Guest essay by Eric Worrall
h/t Dr. Willie Soon – Connecticut state representative Christine Palm is alarmed that some children in her district choose to spend all their school time focussing on traditional studies like mathematics and science instead of spending some of their time learning about the “life and death” issue of Climate Change.
Teach kids about climate change? This state might require it
By MICHAEL MELIA
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A legislative proposal in Connecticut would mandate instruction on climate change in public schools statewide, beginning in elementary school.
Connecticut already has adopted science standards that call for teaching of climate change, but if the bill passes it is believed that it would be the country’s first to write such a requirement into law.
“A lot of schools make the study of climate change an elective, and I don’t believe it should be an elective,” said state Rep. Christine Palm, a Democrat from Chester who proposed the bill. “I think it should be mandatory, and I think it should be early so there’s no excuse for kids to grow up ignorant of what’s at stake.”
…
Palm, who represents towns along the Connecticut River in southeast Connecticut, said climate change deserves a more prominent place in children’s education because of the urgency of the threat posed by global warming.
“I’d love to see poetry be mandated. That’s never going to happen,” she said. “That’s not life or death.”
Read more: https://apnews.com/e19029381ba24b9c9c567e0924621888
Christine didn’t go into detail about what job opportunities a qualification in climate studies would create, or whether a mandatory qualification in climate studies would help students win entry to the university of their choice.
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Child abuse.
One can call it many things but If you ever wondered:
1. if the old adage of give me a child until age 9 and I’ll show you the adult is true and
2. how Germany submitted in the 1930s
You now know the answer.
First the media and entertainment (aka “culture”), then the schools.
Imagine a generation (call them Gen Bots) joining up with the Millennials and Gen Z.
Such a silly & uninformed cliche.
Germany “submitted” because of the need to throw off the shackles of the horrific Versailles Treaty cruelly imposed on it by Imperial Britain & Imperial France, and the usual sucker, the US.
I suggest that a better reference is communist USSR.
There is little difference between the Nazis and the communists. Same totalitarian mindset.
The Nazis offered better outfits and a better economy, which is why the Germans picked them over the Communists. Which were the only two choices on offer because the Weimar government was weak, decadent and corrupt.
But, yeah, otherwise it was authoritarianism, central planning and mass murder, so the fundamentals weren’t much difference; both were far-left, which was why Commies and Nazis hated each other so much.
And they decide the best way to “throw off the shackles of the horrific Versailles Treaty” was to kill all the Jews.
It is hard to be that ignorant, isn’t it?
“Germany ‘submitted’ because of …” You are talking about reasons. cedarhill is talking about methods.
Would you like to list these actual shackles of the treaty and offer up your arguments as to why they were ‘cruel’.
It would be interesting to hear your views. Personally on first glance they do seem a tad Revisionist, but if you put forward a good argument I am always open to modifying my world view point.
Of course a counter view to all this is that if the Germans didn’t want Imperial Britain to cruelly impose things onto it then maybe they shouldn’t have violated the neutrality of Belgium in the first place, but I am sure you are in a position to discuss this issue.
K-12 Public Schools are CESSPOOLS OF PROPAGANDA. Publicly funded UNIVERSITIES are worse.
+10 :<)
CT state Rep Palm’s legislature email address is a public record item, so I sent her a set of polite, straightforward questions about the AGW skeptic side of the issue, starting out with what her official position was regarding assessments from skeptic climate scientists.
No reply yet.
They will teach children to distrust anything related to climate change. Never underestimate a quality of public schools.
If you read this article:
“Why Are Young People Having So Little Sex?: Despite the easing of taboos and the rise of hookup apps, Americans are in the midst of a sex recession.” by Kate Julian December 2018
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/12/the-sex-recession/573949/
She wrote about internet porn and social media. May be the cause of the sex recession is public school sex education.
And they wonder why the rate of youth suicide and drug abuse is so high? Gee, let’s convince ’em by the age of 9 that they’ll have no future, they’re going to be present for the end-times of environmental collapse, food riots and breakdown of civilization, about which they can do nothing practical, and for extra points let’s confuse ’em about basic biology for good measure. Can’t imagine why they wind up FUBAR’d, can you?
Hopefully this bill will never be brought to the floor for lack of sponsors . . . but makes good clix in the meantime.
Pile on top of that the cognitive dissonance experienced as none of the doom ever materializes. Then heap on the frustration at being misled and lied to for all those years…
Bingo.
Now the communists must double down in an attempt to obscure their lies.
And who doesn’t enjoy having your children report to their school teacher that “my mom uses plastic trash can liners” … and soon the swirling ocean plastic patch police show up on your doorstep
Climate change is the platform the left is using for America to go go full communist
Control your energey usage, control your life
And people wonder why American students are getting close to dead last when it comes to their knowledge of science and math.
