A fresh box of crayons 

By Kerry L Marsala
web posted August 16, 2004

For many children back to school has happened or will soon.
The lazy days of summer bliss are quickly being replaced with
shopping excursions to buy new boxes of brightly colored
crayons, number two pencils, notebooks, folders, backpacks,
lunch boxes, new socks and underwear and most importantly
trendy clothing. With a swipe of our plastic credit cards,
America's children are once again ready to begin their task of
learning the "3R's."

The educator's, whether public or private, have classrooms with
both air conditioning and heat, and they have aligned their
student's desks and chairs to face them. Most teachers'
classrooms and school grounds are well equipped. They have
their own computers, filing cabinets, blackboards or
whiteboards, supplies from the district, drinking fountains/sinks,
cabinet space, textbooks, a teacher's lounge that includes a
microwave/stove and vending machines for sodas/snacks.
They've been blessed with an organized administration, a
supportive principal and dedicated parents/volunteers to help.
With purpose, our government encourages and protects the
rights of American teachers to do what they do best -- teach.

In our daily routine as American's, we don’t always give thought
to other situations that are occurring in the world. Too often it's
our belief that if we don’t have everything set just the way we
feel we deserve; we scream -- "our freedoms are being
threatened," and we then place blame on our government. Our
school systems and our government are not perfect, but did you
ever stop to think how wonderful it must be to open and smell a
new box of brightly colored crayons for the first time? Some of
Iraq's school children are receiving boxes of crayons, paper, glue
sticks, folders and brave teachers who desire to educate the
people of the new Iraq -- for the very first time!

Their former leader, Saddam Hussein, had seen to it that no one
received an education that was well rounded. The people of
Iraq, under the former regime, had been educated -- educated in
hate, as have many of the countries under tyrannical rule.
Education for children was teaching: How to Strap On a Suicide
Bomb (101). The next session taught was how to walk into the
town square and kill the most people. This course came under
the heading of: How to Receive Free Money for Your Family
(102). Education of children was teaching them the way to
properly behead a captive while proclaiming the name "Allah" as
they ruthlessly slice their way through blood and screams of their
victim. For centuries children who have lived under the horror of
a dictator have been taught hatred.
 
If anyone wants to rule a country with a fist of fury all a person
or group has to do is fill the children's daily educational needs
with social ideologies. Teach them about factions, injustices,
inequality, and the evils of morality. Make sure to plant the seeds
of jealousy because someone excelled. Make sure instead to
have them all learn within the same framework. Don't encourage
those who desire to push ahead, squash those who excel and
incite the average child to feel envy. When teaching leaves
behind its raison d'être and begins its dissent into social based
education they embark on their downfall of creating an
environment that is heading towards a country run by tyranny.

In Iraq, those who are still operating under the old educational
system of hate, fear, and destruction -- assassinated the head of
the Teacher's Institute. These terrorist murderers don't want
anyone working under the freedom to learn. They have been
indoctrinated to believe that knowledge gained by learning about
the world around them is evil.

Prior to the take over of the country by former dictator, Saddam
Hussein, Iraq was traditionally the intellectual center of the Arab
world. The society of Iraq introduced the concept of zero into
mathematics. At one time Iraqis were described as having an
unquenchable thirst for knowledge, and were known for having
the highest rate of Ph.D. holders in the world. Great strides were
made in the technical and medical fields to fight against disease
and women's rights were being established as nowhere else in
the Arab world. This all crumbled when Hussein seized power in
the late 1970's. Tyrants like Adolf Hitler, Yasser Arafat, Fidel
Castro, Benito Mussolini, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein have always
used the evil dart of hatred to bring their own people under their
diabolical control. Divide the people, stir up strife, incite fear,
pretend you're offering a solution and you have the makings of a
dictatorship run by horror. Surprisingly enough this can all be
done while sitting in today's comfortable, well-equipped
classrooms if we are not careful.

Today, before the divisiveness of being fed socialistic and
communistic doctrines takes control of America's fabric of
freedom -- from tyranny, fear, and hatred -- let us give pause as
we send our children back to school to learn math, reading,
writing, and history. As parents, make sure you know your
child's curriculum. Volunteer to sit on a board at school, work in
your child's classroom. Be aware of what your children's minds
are being fed and if need be do something to change it for the
better.

As teachers let us give pause when we open our classrooms to
eagerly awaiting children and young adults and let the enormous
sense of gratitude come to mind that we don't have a faction who
is trying to assassinate us for educating. As teachers let's examine
the textbooks we're given to make sure they are correct. Let's
utilize the resources we've been blessed with and develop them
properly -- enriching our pupils minds into great ideas and
thoughts.

As administrators let us not get bogged down into the mental
cage of, "We're running a corporation here" and remember the
element of our educational system is our children, not the dollar
amount. We know it takes money to run schools, but maybe
we've been adding one too many 'extra-curricular' activities from
the divisive agenda pushers to our schools line up of teaching the
"3R's."

As we move forward together as a nation who believes in "the
pushing up of people, not the pulling down of the masses" may all
be reminded of the symbolism in opening that fresh box of
crayons. America's independence as a "Nation under God"
needs to remember we are never more than a generation away
from loosing all we hold so dear. If we continue to be divisive,
stir up strife, envy, wrath, and hatred America will no longer be
the land of the free.

Kerry L. Marsala is a freelance journalist. She writes OpEds,
and conducts interviews for Opinion Editorials; The Rant;
Canada Free Press; Independent Newspapers; Capitol Coffee
House Gang; EV Tribune; ACU Foundation; Canadian Free
Press; Sarah's Seed Woman's Journal; A. M. Siriano; Men's
News Daily; Lady Liberty; Citizen Newspaper;
amgoodnews.com; We Hold These Truths; Americonservative;
TAC; PHX News; Enter Stage Right; The Right Guys;
Conservababes; The Alberta Weekly; Free Republic;
Conservative Battle Line; Focus Magazine; Insight Online; and
The Truth Magazine. She can be reached at cnuseeme@cox.net.

Enter Stage Right -- http://www.enterstageright.com