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 Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 6:47 pm
The staff at my school likes to make rules just for the sake of making rules. Even the teachers think they're going a bit far with some of them, and most of the rules they make only apply to students.
Lately, they seem to be getting paranoid. There were a couple cases of vandalism last year, and now there are cameras on every corner. Literally. And this is a small school. And I know they aren't just fake cameras to scare off potential vandals, because 1)they keep the t.v.s that the cameras are connected to in the office, and 2)the vandalisms took place on the outside out the school bulding and in the parking lot, two places where there aren't any cameras. They didn't even announce that they were getting them either. One day I just went to school, and noticed a camera by the lockers. And the entrance to the school. And about three other places. Students and teachers alike were surprised, confused, and a bit creeped out by this, although some hadn't noticed them until someone else told them.
I have no idea what they're so paranoid about, aside from the vandalism last year, nothing ever happens here. At the rate they're going, though, I'd be surprised if they didn't start doing locker searches soon.
So, my question is, what's a good argument against locker searches, aside from just stuttering something about privacy. I know they'll use the 'if you have nothing to hide, why do you care?/you have nothing to worry about' argument. Aside from an intense aversion to having someone digging through my stuff, I can't really think of how to answer that.
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Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 11:49 am
It's unfortunate that personal rights end at the front door of most government schools, but that is a reality these days. Basically, what was explained to me by my principal (4 years ago) is that students don't have the same rights as normal people, because they are under 18, and from 8-3 they are under control of nanny government. In exchange for a very meager education, you have to give up your rights to speech and privacy. Plus, by signing you up for government school, your parents have basically given up control over you, because if a teacher sniffed something they didn't like about your family, or your family was a little too "unorthodox" they'd have you in a foster home before you could blink. Government school is an indoctrination program. The whole point is to teach you to be a "good citizen", to fear the government, keep your head down, and do as your told. NOT to enlighten and enrich you (which is what you, your parents, and most tax-paying citizens want schools to do....teach academics, not institutionalize and brainwash.) When you see a pointless rule, or a rule for the sake of a rule....it's either a power trip by the staff or an attempt to force conformity onto the students. This is probably why students in other countries (where education is emphasized over indoctrination) outscore ours consistently. see here > http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/279/5355/1297?ck=nckSorry, didn't mean to go all ranty there. My point is, I doubt you'll be able to get anywhere fighting the locker search. The best defense would be that they ought to have "probable cause" but that doesn't work because the locker is government property to begin with, it's not really yours. I recommend getting out while you can still think clearly. I don't think the government schools give a s**t about your liberties, privacy, or feelings. You'd be better off getting a GED and building your own life in the way YOU choose, not in a template selected by a bureaucrat. good luck, and stay free! -Anise Amberly
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Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 7:42 am
I tend to agree. With all the virtual stuff they have nowadays, Online classes, education Dvd's ect... why are students still forced to go into a building for 7 hrs a day? The answer has to be that schools are not simply about the education, they're about creating compliant, subservient citizens. It's about the environment of being told where to be, when to be there, and when you can leave. It's about somone watching you at all times to make sure you don't get out of line. This kind of thing can't be learned from a DVD, it has to come from experience.
Of course, the fact that they don't want to admit this is their goal could weaken the system. We should press for a change in the laws to take advantage of "Virtual Schools." My sister is in such a course for extra credit, but I see no reason why it couldn't be expanded for a full fledged education, right from the comfort of your own home. Instead of campaigning for private schools, we should campaighn for online schools that provide education, but not brainwashing.
As an added bonus, we can point out to potential voters that it would lower taxes, as it takes far less money to run a website than it does to run a building filled with upwards of a thousand students, all fo whome have to be fed, teachers that have to be paid, elctricity, water, ect. You get my point. And the best part is, it will be tough for politicians to vote against. After all, school is suposed to be about education right? Not to mention that an online school won't have any incidents like the shootings at Virgina Tech. How do you bomb a website? We all know schools are probably a terrorist target, online schools keep our children safe. Lets see them argue that one down.
I'm going to get offline now and write some letters to various people, including the Board of Education, the Libertarian National committee, and my local congressman. I suggest everyone do the same. Lets get the ball rolling, people.
