Think About It……….                                                                       August 24, 2011

Radio Talk Show host Dennis Prager delivered a very dynamic, down to earth speech the other day that needs to be shared. This is a speech every American High School Principal should give at the first Assembly of students this year.

I am you 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 this country.

First, this school will no longer honor race or ethnicity. I could not care less if your racial make up is black, brown, red, yellow or white. I could not care less if you origins are African, Latin American, Asian or European, or if your ancestors arrived here on the Mayflower of on slave ships. The only identity that I care about 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, radial 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 American values.  This includes all after school clubs. I will not authorize clubs that divide my students 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 very little outside of yourself actually 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 indispensible 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 speak only 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, hallways or at athletic events.  If you can’t speak without using the f-word, you can’t speak. It is my intent that by the time you leave this school, you will be among the few of your age to instinctively distinguish between the elevated and the degraded, the holy and 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 only one valedictorian, not eight or twelve.

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 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 lucky….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 teacher will hand them out to you.

Think About It!     JCD   08-24-2011

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