NEW HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL REMARKS
We watched high school principal Dennis Prager of Colorado , along with Sara Palin and Tom Brokaw on TV a couple of weeks ago....what a dynamic, down to earth speaker. Even though Palin and Brokaw were also guest speakers they did little but nod and agree with him. This is the guy that should be running for President in 2012!
A Speech Every American High School Principal Should Give.
By Dennis Prager.
To the students and faculty of our high school:
I am your new principal, and honored to be so. There is no greater
calling than to teach young people.
I would like to apprise you of some important changes coming to our
school. I am making these changes because I am convinced that most of
the ideas that have dominated public education in America have worked
against you, against your teachers and against our country.
First, this school will no longer honor race or ethnicity. I could
not care less if your racial makeup is black, brown, red, yellow or
white. I could not care less if your origins are African, Latin
American, Asian or European, or if your ancestors arrived here on the
Mayflower or on slave ships. The only identity I care about, the only
one this school will recognize, is your individual identity -- your
character, your scholarship, your humanity. And the only national
identity this school will care about is American.
This is an American public school, and American public schools were
created to make better Americans. If you wish to affirm an ethnic,
racial or religious identity through school, you will have to go
elsewhere. We will end all ethnicity, race and non-American
nationality-based celebrations. They undermine the motto of America ,
one of its three central values -- e pluribus Unum, "from many, one."
And this school will be guided by America 's values. This includes
all after-school clubs. I will not authorize clubs that divide
students based on any identities. This includes race, language,
religion, sexual orientation or whatever else may become in vogue in
a society divided by political correctness.
Your clubs will be based on interests and passions, not blood,
ethnic, racial or other physically defined ties. Those clubs just
cultivate narcissism -- an unhealthy preoccupation with the self --
while the purpose of education is to get you to think beyond
yourself. So we will have clubs that transport you to the wonders and
glories of art, music, astronomy, languages you do not already speak,
carpentry and more. If the only extracurricular activities you can
imagine being interested in are those based on ethnic, racial or
sexual identity, that means that little outside of yourself really
interests you.
Second, I am uninterested in whether English is your native language.
My only interest in terms of language is that you leave this school
speaking and writing English as fluently as possible. The English
language has united America 's citizens for over 200 years, and it
will unite us at this school. It is one of the indispensable reasons
this country of immigrants has always come to be one country. And if
you leave this school without excellent English language skills, I
would be remiss in my duty to ensure that you will be prepared to
successfully compete in the American job market. We will learn other
languages here -- it is deplorable that most Americans only speak
English --but if you want classes taught in your native language
rather than in English, this is not your school.
Third, because I regard learning as a sacred endeavor, everything in
this school will reflect learning's elevated status. This means,
among other things, that you and your teachers will dress
accordingly. Many people in our society dress more formally for
Hollywood events than for church or school. These people have their
priorities backward. Therefore, there will be a formal dress code at
this school.
Fourth, no obscene language will be tolerated anywhere on this
school's property -- whether in class, in the hallways or at athletic
events. If you can't speak without using the f-word, you can't speak.
By obscene language I mean the words banned by the Federal
Communications Commission, plus epithets such as "Nigger," even when
used by one black student to address another black, or "****," even
when addressed by a girl to a girlfriend. It is my intent that by
the time you leave this school, you will be among the few your age to
instinctively distinguish between the elevated and the degraded, the
holy and the obscene.
Fifth, we will end all self-esteem programs. In this school,
self-esteem will be attained in only one way -- the way people
attained it until decided otherwise a generation ago -- by earning
it. One immediate consequence is that there will be one
valedictorian, not eight.
Sixth, and last, I am reorienting the school toward academics and
away from politics and propaganda. No more time will be devoted to
scaring you about smoking and caffeine, or terrifying you about
sexual harassment or global warming. No more semesters will be
devoted to condom wearing and teaching you to regard sexual relations
as only or primarily a health issue... There will be no more attempts
to convince you that you are a victim because you are not white, or
not male, or not heterosexual or not Christian. We will have failed
if any one of you graduates this school and does not consider him or
herself inordinately fortunate -- to be alive and to be an American.
Now, please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag
of our country. As many of you do not know the words, your teachers
will hand them out to you.
Pass this along if you agree. . . . If not delete…..and later regret
it !
-- May God bless and keep you always.