My high school textbook seems politically biased and factually incorrect.

[Uncensored2008]

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.

Challenging the status quo often is replete with consequence. Many teachers will retaliate for ideas that fall outside the dogma being taught.

My son was in IB (International Baccalaureate) and had one history teacher who was an open and proud communist, who enjoyed a lively debate. He had another teacher in International Studies, who was far left (denied being a communist) who did retaliate to the point that we took it to the review board, and the communist teacher supported us. So there is a danger, particularly in AP, where there is no review board or appeals process.

 

[regent]

Perhaps by high school time students can cope with, not approve of, bias in the classroom? Schools are political institutions, filled with people from school boards, administrators, teachers and parents all with political leanings. Can those leanings be eradicated for education?
Do we not vote for school boards that match our politics, school boards that often hires teachers because of their politicial leanings. In fact, at one time a new school board often meant a total change of teachers to fit the politics of the new school board, hence tenure.

 

[AmyNation]

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.

Challenging the status quo often is replete with consequence. Many teachers will retaliate for ideas that fall outside the dogma being taught.

My son was in IB (International Baccalaureate) and had one history teacher who was an open and proud communist, who enjoyed a lively debate. He had another teacher in International Studies, who was far left (denied being a communist) who did retaliate to the point that we took it to the review board, and the communist teacher supported us. So there is a danger, particularly in AP, where there is no review board or appeals process.

I would never suggest all teachers are good teachers, or open to debate. However since he's said this teacher is one of his favorites, and this class is an advanced class, I suspect brushing off the teacher as an "evil liberal whose sure to ruin you if you go agaisnt their propaganda machine", which some posters seem to feel, is not the right call.


In all honestly, I know this is a political board, and we all enjoy sparing with the other guy, but if this is a 14 year old kid seeking advice, do we really want that advice to be so bitter and resentful against someone who you think may have differing views from you?

 

[Uncensored2008]

I would never suggest all teachers are good teachers, or open to debate. However since he's said this teacher is one of his favorites, and this class is an advanced class, I suspect brushing off the teacher as an "evil liberal whose sure to ruin you if you go agaisnt their propaganda machine", which some posters seem to feel, is not the right call.


In all honestly, I know this is a political board, and we all enjoy sparing with the other guy, but if this is a 14 year old kid seeking advice, do we really want that advice to be so bitter and resentful against someone who you think may have differing views from you?

I don't think my advice was bitter and resentful. Like I said, we encountered one teacher who self-identified as a Marxian, who was very open to dissenting ideas. Not everyone on the left is closed minded and bigoted, just the overwhelming majority are.

 

[JakeStarkey]

I don't think PoliticsKid is 14, but advice, such as the teacher being an "evil liberal whose sure to ruin you if you go agaisnt their propaganda machine" is such specious advice that even if PK is 14, he will ignore it and eventually go to the teacher with any concerns.

 

[Truthmatters]

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."they are discussing legal immigration is this sentence

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."most of the muslims in the world do not agree with these terrorist so why pretend its all about religion. Nutters come in all religions and we dont do any good by demeaning 1/5th of the worlds population by blaming them for the actions of Some peopel who share their religion

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.It is hostility to refuse help to a child because they dont have the proper paperwork

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.

Your coming from a preprogrammed mindset

 

[Uncensored2008]

Your coming from a preprogrammed mindset

Well, not everyone can be as open minded as you, Jakematters.....

 

[del]

obvious rubes are obvious

 

[Truthmatters]

Your coming from a preprogrammed mindset

Well, not everyone can be as open minded as you, Jakematters.....

When has anything you ever predicted about the effect of policy come true?


You dont KNOW what propaganda is

 

[Uncensored2008]

When has anything you ever predicted about the effect of policy come true?

I'm sure that somewhere in your diseased mind, this is a really clever "gotcha.."

You dont KNOW what propaganda is

I admit that I don't spend my days on MSNBC being programmed with propaganda, like you do, Jakematters.

 

[Truthmatters]

Dear Idiot,


when have you EVER been proven correct in your accessments of the effect of policy?

You and the republican party have been proven wrong on what you claimed the effect of policy would be.


Let me make this simple for you.


You and Your party have been proven historically wrong in the ideas you put forward.

You insist we use failed ideas.


You were voted down for just that reason.

 

[Rat in the Hat]

Dear Idiot,


when have you EVER been proven correct in your accessments of the effect of policy?

You and the republican party have been proven wrong on what you claimed the effect of policy would be.


Let me make this simple for you.


