MANIPULATING YOUNG MINDS

Thomas Jefferson, author of the U.S. Declaration of Independence once said, I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.

If ever there was an example of tyranny over the minds of children, it is what is being called education today. Through deceptive, behaviorist tactics like Values Clarification, psychological and psychiatric questionnaires, self esteem programs, and psychotropic (mind-altering) drugs, the minds of children are being manipulated to fulfill certain behavioral objectives.

Consider moral values, which have been under assault in schools since the 1960s and 70s. In the U.S., it was through a program called Values Clarification. Here for example, children and teenagers are manipulated and molded with the purpose of bringing about certain desired psychological outcomes. This process, in part, involves breaking down and subtly invalidating the childs already acquired valuesin particular, his familys valuesand replacing them with the idea that there is no set right or wrong, only personal opinion. For the child, the result can be, minimally, confusion and disorientation.

Known also by various names such as Sensitivity Training and humanistic psychology, the method originated in Germany and was also used in Europe and Switzerland in the 1960s.

Tom DeWeese of the American Policy Foundation tells the story of a 9-year-old boy who told his mother that he ranked lumberjacks in the same class as murderers and bigots after a Values Clarification class. These psychologically-based programs are harming children...its mind control from womb to tomb.

According to William Kilpatrick, author of Why Johnny Can't Tell Right From Wrong, feelings, personal growth, and a totally nonjudgmental attitude are emphasized. However, ...no time is spent providing moral guidance or forming character...no models of good behavior are provided, no reason is given why a boy or girl should want to be good in the first place....They come away with the impression that even the most basic values are matters of dispute. He warns, it becomes clear why their [educational] scores are low and why morals are on a steep decline.

Dr. William Coulson, Ph.D., a once strong supporter of such programs stated, ...one of the effects of self-esteem (Values Clarification) programs is that you are no longer obliged to tell the truth if you don't feel like it. You don't have to tell the truth because if the truth you have to tell is about your own failure then your self-esteem will go down and that is unthinkable.

Author and educator Beverly Eakman describes the impact of psychiatry and psychology on schools: Their clear and stated agenda has been to jettison systematic, academic, knowledge-based curricula in favor of psychologized fare that places the emotions and belief systems above anyrational, or communicative function.What information youngsters did learn was actually harmful.

What Your Child is Being Asked in Class?

Today, students are often screened or profiled by using questionnaires that inquire about their own and their parents attitudes and behaviors. This screening includes such questions as, during the last 12 months, how many times have you hit or beat up on someone or stolen something from a store? Other questions ask how may times theyve used cocaine, had sexual intercourse, felt sad or depressed and how often their parents tell them they love them.

Eakman states, The term screening takes on new meaning as children, and by extension, their families, today are assessed for supposed markers of psychological disorders...with the results of such analyses going into cross-referenced electronic transfer systems....

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