Here’s the dystopian scene: Students nationwide can’t read or do math at basic levels and don’t know elementary science or history facts, but there’s a big program to rewire their brains, massage their feelings and fix a smile on their faces.
Sound familiar?
If you’ve even heard of George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” it should.
Just swap Big Brother for big program, the telescreen for the iPad and the Ministry of Truth for the SEL dashboard.
It’s the brave new world of social-emotional learning, with mood controls, omnipresent surveillance, masterful manipulation and a Thought Police checking your privilege, thoughts, emotions and pronouns.
SEL is a growing industrial complex in education, nearing $10 billion this year, with powerful organizations like CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning), Panorama Education, Committee for Children and Imagine Learning creating “solutions,” from curricula and programs to analytics.
Continue reading the entire piece here at the New York Post
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Wai Wah Chin is the founding president of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance of Greater New York.
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