Do You Know What Your Kids Are Reading - Revisionism in Textbooks

Summer is ending, and a new school year is getting under way. Clothes have been purchased, supplies gathered and new haircuts adorn the heads of our little ones. Some kids cannot wait to head back (to get together with friends, NOT learn something) and some kids dread it. Either way it will not be long before parents everywhere begin to hear the lament. I HATE HOMEWORK!

We all remember those days. Instead of being outside causing havoc within the neighborhood or sitting in front of the TV with video games, our children are instead sitting at the table or their desk, books open and moping. They slog through the texts and study against their wishes, hoping to glean something out of the words glaring out at them. When we ask if we can help quiz them, they roll their eyes as if to say we don't have a clue any more what this is all about. After all, we went to school before electricity, didn't we? This brings up the question:

Do YOU know what your kids are reading?

How many of us actually take the time to read their children's text books? If you are like most people, the day you take your last step outside the halls of education, it is usually the last time you open a text book. Unless you are a teacher yourself (and thank you those who are), you wouldn't have a clue what is being taught. Is it important? Consider this:

"Historical revisionism refers to the reexamination and reviewing of the stories told as history, with an eye to updating them with more recently discovered, more unbiased or more accurate information. Broadly, it is the approach that history as it has been traditionally told may not be entirely accurate and may be subject to review..

Legitimate Revisionism (as opposed to less legitimate revisionism) when backed by documented evidence and logical reasoning in peer-reviewed journals, have become the generally accepted history as more information is revealed In the past, outside of native American populations, very few would dispute the assertion that Christopher Columbus "discovered" America. Indeed, most of the recent scholarship having to do with Columbus and contradicting the image of Columbus as a heroic figure can be considered revisionist... throughout history slaves have not been considered as people, which has been reflected in the accepted histories of the time. In the study of the Reconstruction era of the American South, the revisionist interpretation of events has completely replaced the Dunning School interpretation.

There is also a "politically correct" movement in revisionism that can often be found in history materials targeted towards children and young adults. This type of revisionism effectively seeks to censor some of the less pleasant sides of history, lest it cause controversy or hurt feelings (excuse me?) . For example, in some American schools the speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. are not presented in their entirety, as King frequently used racial terms such as negro, now considered offensive." Information from www.Kids.Net.Au

I have heard little snippets about such things here and there over the years, but never much paid attention to it. Now that our children are older and beginning to learn more than the basics in school, I am wondering exactly what it is they are being taught? I want them to be informed, not coddled. I want them to get all the facts available and determine on their own what ramifications happen due to people's actions. Are our text book providers going to be censoring everything they publish so they are now PC? If so, do not expect to be seeing your child reading Shakespeare any time soon. The man was known to have had a wicked sense of sexual humor.

This year is going to be different in our household. This year we are going to be reading and studying right along with our kids. We are not just going to talk the talk. We are also going to walk the walk.

Want to walk along with us?