> >> Principal Should Give.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> By Dennis Prager.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> To the students and faculty of our
> >> high school:
> >> >
> >> >
> >> I am your new principal, and
> >> honored to be so. There is no greater calling than to teach
> >> young people.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> I would like to apprise you of some
> >> important changes coming to our school. I am making these
> >> changes because I am convinced that most of the ideas that
> >> have dominated public education in America have worked
> >> against you, against your teachers and against our country.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> First, this school will no longer
> >> honor race or ethnicity. I could not care less if your
> >> racial makeup is black, brown, red, yellow or white. I could
> >> not care less if your origins are African, Latin American,
> >> Asian or European, or if your ancestors arrived here on the
> >> Mayflower or on slave ships. The only identity I care about,
> >> the only one this school will recognize, is your individual
> >> identity -- your character, your scholarship, your humanity.
> >> And the only national identity this school will care about
> >> is American.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> This is an American public school,
> >> and American public schools were created to make better
> >> Americans. If you wish to affirm an ethnic, racial or
> >> religious identity through school, you will have to go
> >> elsewhere. We will end all ethnicity, race and non-American
> >> nationality-based celebrations. They undermine the motto of
> >> America , one of its three central values -- e pluribus
> >> Unum, "from many, one." And this school will be guided by
> >> America 's values. This includes all after-school clubs. I
> >> will not authorize clubs that divide students based on any
> >> identities. This includes race, language, religion, sexual
> >> orientation or whatever else may become in vogue in a
> >> society divided by political correctness.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> Your clubs will be based on
> >> interests and passions, not blood, ethnic, racial or other
> >> physically defined ties. Those clubs just cultivate
> >> narcissism -- an unhealthy preoccupation with the self --
> >> while the purpose of education is to get you to think beyond
> >> yourself. So we will have clubs that transport you to the
> >> wonders and glories of art, music, astronomy, languages you
> >> do not already speak, carpentry and more. If the only
> >> extracurricular activities you can imagine being interested
> >> in are those based on ethnic, racial or sexual identity,
> >> that means that little outside of yourself really interests
> >> you.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> Second, I am uninterested in
> >> whether English is your native language. My only interest in
> >> terms of language is that you leave this school speaking and
> >> writing English as fluently as possible. The English
> >> language has united America 's citizens for over 200 years,
> >> and it will unite us at this school. It is one of the
> >> indispensable reasons this country of immigrants has always
> >> come to be one country. And if you leave this school without
> >> excellent English language skills, I would be remiss in my
> >> duty to ensure that you will be prepared to successfully
> >> compete in the American job market. We will learn other
> >> languages here -- it is deplorable that most Americans only
> >> speak English --but if you want classes taught in your
> >> native language rather than in English, this is not your
> >> school.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> Third, because I regard learning as
> >> a sacred endeavor, everything in this school will reflect
> >> learning's elevated status. This means, among other things,
> >> that you and your teachers will dress accordingly. Many
> >> people in our society dress more formally for Hollywood
> >> events than for church or school. These people have their
> >> priorities backward. Therefore, there will be a formal dress
> >> code at this school.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> Fourth, no obscene language will be
> >> tolerated anywhere on this school's property -- whether in
> >> class, in the hallways or at athletic events. If you can't
> >> speak without using the f-word, you can't speak. By obscene
> >> language I mean the words banned by the Federal
> >> Communications Commission, plus epithets such as "Nigger,"
> >> even when used by one black student to address another
> >> black, or "bitch," even when addressed by a girl to a
> >> girlfriend. It is my intent that by the time you leave this
> >> school, you will be among the few your age to instinctively
> >> distinguish between the elevated and the degraded, the holy
> >> and the obscene.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> Fifth, we will end all self-esteem
> >> programs. In this school, self-esteem will be attained in
> >> only one way -- the way people attained it until decided
> >> otherwise a generation ago -- by earning it. One immediate
> >> consequence is that there will be one valedictorian, not
> >> eight.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> Sixth, and last, I am reorienting
> >> the school toward academics and away from politics and
> >> propaganda. No more time will be devoted to scaring you
> >> about smoking and caffeine, or terrifying you about sexual
> >> harassment or global warming. No more semesters will be
> >> devoted to condom wearing and teaching you to regard sexual
> >> relations as only or primarily a health issue... There will
> >> be no more attempts to convince you that you are a victim
> >> because you are not white, or not male, or not heterosexual
> >> or not Christian. We will have failed if any one of you
> >> graduates this school and does not consider him or herself
> >> inordinately fortunate -- to be alive and to be an
> >> American.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> Now, please stand and join me in
> >> the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of our country. As many
> >> of you do not know the words, your teachers will hand them
> >> out to you.
> >> >
