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Appeared in The Evening Bulletin October 11, 1969
"PAROCHIAL" ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, POLICIES ARE DISCUSSED
There still struggles a group of Rhode Island citizens working to
improve our educational system. Many of us have been reading news items
that demonstrate the excellence of this system we are criticizing. The
average citizen reads articles such as: "East Greenwich Gets Good Marks
In School Survey" and "Cranston West Reviews State of the (Overcrowded)
School." The first statement under this heading is: "As soon as over-
crowding is relieved, we'll be in fine shape." Exaggeration like this
can sure lull the apathetic citizenry into greater, dangerous "do nothingness."
The most elaborate statement made of late in The Providence Journal
(September 30, 1969) was made by a Senate of Priests praising the parochial
education in Rhode Island. Here it is! "The Senate of Priests of the
Diocese of Providence yesterday stated unequivocally that the education
in our parochial schools is excellent." Now, this bit of nonsense ought to
stir the most apathetic citizen into some kind of action. If there are
citizens who feel they need not be concerned with the conditions of the par-
ochial schools since their children attend public institutions, they better
wake up!
Our elementary schools which should be run by the people for our
children and should be reflecting democratic principles just are not that
way at all. There are policies governing our schools that are deeply paro-
chial in nature; we should begin asking some questions if we treasure our
most cherished institutions. The aim and philosophy of education in a dem-
ocratic America should be one respecting our children's individual differ-
ences and allowing them the benefit of enlightened research fact.
Men have dedicated their lives to learning how, in a free society,
we can allow our children to grow into creative, responsible citizens who
love their free America and want to keep it that way.
As long as we permit these educators to appease the public with their
gross exaggerations without some intelligent interference, we are feeding
our greatest enemy..Apathy. Every Rhode Island citizen who is not willing
to face truths and act in a manner that will upgrade our elementary schools,
is a part of the reason why we have about the worst school system in our
nation today.
It is little wonder that long sought nationwide assessment of our
school systems is resisted so strenuously by local educators. They can
always distort the real picture by prohibiting any availability of accurate
statistics. I have some accurate findings that would deny that many of
our children are even humanely treated. We have made some progress; but
it is slow because all improvements are being done in secret ways. Most
of the leaders responsible for our deplorable inadequacies are too busy de-
fending their past mistakes to have time for the kind of creative leadership
we need so desperately.
Then again, how can we have creative leadership when we forbid the
creative child his heritage? The people, here, find the gifted child much
too disturbing to bother with. They do everything to be rid of him.
When mothers become confused and go to doctors for help, they are
frequently told to give their child a pill.
The doctors are really say-
ing: "We know your child is different but we are not ready for him in our
society so we will give him a pill and he may be able to be like the rest
of us. He will stop asking teachers too many questions." This rejection
of the people God gave us to help us to keep a healthy society accounts
for the obvious lack of creative leadership in our America today.
To keep the people from doing something about this un-Aimerican,
unjust treatment of beautiful children knowledge had to be hidden.
parents learn of the research done and how we can nurture our talented so
that they will want to benefit society with their creativity, they will
oppose these children being tossed into special classes. For those who
will read, they will learn that thwarted creativity takes a turn against
the society.
A creative child is in desperate need of early independence, freedom
to question the old and fixed ideas and a flexible kind of curriculum. He
cannot function in rigid, authoritative type classrooms and remain well
psychologically .
I wish that everyone who puzzles over society's ills today would read
the book EDUCATION OF THE GIFTED by The National Society for the Study of
Education (1958) --- you will learn that only by identifying our children's
talents at an early age will we find the gifts of all our children. John
Hersey gives his views in the very first pages of the book:
"The problem of individual differences is basically
political. It seems to me to be the essence of the
struggle in the world for men's minds. We in Amer-
ica stand for individual freedom, but we have a long
way to go before we realize it fully; perhaps we will
always have a long way to go, for true freedom must `~:?
surely be infinite. At any rate, a society in which
citizens were alert to individual differences in each
other, and encouraged them and rewarded them, could
scarcely help being democratic. A society in which
each person felt unique, and useful because of his
uniqueness, might conceivably have less and less, ra-
ther than more and more . inmates in its mental insti-
tutions."
There are children in Rhode Island who are not attending schools today
because the schools do not reflect democratic principles. All in our
state must involve themselves so that America can be proud and great
with all of us respecting the worth of each of its citizens.
Marie Friedel
The National Foundation
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