So I was going to write something completely different today: about kids’ choices and complicated lives and intensity and all that. But then I happened to catch This American Life this morning and the show was just so good, I figured you really ought to give it a listen: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/424/kid-politics .
While the show’s ostensibly about kids and politics–how kids function in groups, how they relate to various political views, etc.–really, this week’s episode is much more about how kids are conditioned to think one way or the other. I found the first segment, where groups of kids tour the Reagan Library and get to participate in a re-enactment of the invasion of Grenada–particularly appalling. Granted, all presidential libraries are self-aggrandizing ventures; their entire raison d’etre is to catalog that president’s accomplishments and minimize his failures or foibles. But I guess I had this naïve hope that a library might also be a) educational and b) balanced. Well, not this one. The re-enactment is more like a game show, and thoughtfulness–much less, independent thought–is not encouraged. Well worth a listen.
As is the second segment on propaganda and global warming: You know it’s a sad, sad day when Glen Beck is more convincing than, oh, a scientist, who actually happens to know something and have little things to back up an opinion–like facts. Scientists would do well to brush up on their rhetoric and communication skills. When fewer people believe in global warming today than three years ago–and persist in this belief despite objective scientific evidence to the contrary–you know there’s a breakdown somewhere. This is a particularly chilling segment as well because the kids who are being influenced by pundits rather than science will grow up to be the policy-makers for the rest of us. Scary stuff.
The last segment–really, the only one where you could say that’s about politics–revolves around the Brooklyn Free School. This is a truly fascinating look at an alternative school which has no courses, no grade levels, no homework, no tests and is completely and utterly democratic. This is a school run by the students. What was really interesting was to hear how the kids negotiate disputes. A documentary about the school is also n the works and you can read about that here: http://growingsmallmovie.com/growingsmallmovie.com/HOME.html
After you listen, you might want to check out Election, a fabulously funny and unjustly overlooked film with Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick in a sublimely smarmy turn:
I thought the segment on the Regan library was appalling too. But if you think about it, it’s exactly the kind of thinking that went on in the Reagan administration. I can see exactly that same kind of discussion leading up to the invasion.
Thanks for pointing this out, I really enjoyed the show and your comments on it.
Yeah, and unfortunately, I think it is only the exceptional leader/teacher/boss who encourages dissent and thinking outside the box yet is also flexible and secure enough in him/herself to allow for a change of heart. Think of how much grief politicians get if they–gasp–change their minds on the basis of new data. People hate change and they mistake staying the course for strength of character. What would have happened to that thoughtful little boy who very correctly pointed out the flaws in the original plan if the girl he liked hadn’t backed him up?