Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools

> Far more important to the development of literacy in children is the presence of books in the home.

Of course, but that's not something schools have control over. Unless they can give a child a book on loan to take home. And that requires books in the school. And because different children have different interests and different reading issues, a wide selection of books is better than a narrow one.

> That never had anything to do with literacy, and everything to do with ideology.

Do you mean that the ban is about ideology, sacrificing children's access to reading in order to indoctrinate them into a state-approved ideology?

> When one uses literacy as the shield, and depends on the perpetual good graces of people one has spent years demonizing on ideological grounds, one should expect damage to the very thing everyone thought was sacrosanct.

They clearly don't think it's sacrosanct if they're sacrificing it this eagerly to hurt the people they want to demonize. I guess we're talking about gay people here? They want to demonize gay people, and want to restrict the book supply in order to indoctrinate children with that?

I consider parts of the Old Testament morally objectionable for children, but I'm willing to recognize the value other people see in it.

>The parent comment quite right out says the problem is prioritization.

Actually, the grandparent comment[0] says nothing of the sort. mfer brings up prioritization in their response[1] to my comment.

>You say yourself "you should never, metaphorically (and literally) speaking, hand someone a gun unless you know where they're going to point it".

I do. And teaching civics is that gun. And understanding how our government and society functions is a powerful tool. Everyone should be taught such things, regardless of how they may use them.

My point is that teaching civic engagement does not "tell people where to point" that metaphorical gun. Rather, it gives people the knowledge and understanding to engage and interact with their society and political system. For whatever purpose a person feels appropriate.

Teaching someone how our system of government works and encouraging them to make use of that knowledge doesn't tell them "where to point" that knowledge.

I'd add that if you're ignorant of such things, you deprive yourself of knowledge that will allow you to interact more effectively with our system of government.

And understanding how our system works and how to utilize the power (and responsibility) inherent in citizenship is critical to maintaining a free, open and democratic society.

That's not to say that teaching math or literacy or science or how to tie your shoes isn't important. They absolutely are, and no one here (or in any of the links provided by GP) says they aren't.

In fact, mfer didn't mention "prioritization" until I called them out for their "dog whistles"[2].

I don't know GP or what's in their mind, nor do I pretend to do so. All I can do in that respect is draw conclusions from what they write.

I did so. You apparently disagree with my assessment and perhaps I'm way off base.

But the argument made by mfer in the comment to which I replied had all the hallmarks of coded language slamming "academia" and pedagogy, with absolutely zero evidence or support for such an attitude among academics. It's a poster boy for "those academics and educated elites are indoctrinating our kids into destroying the nation."

Which is scaremongering and "othering"[3] of our fellow Americans. And I take great umbrage to anyone (including other Americans) who want to make their fellow countrymen "the enemy."

Not just because it's promoting division to advance a political agenda, but also because it's intellectually dishonest to cherry pick quotes in order to demonize others.

Finally, I'd point out that most of the rhetoric around all the bashing of civil society seems to be done by folks who don't actually understand how our systems work. Which is the best argument for teaching civics/civic engagement, IMHO.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34492386

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34493562

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_whistle_(politics)

[3] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/other...

Edit: Added reference for the term "othering." Corrected my prose.

> EDIT: Since I can't reply the the threads below me, "education" can't just be had in the classroom. In fact as an experienced developer almost all of my education was outside the classroom. I suspect this is the case for most fields.

What you're describing is vocational training. Education typically includes forced ventures outside of one's own narrow worldview. That's why Republicans hate education. They want cogs with saleable vocational skills who won't question the narrow worldview that is preferred on the right.