Teaching Confusion
How public schools kill curiosity
A book I’ve been reading has helped me understand the threat that homeschools pose. “Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling” by John Taylor Gatto, a best-seller for 30 years.
Gatto was a top educator in New York City. The chapters of the book are the speeches he gave while accepting teaching awards. Even while accepting the highest honors of his profession, Gatto saw there were problems with the education system in the very design of the thing. His contrarian takes are as fascinating as they are disturbing.
Gatto identifies the seven real lessons taught at school:
Every minute of the day is accounted for by the warden. Students are encouraged to tell on each other—and on their parents.
Just like that, context is built where teachers actually feel students are safer at school than they are at home. At school they “affirm” a kid in the sex dysphoria that they helped create. Parents can’t be trusted with that privileged information—it’s our little secret, between student and teacher.
It’s not hard to imagine a world where parents are removed entirely. The state is fully in charge of raising the children of humanity. They’re “our kids,” after all.
