Should Schools Teach Patriotism?

A brouhaha erupted in Colorado recently over a school board proposal to promote patriotism, citizenship and respect for authority in the school curriculum.    Students and teachers were so appalled by the notion that they walked out of class.  They speciously claimed their actions were patriotic.

The Colorado skirmish was only the most recent rebellion.  There have been battles in Texas and South Carolina over similar moves by so-called "conservatives" to tinker with high school education. In these clashes, it is clear that parents and school boards are expected to butt out of school business.

The education establishment treats schools as their own personal property.  Never mind that tax paying citizens foot the bill for the schooling of the next generation.  They are expected to pony up the money without having any say in education.  This is truly taxation without representation.

School boards are supposed to be the duly elected representatives of taxpayers, parents and the public at large.  But if board members dare to buck the education establishment, they are drawn and quartered in the media and mugged by teacher unions.  That's what makes the Colorado case instructive.

The school board in a suburban Denver district thought students would benefit by focusing on American values, like patriotism.  It seemed like a modest proposal to include such topics in history education. Some students and teachers compared the idea to censorship.

Censorship is exercised every day in American schools by principals, teachers and unions.  Schools dictate dress, decorum, speech, textbooks, teaching methods, food services and every aspect of education.  The sharp stick of censorship is wielded by the education apparatus.

No one has yet explained how teaching patriotism would harm students.  The whiners in Colorado think promoting patriotism would downplay America's troubled past.  That seems far fetched considering research about students' views of their country.

A Pew Research Poll this summer found that just 15 percent of young people ( ages 18-29) hold the view that America is the greatest country in the world.  And the numbers are plummeting.  Just three years ago, 27 percent of youngsters agreed the U.S. stood above all other countries.

The polling firm did not offer any reason for the sharp drop in attitudes.  Perhaps, the Colorado school board read the same survey and decided to do something about it.  Good for them.  A nation without patriots is a country in irreparable decay.

Patriotism is more than just waving an American flag.  It is more than the rote recital of the Pledge of Allegiance.  It is not blind obedience nor mindless homage to the country or its leaders.  Patriotism is about fealty to the uniquely American ideal of liberty, the bedrock on which the nation was chiseled.

America was the first country to declare that all men were free. Today that idea may seem old-fashioned, but in the 18th century democracy was a novel concept, too.  No nation had ever been birthed on such a bold theory.  Many predicted America would become a failed experiment.  

The United States of America has survived nearly 240 years, outliving many countries that have fallen into the abyss of tyranny and oppression.  That's why patriotism is worth teaching every citizen, including the youngest and brightest among us.  Those who object should be heard but not followed.

If the education establishment finds patriotism so abhorrent, perhaps it is because they consider it an unnatural sentiment.  However, there are no greater beneficiaries of unfettered freedom than teachers, principals and students.  Perhaps, they need reminding of that fact every day in the classroom.