My high school textbook seems politically biased and factually incorrect.

[AmyNation]

Hey kid, have you shown this thread to your mom?

 

[bripat9643]

The text book is obviously biased. You're a dimwit.

A high school freshmen is obviously smarter than you are.

Sad.

you are neither smart enough nor knowledgeable enough to have an opinion on what is 'biased'.

the text book isn't biased. you are.

and you should be sent to your room without supper.

now go study and learn something.

my son is a sophmore in a public high school and i'd whup him if he sounded as silly as you.

(although i do applaud your being political... even if you're still ignorant).

 

[bripat9643]

If you are actually a 14 year old kid, I would suggest you do your own research and then start a discussion about what you've concluded with your teacher.

Text books are only a tool, and only as good as the person teaching them.

What do you want me to do, go and tell my obviously liberal teacher that they're teaching us bad information? I'd look stupid; and I'd seem like I was overreacting.

Don't discuss it with your teacher. That will only make him/her hostile towards you.

 

[bripat9643]

Oh, and of course text books can be bias. Again, it you are 14, you will eventually learn that it's nearly impossible to find anything that is totally unbiased, because we are humans not robots, and everyone( even the writers of text books) bring their own experiences to the table.

Yeah, I know, but the problem is the book doesn't seem to have any conservatively biased parts of it; the school should demand better material. I mean, they're already paying a fortune to these textbook monopolies!

The school got just the kind of material it wanted. The school wants biased material because the people who run the schools are biased.

 

[bripat9643]

If you are actually a 14 year old kid, I would suggest you do your own research and then start a discussion about what you've concluded with your teacher.

Text books are only a tool, and only as good as the person teaching them.

What do you want me to do, go and tell my obviously liberal teacher that they're teaching us bad information? I'd look stupid; and I'd seem like I was overreacting.

Your teacher is liberal, and therefore incapable of critical thinking?

If you come prepared with facts and allow yourself to be open to a discussion, instead of a cocky kid who saunters in thinking he can "one up" the only person in the room with a college education, I have no doubt you will, at the least, walk away having learned something and having given your teacher something to think about.

He will also receive lower grades than he deserves from then on.

Your advice to the kid is detrimental to his welfare.

Shut the fuck up.

 

[bripat9643]

Did your teacher produce the video?
Do you know what a curriculum is and how it is made for your school?
Do you think "being green" is unpatriotic?

I think questioning your text books, and expanding your education beyond just what is taught is great. However you seem awfully convinced that you can't bring your questions to your class, and open a dialog with your teacher. That is where my confusion lies. If you have questions, or find inconsistencies in your text books, why do you assume your teacher would be unwilling to listsen?

He's obviously smarter than you are. He understand human nature. You pretend that teachers don't mind having their biases questioned. I've never seen such idiocy posted in this forum before.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Yup, yes, you are. You would receive an F in a college class for your repeated misuse of the word.

When it comes to torture, rape and murder they were no different but at the same time they cannot be compared to Nazi concentration camps which were basically 'slow killing camps' meaning that you were worked to your death under shocking conditions. The Japanese did the same on the 'Burma railway for instance on a smaller scale. But the Nazi 'extermination' camps of which there were at least 5 in Poland (Six if you count the Auschwitz divide) were there specifically to murder up to ten thousand people per day. For instance, the commandant of Treblinka was threatened to be taken in front of a Nazi 'Police court' because he was disorganized after a riot had broken out when people discovered what was happening there getting of the trains at one stage, consequently these people were shot at from all angles and the trains incoming had to be halted until the mess was sorted out. It left a lot of dead people lying all over the place in the camp for quite some time.http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100402215256AAskAMt

The "fact" as Unkotare uses it is historically and culturally inaccurate.

Wrong AGAIN, ignorant turd.

 

[Unkotare]

Yup, yes, you are. You would receive an F in a college class for your repeated misuse of the word.

You may recall that I've already told you I've used the term ACCURATELY in classes attended and taught, in graduate school and a variety of other educational settings.


No matter how many times you repeat this nonsense, you will not be one bit less in error, you ignorant turd.

