Friday, March 11, 2011

Brainwashing In Public Schools

Mind control is happening in America, and has for many years. If you went to a public school in the past 15 years, you've definitely undergone it.


No, this is isn't one of those theories about radio waves or crazies or anything like that. This is much subtler. They are using psychology to bend and control the kids! By using cognitive dissonance, conformity, and other theories, they are molding kids into the perfect little citizens they want.

The Pledge of Allegiance


It all starts here. Most of us learn this in Kindergarten, and repeat it every day for as long as we are in school. It shows how loyal we are to our country. And we had better say it, and say it properly, or else (or else we have to write lines, or miss recess, or something like that). But this is the first step of the molding/controlling process. Think back to when you said it. Everyone around you, looking at the flag, hands over their chests, repeating it perfectly. At that age, you don't want to be the odd man out. So you follow along. That's conformity. Later, you start to think "I say this patriot thing every day. I don't receive punishment for not doing it anymore either. I must like saying it. I must be a patriot. I LOVE AMERICA!" This is cognitive dissonance at work. Now, there's nothing wrong with loving your country. I personally love the United States and there's no way I could even imagine living anywhere else. But at the same time, it's breeding patriotism is non-patriots, teaching conformity, and is helping the foot-in-the-door effect.

Tests and Essays


Yet another demonstration of cognitive dissonance. Thanks to all the testing that states have placed on school children, teachers are teaching the tests, and a lot of class time is devoted to improving writing skills and bringing up test scores. The best way to do this is by doing practice test. Sometimes these are graded, other times they aren't. Either way, it's the topics and questions that interest us here. Essay topics are usually something like "Write a persuasive speech about why it is important to wear your seat belt," or "Write an informative speech about how important education is in life." You write something, have no real reason to (it's a practice test after all), and thus start to believe it yourself. The very definition of cognitive dissonance. It's in the tests too. The way the questions are phrased, the stories the kids have to read, and daily activities are all geared towards shaping the thoughts and thinking of the students.

And then there's the tests themselves. Think about a typical test. Kids learn the concepts, study the material, and then are tested over it. Perfectly fine, right? But phrasing of the questions is key here. A simple scenario is laid out for the students, and then based on what was read, they answer questions over it. Some of the questions begin with "In your opinion..." or "What do you think..." or even "What would you do?" Questions like these are not true opinion questions. They are phrased like opinion questions. They put the reader in a situation where they can have their own ideas. But there's only one right answer, and it has absolutely no bearing on what you think. Consider this simple example: "One doughnut costs 85 cents. Two doughnuts cost $1.00. Which would you buy? Explain why." Obviously buying two doughnuts is the better deal. They cost only 50 cents apiece if you buy two. But what if I don't like doughnuts? It doesn't matter. You still have to say why YOU would buy two and explain why. This goes back to the cognitive dissonance theory. You don't like something, but you have to explain why you would more of that thing, thus making you think you like it. Keep in mind this is a simple example to point out the principle, but the point still stands.

Another offshoot of this idea: High school English class. "Interpret this poem/short story/play and explain it in your own words." Again, for most teachers there is only one correct answer. But for anyone who's ever read Emily Dickinson or William Shakespeare's sonnets, they can be interpreted several different ways. That doesn't matter though, because Mr. Feeny says his interpretation is the right one. This is shaping thought and molding minds to think in a certain way. Sort of like...mind control.

Effects of All This


There are many more instances of molding and "mind control," but these are the major ones I wanted to cover. So what does all this cause? More patriots for one. That's great, but it also leads to blind loyalty, unquestioning citizens, and overall complacency. Not so great. Also, it leaves the door open for more suggestion, and trains us to be conformists. Advertisers can use this against us, and can cause us to get wrapped up in the wrong things when it comes to elections. Unfortunately, we have become so wrapped up in all this and it has become so ingrained in our educational system that I don't see a way out just yet.

Think what you want to think. But consider this: Are they really your own thoughts? Just something to ponder...

Have I uncovered something mind blowing? Or am I just full of hot air? Let me know by leaving a comment or contacting me!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

You know to outsiders like me, your whole "Pledge of Allegiance" thing looks a lot like the Nazi's did lining up in front of Hitler...

10swords said...

Really? I never really thought about it like that... I'm fairly confoident thought that it's not like that :) And an outsider from where? If you don't mind my asking

Anonymous said...

Take a look at this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Students_pledging_allegiance_to_the_American_flag_with_the_Bellamy_salute.jpg

Looks pretty "nazi" to me...

10swords said...

No one salutes like that anymore. We put our right hands over our hearts and recite. I'm not sure when the Bellamy stopped, but I would assume it would be just to stop the attribution you just made

Anonymous said...

ihave never conformed i never valued tests as they were written by someone with a differant mindset so that could make me wrong my differant beliefs still trying not to conform but is getting harder as i get older and think i may have to pretend to fit in with society till i can make changes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol