Pupils Being Given 'Patriotism' Tests in Washington State

[EEkid at aol.com]

Schools



Click the link at the bottom of the page to see a copy of the
questionnaire.



Pupils Being Given 'Patriotism' Tests in Washington State Schools

Children in Washington State are being given 'Patriotism tests' which
are completely unrelated to their studies. The paper gauges whether
or not the student shows fealty to the power of the state and whether
the student believes in the right to overthrow a corrupt government.

A reader from Washington State writes us to highlight a questionnaire
paper handed out to her daughter and the rest of her 10th grade class.

The reader comments,

"We live in Washington state. My daughter is in 10th grade and found
this to be interesting. She has a GPA of 3.75 and uses her brain.
This was given in her English class, and has nothing to do with the
materials they were studying. We thought you might be able to use
this. They are grooming our kids. Keep up the great work. Christine."

The paper is shown below. Click for an enlargement.

Considering the fact that this paper is a complete one off in that it
is not part of any standard curriculum, we must question the
motivations behind it.

Is the paper a means of gauging the level of obedience to the state
amongst American teenagers?

We have covered several examples before where the government
identifies a target group in society and canvasses their views on the
nature of power and when that power goes too far. For example, in the
90's, American marines and national guard were occasionally asked if
they would be willing to fire on American citizens in a time of crisis.

We are by no means against patriotism when it means love of country.
Unfortunately however, the new brand of so-called patriotism
translates as worship of government, and that definition is something
that the founding fathers never intended.

This may be an isolated case but if we receive anything similar then
watch this space for any updates.

http://prisonplanet.com/articles/december2005/301205patriotismtests.htm

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