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 Skewed History 
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In schools today, historical events and people are presented in a skewed manner. They are made to appear less threatening and to the American governments styling. Typically, historical situations in which the U.S was in the wrong are glossed over to lighten the fault. MLK Jr. is taught as a hero to African Americans and a kind preacher of the people. The fact that he was a sexist is never mentioned. On the same topic, the real cruelty(police force) of the Civil Rights Movement is never really represented. But, why not share the truth with students? Is it not their right to know the truth about history and important people involved in making history. I understand that at primary, middle, and secondary schools there is not time to go really in depth, but there is an opportunity to present the truth to students. This might have just turned into rambling because I am way too tired to be writing right now.

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Hayley Wieber

"That's what a class is, a swarm. And you're a warrior teacher...ready to face the swarm"
- Frank McCourt


Mon Mar 27, 2006 7:01 pm
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I definitely agree that true presentations of people and situations throughout history should be portrayed in the classroom. If we make it all picture perfect, then students go out into the world believing that things aren't the way they really are. It's cheating them and it's not preparing them for what they will encounter after high school.

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KeishaGordon


Tue Mar 28, 2006 12:51 am
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Very true point! I think a huge problem, I am guilty of it as well, is that we still carry that picture perfect idea of things from history, for we our selves have not searched deeper into these events. I for one did not know that MLK was sexist, so thanks for bringing that to my attention. But, we should portray the real stories that entertwine all of these events, and I think that true, meaningful, discussion from the students will flourish. Thanks for starting this thread, and if anyone else has tid-bits like the MLK thing, please add...I would love to know.

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Ann Boschini


Tue Mar 28, 2006 12:56 am
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I definitely think that the things we teach children are skewed, maybe not always to make America look good but the writers are definitely maintaining a certain level of political corectness. There are a couple of things to think about here, they definitely pertain to history but may pertain to other areas as well. When we were in high school we were not taught much about history, just a quick survey of the world, civics and economics and a little about U.S. History. There is too much that teachers must teach for their schools to perform well on EOC's to actually go deep into any subject. Also, the books that these teachers teach from are not necessarily accurate. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but there are a lot of teachers in the classroom right now who teach strictly from a textbook. The textbook writers have an ultimate goal, to sell books. The textbook companies are not as interested in learning as they are in making money. When an uninformed teacher strictly uses a textbook they are only continuing this cycle of keeping students in the dark.

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Bobby Helbert


Tue Mar 28, 2006 11:42 am
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Our truths about our history are very much skewed. It actually scares me a little more than angers me. By covering up the truth about history we are actually hurting our children more than protecting them. I understand that young children do need to be censored about some things, but that does not give anyone a right to LIE about the truth. I graduated high school not knowing the truth about Helen Keller or Rosa Parks. Luckily I finally found out a little truth from all of the lies I have been told, but what about people who don’t go to college? :?

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Jennifer Lawson


Tue Mar 28, 2006 2:37 pm
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It truly scares me to think that I could accidentally pass along misinformation to my students one day in the classroom. I agree with what everyone else has been saying about how unfortunate it is that textbooks and a lot of resources many teachers rely on have skewed perspectives and even completely wrong information! I would hope I will not to teach straight from a (possibly biased) textbook when I am teaching, but then again, when it comes to subjects like history I am certainly no expert. Sometimes it's difficult to pinpoint the mistakes, especially for me. My question is, how do we know? How can we find out and chose reliable sources? My fear is that most things we read have some sort of bias to them. Where can we as teachers look for help? What resources can we use? Anyone have any ideas?

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Lauren Leslie


Mon Apr 03, 2006 6:37 pm
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I agree that students should learn the truth about everything, including this countries history, but maybe some details of the truth are better left untouched until later grades. I didn't know MLK was a sexist -- thanks for scarring me Hayley. History is pretty graphic, and minds need to grow before exposing its truly gritty parts. Glossing over is not necessary, but limiting details is important.

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Karl Rahn


Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:31 pm
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