Todd Metcalf-Tenn. Education

[valis]

The skeptic in me would like to know the name of the school or schools where Mr. Metcalf recived this horrid education. It sounds a little 'too bad to be true'.

 

[crimresearch]

Yeah, I wondered the same thing. Tennessee has some poor schools, but the account seems 'tailored' for effect.

 

[Neutiquam Erro]

I've lived in TN/KY most of my life, and although I can't corroborate the claim, I certainly don't regard it as implausible. Many supposedly "forbidden" activities were still SOP at the time when I graduated, a bit over 20 years ago. The Ten Commandments were posted in every classroom, the principal led the whole school in Christian prayer every morning over the intercom, sporting events were also introduced with Christian prayer, and Graduation ceremonies were effectively religious services. No dissent was expected, and would not have been tolerated by the school or the community at large. Students who failed to bow their heads during prayer (like me) were publicly chastised.

 

[delphi_ote]

Yeah, I wondered the same thing. Tennessee has some poor schools, but the account seems 'tailored' for effect.

Dare I ask what you mean by "tailored?"

 

[JPK71]

Dare I ask what you mean by "tailored?"

May I suggest that it means a slightly and deliberately manipulated version of the actual event to get the point across.

 

[crimresearch]

I attended schools in Memphis, and in parts of North Carolina in the 60s, and we didn't have chapters ripped out of books to prevent us from learning about the evils that were contained therein. The school libraries gave even more access to books on civil rights, on science, on evolution, etc.

I was fully informed as to how evolution and other science was the predominant method for learning about the universe, and solving problems.

There were certain social expectations, such as saying the Pledge....some people went along, more rarely some people resisted...(in my case it was long hair, and the stationing National Guard troops in the gym in Greensboro, that put me in direct conflict with the schools... my Dad was a militant atheist, and sent me off to school with 'none' listed under Religion...I don't ever recall it becoming an issue.)

There were certainly no forced prayers at lunch time for example, and I can't think of a single instance of a teacher giving sermons from the Bible in class.
I'm wondering if those sorts of things happened as more isolated occurences, and not as Tennessee Board of Education mandated policy.

Reading that Mr. Metcalf attended schools in the 80s, followed by his litany of oppression made me just a little skeptical...not that such things never happened, but that they all happened to him, with such frequency and consistency. It popped into my mind unbidden that perhaps several horror stories from different people had been combined for effect.

Or, maybe I just got lucky, and all the teachers and principals were not so militant and evangelical....which is why I would like more infomation, since mine is anecdotal.

Having said all of that, I don't discount the very real possibility that there are people pouring a lot of money and effort into creating schools like the one Mr. Metcalf describes, but that frightening future isn't the same as my past experience of the matter.

 

[LTC8K6]

I attended elementary, junior high, and high school in North Carolina from 1978 to 1985.

There was no religion in the regular curriculum at all. Straight science with evolution was taught and taught well.

The pledge was done every morning, but you could just remain silent.

There were a few bible courses available, but they were certainly not mandatory, and I believe they were actually after school.

I have no recollection of any religious teaching during the regular school day at all.

I do remember that the French teacher was hot.

 

[BillyJoe]

Reading that Mr. Metcalf attended schools in the 80s, followed by his litany of oppression made me just a little skeptical...not that such things never happened, but that they all happened to him, with such frequency and consistency.

Certainly doesn't rule it out though.
During my whole 18 years of education, I never had a single teacher who was of any use to my actual education. I must have been incredibly unlucky. On the other hand, I cannot remember a single instance of bullying in any school that I attenced. Here I was probably incredibly lucky.

BJ

 

[JPK71]

It seems pretty obvious that there might be a difference between different schools, even when we consider when and where we each went to school. I am from denmark and we had a class called Religion and another class called christianity. But as it were decided by our parliament - our teachers could teach us how they saw fit within a basic frame. And the majority apparently had no affiliation with any religious grouping. Lucky me - and due to rather nice parents I didn´t have to attend classes in christianity.

Funny though I have virtually no recollection of having learned anything worthwhile besides math.

 

[tracer]

I do remember that the French teacher was hot.

It's always the French ones, isn't it?


I know, I know. It's the accent. And the verbiage. Anything said in French is always sexier than the same thing said in English. For example, the English sentence "I am a large apartment building" sounds dumb and dorky, but the same sentence in French, "Je suis en grande apartement," will instantly fill the listener with unquenchable lust.

Our greatest scientific minds are still working on the mystery of why this is.

 

[misawafan]

I attended high school 79-82 in middle Georgia and had no problems with anti-evolution or forced religion. Of course the Civil War was known as the "War Between The States" and the war was not about slavery but states' rights and the South were the valiant heroes and surely should have won...

 

[LTC8K6]

It's still referred to as the "War of Northern Aggression", and it was about Northern aggression.

Virginians were still calling it that this year when I went there on vacation.

 

[LTC8K6]

Tracer, I rarely heard her speak french since I did not take the class.

So, I don't think it was the language.

 

[tracer]

It's still referred to as the "War of Northern Aggression", and it was about Northern aggression.

Heh. One tax protestor loon I met in 1997 called it "Lincoln's War." My tongue-in-cheek How to Speak Southern dictionary, on the other hand, refers to it as "the War for Southern Independence."

 

[ranson]

I dunno. I lived in a fairly religion-heavy area, but it wasn't generally forced down our throats except in grade school. I remember having a mandatory Bible class in first grade public school, and the whole "moment of scilence" bit in junior high and high. Every sporting event opened with a prayer.

Our graduation bendiction was delivered by a Muslim, though, because of her rank in the class. I'm sure that tweaked a few noses in my hometown