(This article courtesy of Agape Press.)
By Jim Brown and Bill Fancher
A U.S. Senate candidate from New Jersey says the problems plaguing America's public education system go well beyond low student test scores in science and mathematics. The former university instructor says schools today have eliminated what is truly important in education.
Republican Doug Forrester says there is a fundamental issue in education that America has forgotten. Forrester, who hopes to unseat incumbent Democrat Robert Torricelli, says the purpose behind education has been lost, and that children are having difficultly relating that purpose to the whole of life.
“I object, for example, to this idea that we have cut out of the very heart of education good, honest discussion about the pursuit of virtue, of morality, God, the ways in which we seek ultimate meaning,” Forrester says. “We've stigmatized this kind of thing.”
Forrester says when the things most dear in life are stigmatized — and when it is implied to students that there is something wrong with pursuing God and morality — it makes it hard to convince young people that any learning is worthwhile. The seminary graduate cites a story involving his son, who when he was in the third grade was told to write a biographical essay on a historical figure.
“He wanted to write about Moses,” Forrester explains. “The teacher said 'Oh no, Moses, gosh. You can't write about Moses — he's a religious figure.' My little boy is eight years old and his antenna is up and he gets the message: 'There's something wrong here with this religious type of figure — better steer clear of that.'”
“I believe that that has cut the heart out of what our educational apparatus is supposed to do.”
Forrester says knowledge has a purpose, and that purpose is higher than any specific academic discipline such as science, math, or art. He says President Teddy Roosevelt was right when he said: “To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.”
In a poll released this week, Forrester has a 13-point lead (48% to 35%) over the incumbent Torricelli.
School Violence
Still on the subject of America's schools, an expert on violence is warning against complacency during what appears to be a lull in school shootings across the nation. Lt. Col. Dave Grossman of the Killology Research Group believes it would be a huge mistake for educators and parents to let their guard down right now.
“We're stopping them hand-over-fist, left-over-right,” Grossman says. “We're catching kids on a weekly basis who are building the bombs, who are bringing the guns to school, who are making the 'hit lists,' who are making the threats. Our schools are at a far-higher state of readiness — they're seeking out the kids who are doing this.”
Grossman says there are killers in America's schools right now, just waiting for the right motivation.
A recent survey by Dr. James Price of the University of Toledo found that violent behavior peaks at 16 to 17 years of age. He also found that 43% of students say they have been victimized by some form of violence. One-third say they are ready to retaliate. According to Price, America's schools are not safe zones.
