A new high school lesson

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 "bitch," 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.
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Pass this along if you agree. . . .