"Children enter school as question marks and leave as periods."
The single most important type of freedom is Intellectual Freedom. Freedom to Learn, Freedom to Think, Freedom to Read, and the Freedom to Express Ideas are what creates, strengthens and maintains all other freedom. If you want to control a people the first thing to do is crush Intellectual Freedom. When you can tell others what to think and read, when you restrict what is taught in schools and when you punish the free expression of ideas, the people will have no choice but to believe what you tell them. They will have no way to fact check and will fear the consequences of questioning your version of the "truth".
Restricting Intellectual Freedom is the fastest road to totalitarianism available to the wannabe dictator. Whether it takes the form of the Fascist, the Soviet, or the men in Holy Orders, the totalitarian regime can never last if the people are allowed to think for themselves. And it is surprisingly easy to accomplish. Large segments of any population are amenable to ceding the direction of their minds to someone else. Provide an ample supply of slogans, songs, banners and flags, throw in some shiny things for distraction and an enemy on the "outside" to redirect their anger, and they won't notice that all their other freedoms are being eroded away. And ultimately they won't much care. For evidence one need only look to virtually every dictatorship or religion throughout history.
In America today the destruction of Intellectual Freedom is already taking root. School boards in many states are banning books and imposing curricula designed for a religious and political indoctrination of our children that is pushing them further and further behind the rest of the developed world. Students governed by these boards are having their learning opportunities severely limited. These kids are not encouraged, and in some cases not allowed, to learn how to think for themselves. They are barely allowed to even learn. Instead, they are made to sit quietly and memorize only what they are told by teachers, pastors and parents.
Isaac Azimov once wrote about a "Cult of Ignorance" in America, a strain of anti-intellectualism that has wound it's way through the history of the nation. I would assert that, beyond the cult of ignorance, many schools are fostering a "Cult of Stupidity" today. Ignorance is simply the lack of knowledge, either in general or about a specific issue or topic. Stupidity, on the other hand, implies an inability to gather and use that knowledge. It may be because of a lack of basic intelligence or it can be due to a lack of exposure to the skills necessary to use information.
In the age of information, ignorance is relatively easy to correct. We have, at our fingertips, the sum of human knowledge. A few words entered into a search engine can answer virtually any question. Stupidity is a tougher battle and we're losing the war. By restricting learning, banning knowledge and encouraging blind conformity we are training our children to be stupid. We are turning today's question marks into tomorrow's periods. And we further fertilize the cult. This must end, now.
We end this by fighting the battle on multiple fronts. On a macro level, the anti-intellectual, anti-learning school boards must be replaced. We need people who care about children, about learning, about intellectual freedom. They must be the ones to guide the future of American education. Books, and the ideas they contain, must never be banned. No topic should ever be taboo in our classrooms. It will take school boards with integrity and teachers with dedication to their craft to bring our children out of both ignorance and stupidity into a future where enlightened minds will be required to handle a complex future. This is how we win the battle.
On a micro level, children must be seen as individuals. Every child has a unique skill set that must be identified and nurtured. As far as possible, every child must learn to read and learn to love reading. This will, without fail, lead to a love of learning. This is the job of the teacher, but it must also be the responsibility of the parent. When love of learning is modeled in the home, there is a greater likelihood it will go to school with the kids every day. This is how we win the war.
I do not use the terms "ignorance" and "stupidity" as pejoratives. I do not mean them as insults. In the current context they should never be applied to any individual or group. Ignorance and stupidity are outcomes we are trying to avoid. Everyone is ignorant of some subject or other. There are auto mechanics who know nothing about human anatomy and brilliant physicians who are clueless about their cars. But having a base of general knowledge is crucial to leading a productive life. And that base is readily available both in and out of school. Stupidity is the real enemy. This is where the bulk of our effort must be applied. Instruction, encouragement and modeling are the keys to keeping children out of the cult. And we must further support both teachers and parents as the leaders in the battle.
An enlightened education is not just crucial for personal achievement and success, it is the strongest bulwark we have against creeping totalitarianism. An educated mind does not easily succumb to the wiles of the dictator and his minions. Learning and blind compliance are cognitively dissonant. An educated person may still follow the crowd. But if we do this right, we may just be able to give our children the tools to be among those who will resist.