The conservative bias in textbooks
Categories: Teens & tweens, Alcohol & drugs, Education, That's entertainment
Remember the case of the high school history teacher and part-time Baptist youth pastor who used his classtime to preach to his students? Remember the high schooler who taped him doing so and ended up getting a death threat for his trouble? Well, Matthew LaClair is in the news again, this time with an article in the Los Angeles Times.After the run-in with his bible-thumping history teacher, Matthew began to notice that his American Government textbook wasn't being very non-partisan either. "The text contains a statement, repeated three times, that students may not pray in public schools." A picture of students praying outside a school bears the caption "The Supreme Court will not let this happen inside a public school."
This, of course, is patently untrue -- students are perfectly welcome to pray in school if they so desire. In fact, as the old joke goes, so long as there are tests, there will be school prayer. What is not allowed is school-led prayer where students are encouraged or required to pray. LaClair's interpretation is that "the purpose of the discussion in the textbook was to indoctrinate, not to educate."
LaClair's point is that textbooks should present facts, not opinions. Hopefully, schools are teaching students to think so that they can form their own conclusions based on the facts given them. After all, I would think we want future generations to think for themselves, not to blindly follow whatever spin is handed to them on the nightly news.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
the goddess anna 4-29-2008 @ 4:45PM
School textbooks having a 'conservative' bias? Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha... whew. Let me wipe a tear from my eye.
Good joke. You're about as funny as Al Franken, Roger.
Reply
Mel 4-29-2008 @ 6:27PM
Even living in the South, I *never* encountered a conservative-leaning textbook. Moreover, the texts were not even impartial; invariably, they were heavily biased toward the liberal paradigm. Not that I care much, just saying the "facts," which this student heralds. Also, the nightly news Roger? Ummm, the media's liberal bias is quite notorious.
Bottom line: Bias is not a dirty word. It is, in fact, a *positive.* Bias was, is, and always will be ubiquitous and inescapable. As such, we need *critical thinkers,* not "unbiased" androids.
Reply
Uly 4-30-2008 @ 7:44PM
Oh, Fox News has a liberal bias now, Mel?
the goddess anna 4-30-2008 @ 8:16PM
Funny thing is, Uly, you ask any conservative, and they'll say yes, Fox News is getting a bit liberal in their reporting. Liberal compared to 5 years ago, but more liberal all the same.
Still more balanced than say, MSNBC, though.
And I'm still laughing at the original post.
Mel 4-30-2008 @ 8:18PM
No, Uly, Fox News has no liberal bias. Actually, they are partial to the conservative perspective. However, most of the rest of the media (including major internet, newspaper, periodical, and television markets) are skewed to the left. The fact that you are so easily able to pick out one outlet highlights just how much of an anomaly Fox is. Like I said, I don't care what anyone's bias is. Mainly, I just want people to admit that they are in fact biased. Somewhere along the way, people began to subscribe to the notion that "objectivity" is laudable.
Uly 5-04-2008 @ 3:33PM
Well, Anna, Mel - if you ask most *liberals* we'll line up and tell you that the media has a very conservative bias... Fox News just has a *stupid* conservative bias, and is thus very likely to be the only news some people ever watch, and yes, I am calling you stupid, Mel.