Easy,
AGW science is a Weapon of Maths Destruction
Brainwash!
“Education is a weapon whose effect depends on who holds it in his hands, and at whom it is aimed.”
— Joseph Stalin
Science abuse.
Yes, it is child abuse. Using children as political pawns is abusive but, then, isn’t that what “public education” has always been about? I do remember way back in 1960, a visit to my public school by Planned Parenthood. The pernicious, insidious leftists never rest. “Take me in oh tender woman, take me in.”
Kind of. Government schools were invented by the Prussians to turn kids into compliant drones for factory work or the military. But they at least produced drones who supported the society they grew up in. The left took over those schools in order to produce drones who want to destroy the society they grew up in.
But, yeah, the only way to fix the government school problem is to eliminate them. In the meantime, any sane parent should be homeschooling their kids, unless they spent all that time an effort having kids so they could be turned into Marxist drones.
Then they fix the curriculum rather than requiring open, skeptical enquiry.
Here is what should be in the curriculum:
i. Collection AND HOMOGENISATION of data, its effects on conclusions drawn.
ii. Geological data on temperature and seeohtwo OVER THE PAST 100 MILLION YEARS.
iii. Comparison of current temperatures with Minoan, Roman and Medieval Warm Periods.
iv. Study of weather cycles using Fourier Analysis of raw data to identify varying length of climate ‘beats’.
v. Study of Solar Cyles, CMEs and other energy phenomena and their effect on satellites, spacecraft and the earth’s upper atmosphere.
vi. Study of the Jet Stream and how solar events affect both it and global weather patterns.
vii. Study of the ENSO and MJO phenomena and their effects on weather around the world.
viii. Study of PDO, AMO, NAO, AO oscillations and how they affect climate on an interdecadal scale.
ix. Study of earth’s tilt and precession and its effects on intermillenial climate.
x. Study of the oceanic conveyor belts and how changes could affect e.g. Gulf Stream to NW Europe.
xi. Study of lunar cycles and effects on plant growth.
xii. Study of water management in e.g. California and how reservoirs and aquifers need to be used in combination to retain adequate water supplies.
xiii. Effect of deforestation on rainfall patterns, soil erosion, daily temperature extremes and biodiversity.
xiv. The effect of intensive monocrop agriculture on soil health.
xv. Case studies of restoring dead land to sustainable living ecosystems using water management, sequential planting cycles and appropriate management.
xvi. Asking whether cycles of greed and crisis management are superior to well managed sustainable systems.
That would be suitable, whilst being entirely unacceptable to right wing lunatics and left wing ecowarriors.
I’m sure that’s what she has on mind.
We humans can do nothing about the climate except adapt. Get over yourself.
+10
That’s a very good list Rhys.
I’m sure we can all think of a few more with some thought – eg the composition of air and sea water, mammal populations, coral reef growth, glacier and ice field evolution, isostacy and eustacy etc etc.
The list is so long because the science involved is so very, very broad. Any attempt at teaching all this, however, would be a lot more beneficial to a school-age child than claiming it all boils down to the density in the atmosphere of a naturally occurring, generally beneficial trace gas.
Ian Magness wrote:
“. . . the science involved is so very, very broad.”
That being said, climate scientists would benefit from more cross-topic education such as listed by Rhys Jaggar. The barrier to this is that if the science becomes off-message, most of the research funding drys up.
Reminds me of my talks about the 5 spheres.
Atmosphere
Hydrosphere
Biosphere
Cryosphere
Lithosphere
Until you understand not only the 5 spheres but also how they interact you will never fully understand climate.
Your assumption seems to be that Climate Change will fall under the science curriculum. My assumption is that it will fall under the Social Studies curriculum. I like your assumption better.
Too many science classes in elementary school are taught by teachers who got their certification in science by taking a low level “science” course such as ecology, sociology, environmental science, etc.
They then are given curriculum guidelines decided by a committee at the state level and handed to the district administration. The district administration then forms a committee of “teachers” to determine the student outcomes. And magically the proper curriculum already exists from some place 3000 miles away. It is hailed as exceptionally creative and highly recommended. It has all the necessary resources for the hardworking teacher who has very little time to prepare. It will have endorsements by ex-vice presidents, movie stars and the head of the sociology department at the local high school who got to go to the curriculum presentation in DC.
This same situation can occur at secondary.
If you are a individual who actually knows what science is actually about. And if you disagree with the railroading, you will be reminded that these are state standards you are questioning. That your not being a team player and that your evaluation will be based on said state standards. And there will be five of your colleagues who will see personal opportunities in agreeing with the ”party line”. Cushy assignments come their way. Every question you ask will be met with hostility. Your new science department head teaches fewer classes and gets to teach the new science class that is by law filled with students. The new science department head starts a two separate levels of Global Climate Change Science classes. Guess which which she/he teaches? The Global Climate Science Teacher gets state/local news coverage and the title of master teacher.