 

[Skull Pilot]

Okay so I've been thinking for a while now that my AP Human Geography textbook is biased or factually incorrect, but I wanted to see if other people agreed. Let me tell you why I think so. By the way, I'm a freshman in a public high school, so if they're distributing politically biased textbooks, they are acting in an unconstitutional manner.

Here's one quote from it:

"Some of today's immigrants to the United States and Canada are poor people pushed from their homes by economic desperation, but most are young, well educated people lured to economically growing countries."

I don't think this is true. With the millions and millions of uneducated people a year we're receiving from Latin America, I don't see how it can be.

Also, here's a paragraph that attempts to briefly describe the motives of the 9/11 terrorists, linking it to opposition of globalization:

"A much more extreme opposition to globalization led to the attack by al-Qaeda terrorists against the United States on September 11, 2001, with support of the Taliban then in control of Afghanistan. Al-Qaeda selected targets- the World Trade Center and the Pentagon-they considered especially visible symbols of US domination of globalization trends in culture, politics, and economy. Afghanistan's Taliban leaders justified such actions as banning television and restricting women's activities as consistent with local traditions, and such punishments as public floggings and severing of limbs as a necessary counterbalance to strong forces of globalization."

Okay, there's nothing factually wrong here, I just think it left out a very important detail. It didn't mention the Taliban's and al-Qaedas religious beliefs, which are a very important detail to include because they pretty much control they're behavior. They don't restrict women's activities to stay consistent with "local traditions", as my textbook claims, they do it because of they're radical beliefs!

Here's what I thought was a big signal of bias. It's relating to illegal immigration:

"Hostile citizens in California and other states have voted to deny undocumented immigrants access to most public services, such as schools, day-care centers, and health clinics. The laws have been difficult to enforce and of dubious constitutionality, but their enactment reflects on the unwillingness of many Americans to help out needy immigrants."

I think the bias here is pretty obvious. It calls the citizens who vote not to allow illegals the right to use public services "hostile", for one. It also puts a very negative light on people with those views by essentially calling them unwilling to help out all immigrants, not just illegal ones.

So, after reading through these, do you agree with me that my textbook is biased? These are just some of the examples of bias, by the way, and there are many others. I'm going to look for the textbook for more as I know they're in there and I might post again on this same subject.

A public school textbook is chosen by a biased politically driven school board and a biased and politically driven federal bureaucracy

And you're surprised they force you to read biased and politically motivated material?

Here's a tip go the the library and read on your own if you want to learn anything of value don't let some government employee tell you what and how to think. Government run schools do not have your best interests at heart all they care about is their own agenda of producing flocks of compliant sheep.

 

[JakeStarkey]

That is obviously not true, Unkotare. But I will send it off to three history professors I know, two libs and one con, and see what they say. I will share the answers with the board. I think you do not understand that FDR or anyone else using that term before the end of the War and the discovery, the full discovery, of the German camps, would not equate the two, with full knowledge.

 

[Unkotare]

That is obviously not true, Unkotare. .

Of course it is, you ignorant turd. Words mean something, even if YOU are too stupid to understand them.

 

[Cecilie1200]

Yup, yes, you are. You would receive an F in a college class for your repeated misuse of the word.

You may recall that I've already told you I've used the term ACCURATELY in classes attended and taught, in graduate school and a variety of other educational settings.


No matter how many times you repeat this nonsense, you will not be one bit less in error, you ignorant turd.

But isn't it entertaining to be confidently told what would happen in a college class by someone who wouldn't be allowed in to empy the trash cans?

 

[Cecilie1200]

That is obviously not true, Unkotare. .

Of course it is, you ignorant turd. Words mean something, even if YOU are too stupid to understand them.

You're talking to someone who thinks "obviously not true" means "doesn't agree with my worldview".

 

[Ernie S.]

That is obviously not true, Unkotare. .

Of course it is, you ignorant turd. Words mean something, even if YOU are too stupid to understand them.

You're talking to someone who thinks "obviously not true" means "doesn't agree with my worldview".

