I wonder. In junior or senior high school, were you ever taught to be a good critical reader of the news?

Short Answer: NO. NO. NO.

Long Answer: No. Nooo. NuuuooooO. Funny you ask this question. I will try to be short with this one…. I am compelled to convey my support for my answer. (brace yourself…its soapbox time… LOL)

I am an absolute advocate [I mean I am OCD about this one] of the creation of a new curriculum which provides the fundamental building blocks for critical thinking & reasoning, argumentation, and interpersonal/cultural Speech Communication Theory & Process [CTP].

It has been 20 years since I was in high school, however, purely by accident I was introduced to a CTP program in college. I was immensely impressed with the initial coursework and promptly transferred my English major to Speech-CTP. After a couple years of coursework, I could only imagine how much more enriched my life would have been early on, had I learned these rudimentary [yet critical] concepts. If critical thinking/logic was a part of the standard English program in my high school, then I do not remember studying/retaining it; perhaps it was under-taught, underemphasized, or watered down.

Nevertheless, to circle back to today's curriculum-byproduct, my personal view is that there is little evidence of it being a priority in today’s public school system. I am only one person with limited experience. I have no research or stats to back this claim up other that what I have been exposed to or witnessed in my own life. You would think, however, that given the present condition(s) that exist in our world …..the immense growth of a multicultural nation, high-tech information systems, intra-continental travel, business, & E-commerce], that something so profound would be on the top of the list for public educators.

For crap sake, COMMUNICATION IS EVERYTHING. Without it, we have nothing. It’s what we are, it’s how we relate, it’s what are brains are biologically geared for - it's the very process by which we perceive ourselves, others, and how we make sense of our world. When communication fails us, (and it does fail more often than not) …..what happens? Miscommunication happens. Is that a good thing? Typically not.

When we vote for our political leaders, on legislation, propositions, etc. . . . . what is the theme of Our traditional thought process mechanism? How do we make our decisions? How do we question the source? Do we evaluate their credibility? Do we know the difference between propaganda, and empirical data? Do we know how to spot and expose fallacies of presumption, of relevance, ambiguity, etc.?

I think the reigning theme is the knee-jerk –or- autopilot response. We are so busy in our material lives that we do not have the time to really sift through the muck and pursue truth – at least to the degree that we ought to. Unfortunately, our autopilot response is more or less flawed (which is not our fault); our “system” does not prepare us for Reality. There is no “Blue” pill or “Red” pill to aide us in the process….

We sadly decide and/or react from a position of haste and frustration; casting aside for another day the impending bewilderment of “why things are not right with our world, our friends, our finances, our family, our relationship(s), our job, and our government.

Think about this: Say that we do assume a national program, which teaches critical thinking, reasoning, et. al., and then began to realize a future filled with generations of young adults who have an “era-appropriate” cognitive skill set ….. I wonder who [and why] might oppose such a shift.

Perhaps someone who would be vulnerable to being held accountable for their agendas, actions, etc.; someone in control, or in office; someone who feels the need to maintain their respective position of power. Hummmm.....is the phrase “dumbing-down of our society” sound too conspiracy-“ish”…. Maybe.

Anyway. I think it absolutely without question needs to be a program that is incorporated into our K-12 public school system. We do want to call ourselves a freethinking nation, now don’t we?

Ok I am done with my blabbing. Hope I didn’t break any of the Q&A rules….

Ciao...

Actually, it wasn't until I went back to school as a mature student that I was taught to not believe everything I see and hear in the media. I guesss beforehand I always took what I saw on TV as truth, without even realizing it.. It was a World Issues class (Grade 12) and taught coincidentally by a teacher who had taught me in Jr. High many years before.

Years later when I took a second (or third, ha ha) crack at high school, I was in an English class that assigned me to do a study on the different types of media and how they affected different classes of people. It was very interesting.We also took three basic forms of media (TV, radio,print) and compared how each one broke down their news. For example, television seemed to be more sports related, newpapers were more focused on current events, and radio seed to broadcast a bit of each on the hour but mainly focused on weather. This was an average of several outlets, of course. The main point of this assignment was to support the theory of the medium being the message.

All in all, because I have attempted school so many times in my life, I have been able to see that more and more emphasis has been put on the opinion of the student and less on what is absorbed from a textbook. I find that classroom discussion is much lengthier than it used to be back in my day. I would hope that students today are armed with the little more knowledge and are encouraged to express their thoughts and opinions more freely.

When I was once within the sixth grade round age 12 we had the ones "intercourse schooling" categories in tuition with our mothers and fathers written permission to wait. It was once a brief diagramed movie, very elementary matters , questions and reply. I take into account the tuition nurse and the trainer being to be had for solutions after the movie. Almost the entire children obtained permisssion to look the movie, just a few stayed out as their mothers and fathers did not wish them to wait. It was once embarrassing and just a few children requested questions after the movie. When I was once probably 12 one million/two my mom had every person depart the condo, she took me into her bed room and closed the door, she was once very severe. she introduced out a pamphlet from the medical professionals workplace and went over the data of lifestyles with me, no massive main points simply medical stuff. Again, I was once too embarrassed to invite any questions,inspiration the entire factor was once so gross. She advised me to allow her recognize whilst ever my "pal" must occur to exhibit up.( No now not a boyfriend, my interval) The first time it did occur she allow me keep house from tuition that day, made me tea and probably acted love it was once each natural and a horrible factor whilst.