My own 12 yearold granddaughter schooled me in climate change. Her teacher is an expert.
Been there…seen that.
Retired chemistry and physics teacher.
I asolutely agree with both Rhys and Mrs. Palm, climate change studies should be compulsory.
The real problem is who will make sure the pupils are given unbiased access to raw data and are taught both sides of the argument? I am confident that given the facts most average pupils will realise the truth regarding the “climate control knob”.
I merely hope that ‘science’ gets taught in our schools. I personally know some elementary grade teachers. They are good people, but while well meaning and well intentioned, they are woefully poor in teaching actual science and more importantly critical thinking. Their lack of understanding of fundamental principles in science doesn’t afford them the knowledge to say, “…hmm, that doesn’t seem right.”
On “Family Science Night” (like an open house school night) parents and family are invited to see what their children are being taught regarding science. I was a bit dismayed to see that most if not all of the demonstration ‘exhibits’ had been improperly set up and the teachers had no idea on how to correct them. These were not complex set-ups some were as simple as demonstrating convection flow in a heated fluid, and they didn’t even understand this principle.
Actually they should “teach the controversy,” providing information on both sides of the issue. And then encourage students to come to their own conclusions, to help them develop critical thinking skills.
I’m not holding my breath waiting for anyone like Ms. Palm to suggest that.
Virtue Signalling…
Christine needs to get out and run around naked in Connecticut this weekend. It might alert her to the fact that climate change is not global warming.
Sunday it’s about to bounce from about 40 degrees F down to -4. There’s a little “climate change” for her–only we call it “weather!”
Indoctrination ?
“In the political context, indoctrination is often analyzed as a tool of class warfare, where institutions of the state are identified as “conspiring” to maintain the status quo. Specifically the public educational system, the police, and mental health establishment are a commonly cited modus operandi of public pacification. In the extreme, an entire state can be implicated. George Orwell’s book Nineteen Eighty-Four famously singled out explicit, state-mandated propaganda initiatives of totalitarian regimes. Opinions differ on whether other forms of government are less doctrinaire, or merely achieve the same ends through less obvious methods.”
Next: Creative evidence that the earth is flat, mandatory science-fair project.
I fought with the school of my kid. How come they insist on a subject, climate, while professors with 30+ years of tenure can’t get it figured ?
What are the chances that kids just about to learn the basics of maths could ever understand the issue ?
The question escalated quite high indeed. So far, kid does not report any climate nor global warming indoctrination.
The kids in school will just be on a climate change strike, so what is the point in having mandatory climate change courses.
Who gets to approve the curriculum and will there be an opportunity for smart kids to challenge the orthodoxy that will be channeled by the Teachers Union?
We all know this will be done around the agenda. Be assured that no alternative, scientific, data based views will be allowed.
Brain washing
The issue is who decides what is to be taught?
Genuine science based teaching would destroy the alarmists’ myths.
Unfortunately it is a safe bet that alarmist myths will be taught as the truth.
Perhaps, even more important, is who will choose the teacher. Few elementary school teachers have the statistics, math, and physics education to objectively evaluate conflicting information on Catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming, particularly that which is fraudulently disguised as “Climate Change”. Most teachers the courses will simply be those who were also exposed to only the “Climate Change” propaganda, not the real science. (Apologies to those who object to the unnecessary modifier ‘real’.)
Sigma Xi is sending American Scientist subscriptions to schools in states with legislation on “vaccines, evolution and climate change.” I just had an interesting discussion with someone who suggested that not all teachers are competent enough to chose their own textbooks. Let the state do it. The states eligible are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, Idaho, Kentucky, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
I would add that Sigma Xi is having this in their next meeting. I wrote their communication manager that there is no such thing as “Communication Science,” only communication of or about science.
Sigma Xi Annual Meeting and Student Research Conference
Our Changing Global Environment
Scientists and Engineers Designing Solutions for the Future
November 14–17, 2019 Monona Terrace Convention Center, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
· Science Communication Track, including sessions on the science of science communication, engaging, and educating the public on environmental issues
Save us from those who would save us!
I recently rediscovered this remark, posted on WUWT some three years ago:
‘My wife however has seen it all before. She grew up in the Soviet Union, and recoils from the hideous memory of endless political square-bashing on school playgrounds and carnivals, songs and long speeches glorifying the socialist revolution. The relentless aggression and mind-numbing tedium with which their teachers preached and prated a party line which they all grew up to discover was a complete falsehood. Now a similar disillusionment lies in wait for another generation of children.’
