When I think about education I think primarily of the lack of it. The modern American educational system is loaded with problems.  Many students are not leaning much at all.  Classroom disruptions are common.  School violence is running rampant, including the incidents we all hear about on the news.  What is the answer?

            The common approach is to throw money at the problem, a problem that nobody seems willing to even identify or admit.  Regarding performance issues, the teachers are usually blamed.  Regarding violence, metal detectors and uniformed officers roaming the halls seems to be the common “solution.” 

            These are all bureaucratic attempts at solutions for problems that arise on a very individual basis.  Basically, some “expert” in an ivory tower somewhere believes he/she has the solution for a problem he/she never faced in their life.  Such “experts” have no idea how frustrating it is to be a teacher a few feet away from two fighting students, knowing that if they touch either one of them you could, and would, go to jail.

            These liberal approaches to establishing a peaceful and safe setting in the classroom have no chance of working.  I believe that has been proven.  Each student is an individual.  Each teacher is an individual.  Both should be treated as individuals, with whatever amount of respect they each “deserve.” 

            This idea that we can’t hurt the children’s feelings is absurd.  It has gone way too far.  The inmates are running the institutions so to speak and we, as adults and parents, are teaching them that they have this God given birth right to do it.  Just maybe the kid walking down the hall with an AK47 randomly firing at his classmates should have been spanked.

           Speaking of education, or the myth there of, we need to stop using the education system as a means of trying to battle other problems with society.  We are not going to combat racism by rewriting history to suit ourselves.  Example: The Civil War was not fought over slavery.  Stop teaching our kids that it was.  Making white kids feel guilty that they were born white is not going to end racism.  The Civil War was fought for the same reason all wars, other than religious wars, have been fought, money and greed.  Here is one more shocking tidbit for you.  Abraham Lincoln didn’t free the slaves.  I won’t explain that for you, I’ll let you do your own homework.  I will give you a hint though.  The truth is hidden in a document called the Emancipation Proclamation.