Must spread!

 

[JakeStarkey]

Not all world views are equal, CeCi, as you prove to your debit almost daily.

That is obviously not true, Unkotare. .

Of course it is, you ignorant turd. Words mean something, even if YOU are too stupid to understand them.

You're talking to someone who thinks "obviously not true" means "doesn't agree with my worldview".

 

[regent]

Was the high school textbook named? I have the feeling, if the quotes are accurate, they may have been taken out of context. Take the word hostile in one example, was that referring to a law, rule or California propostion that indicated the hostility of some people and not the authors bias? If the bias were true, and there is always some, why did the district or state adopt the text? Chances are the teacher may not have selected the text. Bias is more prevalant in the state and district administration than in the teachers.
If it is an AP class chances are good that the teacher is a history major. At times schools have music teachers, or coaches teaching academic subjects. Classes have to be covered.
And that brings up a bigger question, should history be taught as history in the high school, warts and all, or as a means to promote patriotism, love of country and heros?
We can be thankful that the Texas GOP has passed a resolution prohibiting the teaching of critical thinking in Texas schools. Did the state of Texas follow the GOP suggestion?

 

[Uncensored2008]

Okay...I'm not sure whether to be offended or think that you actually agree with me that they're is bias going on here. Tell me, specifically why am I wrong about these parts of my textbook being biased and incorrect?

Ignore Jillian. Her contribution to society is sitting on the sofa in her trailer, eating bon-bons and watching MSNBC.

Skilled workers enter the United States on a H-1B Visa. It is a simple matter to determine the number of entrants based on type.

The #1 type of legal entry is the BCC - boarder crossing card, granted to Mexican citizens. B-1 follows, which is business visitors. Neither of these are permanent Visas, though a lot turn out to be permanent. Next is F - foreign exchange students. This is the second largest pocket of illegal immigration. Most legal, permanent immigrants come through on a C Visa, which is unskilled labor simply migrating.

Types of Visas for Temporary Visitors

So again, Jillian is a moron with an IQ of perhaps 40, ignore her. Your book is completely biased and devoid of fact.

What is the book, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Uncensored2008]

no. he SHOULD listen to me.

No one should listen to you, ever.

we can have a myriad of different opinions.

If he wants your opinion, he can turn on MSNBC.

there is only one set of facts.

Which you ignore.

don't encourage ignorance.

We're not, which is why it's best to avoid you.

 

[JakeStarkey]

To some history profs whom I know. I sent this over earlier in the morning. "Would any of you feel comfortable using the term "concentration camp" when teaching about the American internment camps for Japanese-Americans?"

(Jake Starkey) If were teaching I would explain the difference between the two, and tell my students that when FDR used the former term, it had not yet acquired the taint of the Nazi camps.

(Dev) Concentration camp is a correct term to use, but it is also a loaded term based on the Nazi camps. It is possible students might equate what Hitler did to what Roosevelt did. Both were reprehensible, but not equal. So to answer your question, I personally probably would not use the term in relation to Japanese-Americans.

(Michael) I always tell the students the differences between a Nazi concentration camp and an American internment camp for Japanese Americans in WW2.

 

[AmyNation]

What do you want me to do, go and tell my obviously liberal teacher that they're teaching us bad information? I'd look stupid; and I'd seem like I was overreacting.

Your teacher is liberal, and therefore incapable of critical thinking?

If you come prepared with facts and allow yourself to be open to a discussion, instead of a cocky kid who saunters in thinking he can "one up" the only person in the room with a college education, I have no doubt you will, at the least, walk away having learned something and having given your teacher something to think about.

He will also receive lower grades than he deserves from then on.

Your advice to the kid is detrimental to his welfare.

Shut the fuck up.

I wonder if you, and a few others, think your responses are age apropriate for someone who professes to be 14?

Kid, i stick to my recommendation that you do your own research. Perhaps not only talk to your teacher, but your parents as well.

I also recommend that you not allow some of the more bitter posters to effect you. They are hate filled, and clouded by their own bias, and that's no way to go through life.