A parent referring to climate brainwashing in schools. Phil Salmon in Belgium:
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/06/09/how-german-schools-take-climate-change-seriously/#comment-1540095
Nail on head. Anyone familiar with life in the Warsaw Pact countries will recognize the relentless hectoring, bullying, and lying from the Climate Establishment.
Unfortunately, students today actually believe what their lefty teachers are preaching to them.
In the old USSR, they were living the truth.
Is she qualified to say it is a life and death issue?
Move to a state that doesn’t believe this tripe
People ARE moving out of these blue-bottle states as fast as the moving vans can haul them–CT, NY, MA and NJ among others! Trump capping the tax deduction for home mortgages at $10K was a masterstroke worthy of Machiavelli; the McMansion crowd now can’t bail fast enough.
The problem is they are taking their left wing politics with them.
Nope, the $10,000 limit is for state and local taxes (SALT).
guess less maths/science would enable the fallacies of CC to be “taught” without brighter kids being able to query things?
how do these fools manage to get into positions of power??
“how do these fools manage to get into positions of power??”
Now days, a College Degree in Political Science and/or Education (teaching) is the simplest and easiest to attain, therefore the not-so-bright, the lazy, the partiers, etc., opt for a Political Science or Teaching Degree and are hired by the Public School Systems or are elected to serve as politicians.
That’s not just “Now days…” When I was in school back in the early ’60s the department of education was already the school of last resort. If you were flunkin’ out or just too lazy you could always transfer over to an ‘Education’ major and float through. That’s not to say all teachers fit that mold. We are lucky there are still many that are competent and teach because they love it. Of course they are getting fewer and harder to find.
You are assuming they are stupid. Since in many cases they have more money and a better job than people like me, I suspect they are smarter than me.
Assuming they are simply stupid is assuming the best case scenario.
Teach the children to observe the weather and do some simple calculations about the movement of heat. The example I like to use is that a one-inch-per-hour rate of rainfall implies upward delivery of heat at 16,000 W/m^2. Watch a thunderstorm from a safe place and ask the students to find out how high it goes in the atmosphere. Do a search to discover what altitude is effectively the heat-radiating emission surface of the planet. Connect the dots and the future generation will be far better informed about how to assess claims of climate doom based on greenhouse gas emissions.
Most schools struggle to fit stuff in the curriculum and she wants them to make room to push this junk 🙂
Whatever happened to the holy and sacred Separation of Church and State doctrine that was brilliantly legislated in Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists?
Is this the establishment of a State religion?
Those are my thoughts exactly.
Sue this grinning imbecile for “”Malfeasance in a Public Office”.
Nobody has the right to propagandize your children with warmist falsehoods.
I have great faith in our children. When they get older they learn their teacher have mislead them on many issues.
YUP, ……. but too late they get smart, …… like when they are old construction workers or Walmart “greeters”,
But why didn’t their parents teach them that when they were young?
Well its the really really nice people like her that really care see.
Not like you climate heathens.
Sounds like a job for the Department of Truth.
That’s not just unhinged, it is insane.
Perhaps one should go back to old Chinese system where all candidates at least have to pass some test.
Subject & contents does not matter, can by arbitrary & irrelevant like poetry, as long as one can prove that the brain functions above mere vegetative state.
Jaap, you can’t insist on being able to think as a prerequisite for university. That will disadvantage some oppressed class of people. To get into university, you should ideally be non-male, non-white, non-ability-normative, non-specific gender and sexuality.
Insisting on standards is oppression. “OMG, we’re all dying because of oppression.”
Oh yeah, sorry.
I forget that being able to think is some X-privilege, I forgot which one X is, there are so many 🙂
Right, settle down children. Here is your lesson on Climate Change:
Climate changes. Always has. Always will.
Be prepared to adapt to climate change. Remember temperatures can go down as well as up.
The best preparation is wealth. The wealthier a society is, the easier it can adapt to change.
The biggest input to wealth creation, (apart from human ingenuity), is cheap, reliable energy.
Do not wreck your energy infrastructure in a vain attempt to control the climate.
That ends your lesson.
Good lesson plan!
I’d like to see a minimum IQ standard for public servants. Unlikely to get that either.
This one gives herself away as a mindless tool in two ways: climate dogmatism and not knowing that poetry is taught in schools. Guess the mandatory part may be her specialty.
An IQ standard?
Good grief.
Some very high IQ people are eco-loons.
Think of something else.
Following the pledge of allegiance to Al Gore in the morning there will be classes in AGW Proxy Data Manipulation, Climate Psychology, Bioengineering Fuels, Climate Theater I, and Creative Climate Writing II.
Remember to drink lots of Kool Aid at lunch and there will be a Globalist Parade after school.
used to be general earth sciences courses taught about how climate has always been changing.
course with the advent of man killing the world they need to find a way to plant the seed that mankind is responsible for every single issue on earth.