033 Who's Indoctrinating Whom?

<p>According to <a href="//merriam-webster.com/dictionary/indoctrinate">Merriam-Webster</a>,&nbsp;the word <em>indoctrinate</em> originated in the 17th century. &nbsp;It meant "to teach," as it comes from <em>docēre, </em>the Latin word for <em>teaching. </em>&nbsp;But by the 19th century, the meaning shifted to signify teaching someone to <em>uncritically</em> accept a particular group's ideas, beliefs, and opinions. The key word is "uncritically." &nbsp;This is supposedly why public schools and their teachers are now called indoctrinators. They are accused of pushing a liberal agenda about race, gender, equality, and history but refusing to let students express opinions that may contradict what is being taught. People who have differing opinions about those topics accuse schools of indoctrination. For example, parent groups have demanded books whose subject matter they don't approve of be removed from libraries and have had schools closed over <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-world-religion-assignment-sparks-fury/2015/12">history lessons they found offensive</a>. And for the most part, schools have complied with parents' demands. This then begs the question, "Who's indoctrinating whom?" If schools bend to the wishes of a few parents, can those parents be accused of trying to indoctrinate others by removing information they disagree with?</p> <p>Aren't schools, by their very nature, indoctrination machines? That is how public schools were designed to be from their conception. (One could also say the same for private religious schools, too, right?) Horace Mann, the man behind the idea of public education, &nbsp;was a lawyer and member of the House of Representatives in 1827. He felt very strongly that a successful nation needs a population educated in basic literacy and a common set of public ideals. Well, someone has to decide what basic literacy entails and what public ideals need to be taught. Today, as long as people feel comfortable with the decisions about what the common set of pub