing similar experiences, I really thought it was just me having gone to a one-time case of a school that happened to be terrible. I'm sorry your daughter had to go through something like that.
.....and this is why I homeschool!! So I coach my son's lego robotics team and at first impression, the league expects a lot. It seemed like a lot of work for the kids, and I just wanted my team to learn some coding and have fun. I really didn't expect our team to advance. But during our presentation round, the judges said we were the first team where the kids had memorized their lines and didn't just read off the paper. Most other teams are coordinated through a middle school. Our team is just a homeschool/neighborhood team.
Dear Margo, as 85 year old educator who teaches with a classic film study project I can only say, thank heaven you escaped from this abusive high school. We teach even severely woke with 12 Angry Men, It's a Wonderful Life and even your former teachers can at least be disarmed by goodness, beauty and truth in classic film All good wishes to you from Onalee, Director Educational Guidance Institute. go to our website a lot free download. Educatiionalguidanceinstitute.com
Thank you to Ted and the team for helping me get this piece out there, and to everyone else for your continued support! I hope someone finds this useful, and I hope you'd provide me with critique in any places where I appear to have made a mistake.
The same goes for my novella IVY... I really think this audience would like that story. That is assuming the themes come through how I want them to. I can get away with being a lot more "raw" when it's a fictional character going through the mental turmoil...
As I said in the article, hit me with your best shot!
This is actual educational lunacy. Bringing it into the light is the first step. Thank you for your bravery. And I’m sorry you had to endure that and also miss out on important learning. But I can tell that you are going to be fine. You have what it takes to overcome. Believe in yourself. ❤️
Thank you so much for the kind words!
Have to ask, because it sounds too familiar. Did you happen to go to high school in Seattle???
I don't know if I should feel better or worse that I'm not the only one...
While I won't reveal my exact school, definitely wasn't in Seattle. It's scary to know more schools are like this but reassuring to know I'm not just complaining about a single edge case.
With that kind of education, I’m surprised you are able to compose even a basic sentence, instead of the coherent and insightful essay that you wrote.
I have 2 recurring thoughts about the state of education. First, if I had school-age children now, I’d be in jail, either for refusing to send my children to school, or as a “domestic terrorist” for acting up at school board meetings. Second, school districts should declare a state of martial law and appoint every remaining Catholic sister to run the school systems.
High school years are hard enough for those of us who aren’t struggling with being considered autistic or doubting their judgment.
But your ability to look back, and analyze the craziness of it all, has got to be helpful. It’s not your fault for not speaking up. It sounds as if your parents thought they were doing what was right for you; it makes it more difficult to “complain.”
Keep writing. It helps to get clarity, to say what you need to say without feeling guilty, or ungrateful, or as if you’re being critical or offensive. For many of us, it’s easier than trying to speak about the things that bother or haunt us, or even the things that bring us joy. And it will help you to gain confidence and learn to trust your own feelings.
Thank you for your comment!
I wish I had the courage to tell my parents I hated what my school was doing back then... They would've definitely seen things much differently. Granted, I did tell them some, but there was a lot I held back or only brought up in the sense of "I have to do what they want!"
People thought I was crazy - I was just barely able to dodge a diagnosis of OCD. I can see why they thought I looked that way given my paranoia over offending people. To be clear it's not in any way their fault they didn't know to look for something like my school's extremism... But all the more reason for me to speak up about it!
But after reading my articles, my parents have told me, "I see why you were like that now!"
I know that your school is not an exception - the emphasis on victimhood and safe spaces has been growing year after year. Instead of preparing the child for the road, schools have been clearing the road for the child. The problem being - will the real world do the same? Not likely. We should be asking why? Why was our educational system hollowed out? I think we know that we've been sold out to outside interests, hoping to use our democracy against us - laughing that we could allow ourselves to become so weak. I sent my child to a private school in a nice red state - Florida, and yet some of what you've written was creeping into her school as well, and I found it disgraceful. My child could not take many AP courses unless she did so online. There were NO courses in European history, yet if one did not take Gender Studies, one was asked about it. History will not look back kindly on those who buckled to "Equity, Inclusion and Belonging" or whatever. We don't believe in Equity - we believe in EQUALITY. Pretending as though each person should get the same outcome (for that is equity) regardless of their work ethic is the definition of communism.
Wow. That's even stranger given it happened in Florida...
I can feel the peer pressure coming back to me when you mention being questioned on not taking gender studies... Ugh!
Our lunch clubs were kind of like this. We had "affinity groups" to talk about race and gender, that's it. I felt like a weirdo for wanting to have hobbies!
Margo, I hope that your school was the exception to the rule. Obviously the Coddling of the American Mind was a wake up call for me. Also the books Bad Therapy and Irreversible damage by Abigail Shrier had me questioning this "new" ideology. Thanks for being honest about your high school. It sounds like a cautionary tale that hopefully we can all learn from.
Thanks for your comment, and I hope we can learn from this too. I know these extreme ideologies can leave people livid, but I don't want people to hold grudges to the point where they discount or even oppose legitimate progressive causes.
I write this for my school's sake as much as my own. It was a safe-in-the-normal-way community for LGBTQ+ and neurodiverse students my first year there. I don't want those students to lose that because of extremism leading the school to shoot itself in the foot.
Margo, I always love your voice. Thanks for sharing. I’m homeschooling my high school sons and two of their friends. This helps me reflect on our path as we move forward.
Aww, thanks, Maggie! Appreciate the kind feedback! I'm glad my piece was helpful to you. :)
Your voice and evidence of schools falling to their knees to woke ideology is so important! The only way to break the cycle and spotlight the tragedy is to hear from voices like yours. Please tell me you did jot go to my kids’ school….mid atlantic east coast state? Ugh. Or daughter was indoctrinated in the theater department and by an English teacher and GSA. The similarities of the mini term have me wondering. I fear the girls schools are worse than the boys and I was thrilled to see our son’s school included an article with a positive review of the Anxious Generation book in their latest magazine! Keep up your good work and continue to earn what I see as well deserved praise. You are unique.
Hooray! "I was thrilled to see our son’s school included an article with a positive review of the Anxious Generation book in their latest magazine!"
It worries me how many others are sharing similar experiences, I really thought it was just me having gone to a one-time case of a school that happened to be terrible. I'm sorry your daughter had to go through something like that.
Thank you for your kind words!
.....and this is why I homeschool!! So I coach my son's lego robotics team and at first impression, the league expects a lot. It seemed like a lot of work for the kids, and I just wanted my team to learn some coding and have fun. I really didn't expect our team to advance. But during our presentation round, the judges said we were the first team where the kids had memorized their lines and didn't just read off the paper. Most other teams are coordinated through a middle school. Our team is just a homeschool/neighborhood team.
Dear Margo, as 85 year old educator who teaches with a classic film study project I can only say, thank heaven you escaped from this abusive high school. We teach even severely woke with 12 Angry Men, It's a Wonderful Life and even your former teachers can at least be disarmed by goodness, beauty and truth in classic film All good wishes to you from Onalee, Director Educational Guidance Institute. go to our website a lot free download. Educatiionalguidanceinstitute.com
Thank you to Ted and the team for helping me get this piece out there, and to everyone else for your continued support! I hope someone finds this useful, and I hope you'd provide me with critique in any places where I appear to have made a mistake.
The same goes for my novella IVY... I really think this audience would like that story. That is assuming the themes come through how I want them to. I can get away with being a lot more "raw" when it's a fictional character going through the mental turmoil...
As I said in the article, hit me with your best shot!