"Question Authority."

[Mythsaje]

When did we stop teaching our children to do this? When we decided it was more important that they were tractable and didn't give their teachers too much grief? When we decided their safety and the schools' right to avoid "unnecessary distractions" was more important than their right to self expression?

When we decided that a kid with a banner that says "bong hits for Jesus" went over the line?

Are we teaching them to value authority more than its worth?

This newest point made by Naomi Wolf regarding how an increasing number of young Americans have no real knowledge of how our government is supposed to work, decreasing respect for the 1st Amendment, and an almost resigned acceptance of the right of others to control what they say or do.

I've been saying it for years. Be very careful what we teach our children, or we'll be making the next tyrant's work much easier. Some of us remember the days when we were far more free to express ourselves in school, when our baby boomer parents wouldn't tolerate certain types of repression.

What are we teaching the next generation? How to bow their heads and put up with zero-tolerance, with random locker searches, with urine tests for anyone involved in extra-curricular activites? There's always a good reason for these things, so why not bow to the inevitable?

Because it sets a dangerous precedent in the minds of our kids...that if there's a good enough reason, it's perfectly acceptable for someone of authority to silence them, to decide what they can or cannot say, or can or cannot wear.

At this point, I've only one thing left to say.

I knew this would happen. You insist on good little obedient kids in school, you get good little obedient citizens. You accept authoritarian discipline within the halls of academia, you get it out in the real world. You take away their right to wear "offensive" or "distracting" tee-shirts, or hats, or whatever... tell them they can't hug their friends, feed them ADD drugs to help keep them in line, allow them to be punished for saying what they think...

This is what you get.

Can't say we weren't warned.

I was a pain in the ass in school. Not because I was a trouble-maker. I rarely made trouble. But I went out of my way not to do things in exactly the way I was told. I pushed the limits ALL the time. If they told me I had to print larger because it was hard to read, I told them they'd have to live with it. If they tried to twist my arm, I simply got stubborn and surly. I became the immovable object. Either take me as I am, or go to hell.

But I was the brightest, most cheerful student until someone pushed me in a direction I didn't want to go. Then I grew spikes.

The kids now have all their spikes snipped off, so they don't raise abrasions. They're taught to conform to all the rules, to do as they're told. To bring EXACTLY this, that, and the other thing to class. And it better be EXACTLY this, that, or the other thing. Or else...detention. Or suspension.

We teach them to bow to authority and they get used to it. It's just the way of the world. Don't kiss your girlfriend in public. Don't get caught swearing. Respect authority.

Well...we reap what we sow. And in this case, we reap the whirlwind.

My generation forgot to teach our children where to draw the line. When to say "Not only no, but FUCK no."

We gave them to the authoritarians and let them mould them the way they would.

We never taught them when to push back.

Damn shame.

[keep_it_real]

1. When we, the People, could get "FIRED" from our j-o-b-s for

Questioning authority and "authority" became those who rule our paychecks, food, clothing and shelter. Those who pay our salary call the tunes, in other words, shut up or don't eat or sleep on the cold street.

[JVS]

2. We never taught children to question authority, and that's a good thing.

When people, especially older people in positions of relative authority to children, go around saying "question authority" the first reaction from a kid is to wonder what the scheme is and if questioning authority is really worth it.

You can't teach people to question, they have to do it on their own. But if you tell them to, then they'll be uninclined.

[Mythsaje]

3. No...I was taught to question authority.

By my father. I struck more of a balance with my life than he did, but I learned where to draw my own line and never allowed someone to back me over it.

[struggle4progress]

16. I was taught to question authority -- and I quickly learned that different

authorities respond differently to questioning.

By such methods, one begins to understand the distinction between legitimate authority and the "authority" imposed by force

[Breeze54]

4. My kids always question authority... trust me!

I have the scars to prove it! :P

"I taught them well." ;)

[Mythsaje]

5. LOL...

As aggravating as that is, it's also a good thing sometimes.

[htuttle]

6. Authority ultimately depends on nobody laughing at the wrong time

Every few hundred years or so, somebody re-remembers that.

One of these days it's going to stick, and then we'll make the buggers' eyes water...

[Mythsaje]

7. And leave it to me...

I almost always laugh at the wrong time.

It's a curse. Or a talent. I haven't exactly figured out which.

[ljm2002]

8. Sorry, I just can't resist...

...I always wanted to make a t-shirt and/or bumper sticker that said:

"Who are you to tell me to question authority?"

Meant to be directed to those who authoritatively tell you what to say, do or think -- such as those who TELL you that you must question authority (yes, such people do exist, more than one might think).

Your post on the other hand was excellent and thought-provoking! :-)

[Joe Fields]

9. They don't question it, because they really don't care about authority.

They don't respect authority enough to be bothered about questioning it.

[JVS]

11. yeah

[Mythsaje]

13. If only that were true...

I have my doubts.

[Kip Humphrey]

10. If memory serves, those who became the architects of that which we today call the RNC had as their

first target, local school boards. That, per Ralph Reed describing the first initiative of the newly formed Moral Majority.

[Mythsaje]

12. Yep...Good point. I don't think we screamed enough.

We should have.

[Chulanowa]

14. You can't teach people to question authority.

You can only teach them to know when it it is time to do so. The rest is up to them.

'Course, one only needs to take a look at my sig line...

[TalkingDog]

15. I'd much rather teach them to think critically. The questioning comes naturally after that.

Merely questioning authority leads to a slippery slope of "Intelligent Design" proportions.

"Who are mere scientists to tell us how life came about on this planet?", they said. And a movement was born.

It puts me in mind of the Monty Python skit where the fellow buys an argument: "... An argument is an intellectual process. Contradiction is just the automatic gainsaying of any statement the other person makes."

Argument by means of critical thinking, not mere Contradiction by means of reflexive questioning.

When a teacher gave me instructions, I followed them EXACTLY to the letter, no matter how ridiculous. And when they invariably complained that it wasn't "correct", I would sweetly question them about exactly what I had done wrong, forcing them to defend their lack of critical thinking and forethought.

Consciously doing something by someone else's standards forces you to expand your intellectual horizons in ways that mere rebelliousousness can never afford.



My Favorite Master Artist: Karen Parker GhostWoman Studios

[lostnfound]

17. Conform and obey.

It's being forced on them day after day for 12 long formative years.
If you are seriously interested in this question, I suggest reading "The Underground History of American Education". Especially one of the middle chapters, "A Coal-Fired Dream World". The answer to the question you are asking may have some of its roots that date back 100 years, and I am finding it VERY relevant to the current state of affairs.

[LWolf]

18. There are many good responses on this thread.

We don't need to teach children to question authority. They do that without any prompting.

We need to nurture curiosity, creative and critical thinking, and teach them to value, and engage in, inquiry.

Questioning anything that doesn't make sense naturally follows.

[Va Lefty]

19. The sad truth is alot of parents don't want their kids to think

They want "little" versions of themselves. Believe what I believe, like what I like, hate who I hate, etc. This is the reason so many fundies get apocalyptic about what is in school libraries and how History and Science are taught.