Islamic idoctrination in an American public school

After knowing what her child’s homework was all about, Tara Cali of Bakersfield hurriedly stopped her son from doing it and went into social media to express her dismay to the school that made her son answer such thing that she thinks ridiculous.

Cali’s son brought home assignments that required seventh graders to list the five pillars of Islam, which include charitable giving, prayer, fasting, faith, and holy pilgrimage. The homework also includes a bar code that allowed students to listen to a YouTube video of the call to prayer at the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey.

After knowing this Cali wrote a note on the paper and posted it on a Facebook page:

“My son will not be a part of this in any sort of way. This is bad teaching material. He will not partake. If you have a problem with it, call our lawyer,” she wrote. She went on to cite Bible verses and wrote, “How about Christian practices? That sheet has never come home, this year or last!”

The said Facebook post from Cali has gotten more than 39,000 likes, 124,000 shares, and received more than 10,000 comments.

Some of the comments she received disagree with her stance but she then further explained that she took issue with Qur’an scripture that is included in the textbook and homework.

“It isn’t the assignment itself, it is the context of the school book that upsets me,” she says. “There are two pages of straight Qur’an scripture and then the various worksheets have scripture at the top. If a Mormon child, Christian child, or Buddhist child brought their book of faith to school, the uproar would have been insane.”

According to the Southeastern Area & National Religious Freedom Counsel for the Anti-Defamation League, David Barkley:

“Schools can teach about religion, but they can’t indoctrinate religion, to teach about Islam, you have to teach about what Muslim people believe and what the faith teaches. As long as you are not saying, ‘this is a valid religious belief’ or ‘this is the truth,’ then it is constitutionally permissible.”

Some parents may take issue with any religious teaching, but Barkley says that schools have every right to teach students about religion. “If your class is World History, Islam is a part of that, just like Christianity is and Judaism is and Hinduism is,” Barkley said. “How can you teach that history without saying that this is the belief system?”

The American Civil Liberties Union also said that “while it is constitutional for public schools to teach their students about religion, it is not constitutional for them to “advance particular religious beliefs.” The ACLU stated the guidelines for teaching religion in schools.

https://dailyheadlines.net/what-this-mom-said-after-a-school-forced-islam-on-her-son-is-absolutely-perfect

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‘Study drugs’ rife at leading British universities

Students at leading British universities are routinely using performance-enhancing “study drugs” to prepare for exams or hit essay deadlines, The Times has found.

Students and recent graduates from Oxford, Edinburgh, Nottingham and the London School of Economics said that the pills were easily obtainable for about £2 each. Universities UK, which represents vice-chancellors, said yesterday that a forthcoming study on the use of drugs on campus would include cognition enhancers, with new guidance for institutions expected by the end of next year.

No university in Britain has explicitly banned cognition enhancers although Edinburgh said that the consumption and sale of such drugs breached its code of student conduct, which forbids the use of unfair means in assessments.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/study-drugs-modafinil-ritalin-uk-universities-students-7np3tnsmz

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NJ poised to require Asian-American history be taught in schools

Social studies classes in New Jersey public schools will be required to include Asian-American history, under a bill that has been overwhelmingly passed by both the state Senate and Assembly.

The Senate approved the bill 34-2 on Dec. 2, and the Assembly approved it 75-1 on Monday. It was amended slightly in the Assembly, mostly to require school boards to consult a separately proposed Commission on Asian Heritage, so needs another vote in the Senate to reach Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk.

At over 1 million people, the Asian population is New Jersey’s fastest growing, up 44 percent in the last decade. But it has also been the target of hateful comments and worse during the pandemic, in which the novel coronavirus first emerged in China.

Sima Kumar, a teacher at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South, told lawmakers at a committee hearing that “education is the antidote to racism.”

“This commission will assure that public school children will learn that Asian-American history is American history. Asian-American literature is American literature,” said Kumar, a board member for Make Us Visible New Jersey.

Students of Asian descent make up more than half the enrollment in at least five districts – Englewood Cliffs, West Windsor-Plainsboro, Edison, South Brunswick and Montgomery – and three charter schools. It could be more than that, as the state enrollment data doesn’t provide demographic details about more than 34,000 multiracial students.

But the curriculum isn’t keeping up with demographic changes, say advocates for the new bills.

“And not seeing Asian-Americans in our curriculum, it sends a message to me – I’m invisible, and I don’t matter,” said Ridgewood High School student Christina Huang.

Discrimination and violence against people of Asian descent has been up dramatically during the pandemic.

Assemblyman Raj Mukherji, D-Hudson, said hate incidents were up 80% to 90% between 2019 and 2020. He said there have been suicides among students of Asian descent but that the bill could help prevent more.

“If it could lead to improved tolerance and acceptance of the AAPI community in the wake of what’s gone on during the pandemic, this bill could actually save lives,” Mukherji said.

Kani Ilangovan, a child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist and founder of Make Us Visible New Jersey, said there’s a human cost in delaying the bill for children facing bullying and fearful for their safety.

“Our kids are only kids once. We want to protect them as best we can,” Ilangovan said. “These acts of hatred take an enormous toll physically and mental on children and our communities.”

Chapin School 7th grader Bryan Zhao recalled being spit at by other kids. He said topics pertaining to Asian-Americans are cast aside and infrequently discussed in school.

“This leads to a lack of knowledge and understanding about AAPI history and culture among our peers,” Zhao said.

Princeton resident Ying Lu, an New York University associate professor, said there will be creative ways to discuss the local history of Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders. For instance, she said, the first Chinatown on the East Coast wasn’t in New York – it was in Belleville in Essex County.

“After building the transcontinental railroad that transformed our country, Chinese-Americans settled in Belleville after finding it more welcoming than other parts of the country,” Lu said.

https://nj1015.com/nj-poised-to-require-asian-american-history-be-taught-in-schools/

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My other blogs: Main ones below

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)

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