Scrubbing Education

This incredible scrubbing of all cultural artifacts from the curricula of this country is really troubling. The most recent foolishness, the dismissal of a principal in Florida in connection with students (gasp) seeing Michelangelo's classic sculpture David, is clearly just another step toward enforcing complete stupidity as the general rule.

Is an outsized marble statue from antiquity going to titillate the minds of young people? This was part of a Western Civilization class. Y'know, the celebration of All Things White and Male. If that is not the "standard" for these folks, what is? 

The Bible itself has descriptions of all sorts of naughty behavior. There are naked people, disrespectful of elders types, adultery, and violence galore. AND HAVE THEY EVEN READ THE SONG OF SOLOMON? (I have, and it's lushly gorgeous. Give it a read.) It even has a mandate to help foreigners and the poor. O my.

Importing one's own disturbed and warped view of the human and natural world onto classical artifacts is more a sign of a deep problem with the adults in question. Wait'll they get reading Greek mythology or-- o no!-- Shakespeare. Long held to be the pillars of traditional education, these things won't pass the test being applied in Florida. 

These works, like so many other fine pieces of art and literature, celebrate humanity in all of its wrinkles and messy behavior as well as its glory. How dare they post one more sign on one more highway verge about how the GOP "supports education, not indoctrination." The minute we have narrow, scrubbed, rote-learned anything, it's indoctrination. 

And in another note, DeSantis wants to expand the ban on teaching health-related information beyond just grade 4--he wants no one to know about anything body-related until after they graduate high school. Um, sure. Start the clock, and let's see what the teen pregnancy rate looks like by the start of next school year. Or the rate of diseases that could have been prevented. Or the suicide body count.

There are places in this country that would like to remove the free feminine products from school bathrooms because they are "woke." What the actual hell. 

I can hear this argument coming next: We need to remove soap from the bathrooms, because we heard that washing hands prevents the spread of diseases. Parents have the right to not have their children indoctrinated about the spread of diseases. Clean minds don't need soap.

Am I being ridiculous? Yes. Maybe. But not any more so than those who with-hold educational opportunities to an entire generation of students. I can't see that the next wave of health care professionals, artists, writers, musicians --y'know, working, productive, necessary adults-- will come from places like Florida. 

Take care,

C