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2007 8:59 pm
High_Assassin I tend to agree. With all the virtual stuff they have nowadays, Online classes, education Dvd's ect... why are students still forced to go into a building for 7 hrs a day? The answer has to be that schools are not simply about the education, they're about creating compliant, subservient citizens. It's about the environment of being told where to be, when to be there, and when you can leave. It's about somone watching you at all times to make sure you don't get out of line. This kind of thing can't be learned from a DVD, it has to come from experience. Of course, the fact that they don't want to admit this is their goal could weaken the system. We should press for a change in the laws to take advantage of "Virtual Schools." My sister is in such a course for extra credit, but I see no reason why it couldn't be expanded for a full fledged education, right from the comfort of your own home. Instead of campaigning for private schools, we should campaighn for online schools that provide education, but not brainwashing. As an added bonus, we can point out to potential voters that it would lower taxes, as it takes far less money to run a website than it does to run a building filled with upwards of a thousand students, all fo whome have to be fed, teachers that have to be paid, elctricity, water, ect. You get my point. And the best part is, it will be tough for politicians to vote against. After all, school is suposed to be about education right? Not to mention that an online school won't have any incidents like the shootings at Virgina Tech. How do you bomb a website? We all know schools are probably a terrorist target, online schools keep our children safe. Lets see them argue that one down. I'm going to get offline now and write some letters to various people, including the Board of Education, the Libertarian National committee, and my local congressman. I suggest everyone do the same. Lets get the ball rolling, people. There are some full time online highschools. I went to one for summer school once, and my brother is enrolled in one now. If students are forced to go to a public highschool, I think it's probably because it's what their parents want them to do. Also, for many people school is more about socialising than learning anyway. I doubt many people would want to go to an online highschool. Learning is just easier when there is a teacher in front of you to explain things and give examples and stuff. For me, the indoctrination is usually easy to spot and just plain annoying. What I don't get is how people can watch a movie that is very obviously propaganda, then have the propaganda, half-truths, and inconsistence in the information pointed out to them (by me), acknowledge that it's probably propaganda.... and then still believe exactly what the movie tells them to believe. One of my teachers came as close to admitting outright that he was trying to indoctrinate us as I've ever heard today. He was doing a lesson about how evil discrimination is and how racism is as bad now as it's ever been (and how the government needs to step in and force people to go to a certain school based on their race, so schools will have a mix of races and be more diverse), when one of our conservative teachers walked in and pretty much killed his lesson. It went kind of like this: [Conservative teacher walks in during lecture]: Discrimination isn't always a bad thing. When the government takes away our freedom to discriminate, we lose our right to think for ourselves. [Lefty teacher]: YOU JUST UNDID MY ENTIRE LESSON! [Conservative teacher leaves] [Lefty teacher]: Um... He's a racist. Ignore him. On with the lesson.
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2007 9:20 pm
Anise_Amberly It's unfortunate that personal rights end at the front door of most government schools, but that is a reality these days. Basically, what was explained to me by my principal (4 years ago) is that students don't have the same rights as normal people, because they are under 18, and from 8-3 they are under control of nanny government. In exchange for a very meager education, you have to give up your rights to speech and privacy. Plus, by signing you up for government school, your parents have basically given up control over you, because if a teacher sniffed something they didn't like about your family, or your family was a little too "unorthodox" they'd have you in a foster home before you could blink. Government school is an indoctrination program. The whole point is to teach you to be a "good citizen", to fear the government, keep your head down, and do as your told. NOT to enlighten and enrich you (which is what you, your parents, and most tax-paying citizens want schools to do....teach academics, not institutionalize and brainwash.) When you see a pointless rule, or a rule for the sake of a rule....it's either a power trip by the staff or an attempt to force conformity onto the students. This is probably why students in other countries (where education is emphasized over indoctrination) outscore ours consistently. see here > http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/279/5355/1297?ck=nckSorry, didn't mean to go all ranty there. My point is, I doubt you'll be able to get anywhere fighting the locker search. The best defense would be that they ought to have "probable cause" but that doesn't work because the locker is government property to begin with, it's not really yours. I recommend getting out while you can still think clearly. I don't think the government schools give a s**t about your liberties, privacy, or feelings. You'd be better off getting a GED and building your own life in the way YOU choose, not in a template selected by a bureaucrat. good luck, and stay free! -Anise Amberly I don't even go to a public school. There are actually some conservative teachers.... outspoken conservative teachers at my school. On the downside, even they think that socialism 'has some good ideas,' but hey, you can't have everything. I actually like my school, even if I do tend to complain a lot. I think, compared to other schools, it's pretty okay as far as freedom of expression is concerned... at least in the actual writing classes. In history, forget about it. I usually try to view it as an exercise in creative thinking and impersonate a socialist, even though everyone knows I'm anything but. Sometimes it's just the only way to pass. I was considering getting a GED once, but they're not as good as highschool diplomas, and anyway I'm planning on going to college. From what I've heard, there are more socialists in colleges than pretty much anywhere else, so there wouldn't really be much point... Anyway, I'm almost done with highschool as it is. My family follows the ideology that if your ideas and opinions can't stand up under a little opposition, then you probably need to change them. (When I was thinking about getting a GED, it would have been in order to skip highschool altogether and go straight to college, but with my total lack of knowledge of things like geometry and chemistry, I didn't think that would go too well.)
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