You and Your party have been proven historically wrong in the ideas you put forward.

You insist we use failed ideas.


You were voted down for just that reason.

And you have been proven hysterically wrong in the ideas you put forward, Fatso.

 

[Uncensored2008]

Dear Idiot,


when have you EVER been proven correct in your accessments of the effect of policy?

You and the republican party have been proven wrong on what you claimed the effect of policy would be.


Let me make this simple for you.


You and Your party have been proven historically wrong in the ideas you put forward.

You insist we use failed ideas.


You were voted down for just that reason.

And you have been proven hysterically wrong in the ideas you put forward, Fatso.

Have you ever sat back and wondered, "just what the fuck is the concept Truthmatters is trying to convey?" I do that with my dog sometimes, try to figure out what she's thinking. Yeah, the dingo has quadruple the IQ points of Jakematters, but the concept is the same...

 

[Politicskid]

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?

Eh, what? The book is called An Introduction to Human Geography, if you'd like to know. Anyway, in that instance, it's not just the word "hostile" I think is an indicator of bias, it's also the fact that it lumps illegal immigrants in with legal ones, which is a very liberal point of view.

 

[Uncensored2008]

Eh, what? The book is called An Introduction to Human Geography, if you'd like to know. Anyway, in that instance, it's not just the word "hostile" I think is an indicator of bias, it's also the fact that it lumps illegal immigrants in with legal ones, which is a very liberal point of view.

Interesting; Rubenstien is usually regarded as apolitical. This book has been around for decades, I've not heard anything negative in the past about it.

 

[Politicskid]

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."they are discussing legal immigration is this sentence

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."most of the muslims in the world do not agree with these terrorist so why pretend its all about religion. Nutters come in all religions and we dont do any good by demeaning 1/5th of the worlds population by blaming them for the actions of Some peopel who share their religion

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.It is hostility to refuse help to a child because they dont have the proper paperwork

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.

Your coming from a preprogrammed mindset

On the first point, actually no they are talking about all immigration, not just legal immigration. That aside, just 30% of LEGAL white immigrants and only 9% of naturalized Hispanics are college educated. I don't think you ca call most immigrants "well educated". That's just plain incorrect.

Regarding the terrorists, I totally agree they don't represent the views of the vast majority of Muslims. But my point is the book is incorrect in saying they did it just because they wanted to "preserve their culture". They did it because their far extremist version of the Muslim religion says that it's the right thing to do. It's not demeaning Muslims to say that, unless of course they belong to Al Quaeda's denomination, or the textbook writes it poorly and leaves out the word "extremist". The textbook should have included their religious beliefs, as they are very relevant motives of the attacks.

On the last point about illegals receiving public services, regardless of what YOU think, most people who are asked would say that illegals shouldn't receive public schooling. They're is a big debate on this issue and this textbook is portraying the people who voted against public services for illegals are wrong. That is advocating a political opinion, and is only half the story, and has no place in a public school textbook.

 

[Politicskid]

Dear Idiot,


when have you EVER been proven correct in your accessments of the effect of policy?

You and the republican party have been proven wrong on what you claimed the effect of policy would be.


Let me make this simple for you.


You and Your party have been proven historically wrong in the ideas you put forward.

You insist we use failed ideas.


You were voted down for just that reason.

Umm, Excuse me? I'm for intelligent debate, if I wanted to be yelled at with no basis I would have taken up debating with kids at my high school; I sorta thought the people on debate websites would understand that you don't get anywhere with your ideas if you demean everyone while sharing them.

And, no, for the most part, we have been right. Look at Lincoln. Look at Eisenhower. Look at Reagan.

Now do you want to do a proper response and tell me where I'm going wrong on saying my textbook is biased, or just act like Obama, Reid, and Pelosi's propaganda engines?

 

[Politicskid]

Eh, what? The book is called An Introduction to Human Geography, if you'd like to know. Anyway, in that instance, it's not just the word "hostile" I think is an indicator of bias, it's also the fact that it lumps illegal immigrants in with legal ones, which is a very liberal point of view.

Interesting; Rubenstien is usually regarded as apolitical. This book has been around for decades, I've not heard anything negative in the past about it.

I have the eighth edition, if you're curious. I might post photos when I get the chance, that we don't have that whole "context" argument.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Well the concern troll kid is simply repeating the mantra.

 

[Politicskid]

Well the concern troll kid is simply repeating the mantra.

Why do you seem to think that because I'm younger than you, I'm incapable of critical thinking? Do you deny that my original post here took some independent thought?