Education reduced to Newspeak

Newspeak. It's a word made up by author George Orwell in his novel "1984" that represents the following hypothesis:

If something can't be said, it's hugely more difficult to think it.

A fancier name for this phenomenon is "linguistic relativity" -- that what we say determines what we think rather than the other way around. In "1984," Orwell says that if humans cannot form the words to express the ideas underlying a revolution, then they cannot revolt.

Something similar may begin happening in California schools now that the state assembly has adopted a resolution calling for "meaningful" counseling for any child in grades pre-K through college and any teacher or parent on public school property who exhibits the "wrong" attitudes about a variety of issues.

The proposal states that "all public education institutions, prekindergarten through university campuses, are encouraged to develop and enact policies that support tolerance and acceptance of others regardless of their race or ethnicity, religion, disability, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, nationality, or any other characteristic. … [Further] resolved, that all public education institutions are encouraged to enact procedures, such as counseling services and conflict management, that meaningfully address acts of discrimination. …"

Sounds good, right? But what happens if a little kid speaks up and says something like, "Hey, where I go to church the Bible says guys can't marry other guys."

Is that child going to be brought in for "meaningful counseling"?

Maybe.

Or what happens if a junior-high Jewish student says she doesn't believe Islam is a peaceful religion? Or if a Muslim student says he thinks all Jews are hateful? Or if an atheist student overhears a Christian kid affirming his believe in God?

Are those students going to be brought in for re-programming, too?

Randy Thomasson, president of the pro-family organization SaveCalifornia, thinks they will.

In an interview with the online conservative news service WorldNetDaily, Thomasson said, "What does a 'discrimination-free' school look like? If a student does a writing assignment, saying that marriage is only for a man and a woman or the father has a role different from the mother or that AIDS primarily is acquired through homosexual activity, or going outside the Bible's standards on sexuality is sin, this could be labeled as hate, intolerance or discrimination, and the hammer can come down."

Orwell was prescient on many levels when he wrote "1984" but I have to wonder whether even he really believed there would come a day when schoolchildren were prevented from speaking their thoughts.

Anyone who thinks public education is strictly about education needs to take a closer look. Social engineering is large and in charge and if left unchecked it has the potential to cut out our children's tongues even as it remakes their thoughts.