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Teaching Pigs to Sing
12 years ago
It must be emphasized that:
We are not an official Church of Satan group. We are not here on behalf of the Church of Satan. We are not a "Satanic Community."
We are a group on FurAffinity that are made up of individuals who follow the Church of Satan and the works of Anton LaVey. -"School is the typical training ground, but it's not the only one."
-"When it comes to public school, even when the wolf is technically smarter, the sheep still outnumber them, and learning how to handle and rise above bullies and their ilk usually doesn't happen overnight."
-"There are unfortunately a lot of lazy parents in the world who really don't enjoy parenting, and it shows."
-"If you lock the typical child in a room with a pad of paper, an alphabet, and a pen, the apes will write Hamlet before the kid will blossom into Hemingway."
-"A homeschooled Satanist is a contradiciton." (paraphrased)
-"And then you got the overly protective parents that only want to 'save' their 'precious baby' from 'the big bad bullies' and all the drugs and teen sex and peer pressure and to pretty much upright confirm that they have utter control of their kid."
-"It's too easy for parents to indoctrinate their views and prevent their children from experiencing others with differing world views and opinions."
-"There aren't just two choices. It's not just public school or homeschool. There are also private schools, homeschool groups, as well as different methods of teaching. eg; Montessori, which actually teaches children based on their interests."
-"School is irrelevant. A real Satanist is born, not made. And since early age he becomes aware he is different. He will seek the knowledge he wants by himself. School is usually just an annoying distraction for him."
The article Teaching Pigs to Sing by Magistra Blanche Barton asserts that "modern American public schools are battlegrounds." She cites the political correctness and lack of pay imposed on teachers, and the assembly-line education and petty internal politics imposed on students. Above all, Magistra Barton asserts that, as Satanists, "we resent the presumption of homogenized thought and method," especially when that homogenized thought is put in the context of being "thrown onto a playground of tedious, dull-witted savages."
The alternative to public schooling is homeschooling, and Barton does indeed state that "Satanism is ideally suited to homeschooling." Critics of homeschooling say that "[homeschooled] children don’t have the opportunity to 'socialize' with other children their own age." Barton refutes their critique thusly:
"Socialization is exactly what we would view as harmful to our children. Public school brainwashes them to be mindlessly violent, unquestioning of authority, unimaginative, and easily brainwashed by “peers” and packagers. They study not to satisfy their own curiosity but to gain approval from some arbitrary authority who will label them an A or an F person."
Concerning the nature of public schooling, I agree with Magistra Barton wholeheartedly. However, I feel that as Satanists we are obligated to send our children to public school because of the very reasons she cites.
If a wolf were taught to hunt sheep in the comfort of its own den, when it was finally sent on its first hunt, how it would react? The wolf couldn't possibly account for the reactions of the sheep. Would it even know what the sheep looked like? No, the wolf should be hunting sheep with its pack as soon as it is able to walk. That way, it can identify sheep, predict its movements, and know when to strike and when to retreat.
The same thing applies to children. How will a child know how to cope with psychic vampires and bullies if they do not attempt to leech off of him or her? How will a child identify the weak and stupid without engaging them first-hand? Surely, no amount of homeschooling will prepare children for their inevitable and lifelong interaction with society; public schools are training grounds, where children are free to judge and manipulate others as they see fit.
This doesn't mean that public school is enjoyable. Children are forced to study standardized material instead of following their own obsessions, and do so every day in an environment filled with a variety of swine. But it IS necessary! Children who are unable to define themselves and develop self-discipline in the midst of the society that will oppress them for the rest of their lives will be worse off when they are thrust into the real world. Satanists should equip their children with the tools they need in order to succeed, but equipping (i.e. homeschooling) can only go so far.
To a Satanist, public schools shouldn't be hubs of pettiness and indoctrination. They should be viewed as boot camps, where little wolf cubs learn how to hunt.
Please comment with your experiences concerning public schooling and/or homeschooling. Do you think your method of schooling helped you, or hindered you? How so?
Hail Satan!
-"When it comes to public school, even when the wolf is technically smarter, the sheep still outnumber them, and learning how to handle and rise above bullies and their ilk usually doesn't happen overnight."
-"There are unfortunately a lot of lazy parents in the world who really don't enjoy parenting, and it shows."
-"If you lock the typical child in a room with a pad of paper, an alphabet, and a pen, the apes will write Hamlet before the kid will blossom into Hemingway."
-"A homeschooled Satanist is a contradiciton." (paraphrased)
-"And then you got the overly protective parents that only want to 'save' their 'precious baby' from 'the big bad bullies' and all the drugs and teen sex and peer pressure and to pretty much upright confirm that they have utter control of their kid."
-"It's too easy for parents to indoctrinate their views and prevent their children from experiencing others with differing world views and opinions."
-"There aren't just two choices. It's not just public school or homeschool. There are also private schools, homeschool groups, as well as different methods of teaching. eg; Montessori, which actually teaches children based on their interests."
-"School is irrelevant. A real Satanist is born, not made. And since early age he becomes aware he is different. He will seek the knowledge he wants by himself. School is usually just an annoying distraction for him."
The article Teaching Pigs to Sing by Magistra Blanche Barton asserts that "modern American public schools are battlegrounds." She cites the political correctness and lack of pay imposed on teachers, and the assembly-line education and petty internal politics imposed on students. Above all, Magistra Barton asserts that, as Satanists, "we resent the presumption of homogenized thought and method," especially when that homogenized thought is put in the context of being "thrown onto a playground of tedious, dull-witted savages."
The alternative to public schooling is homeschooling, and Barton does indeed state that "Satanism is ideally suited to homeschooling." Critics of homeschooling say that "[homeschooled] children don’t have the opportunity to 'socialize' with other children their own age." Barton refutes their critique thusly:
"Socialization is exactly what we would view as harmful to our children. Public school brainwashes them to be mindlessly violent, unquestioning of authority, unimaginative, and easily brainwashed by “peers” and packagers. They study not to satisfy their own curiosity but to gain approval from some arbitrary authority who will label them an A or an F person."
Concerning the nature of public schooling, I agree with Magistra Barton wholeheartedly. However, I feel that as Satanists we are obligated to send our children to public school because of the very reasons she cites.
If a wolf were taught to hunt sheep in the comfort of its own den, when it was finally sent on its first hunt, how it would react? The wolf couldn't possibly account for the reactions of the sheep. Would it even know what the sheep looked like? No, the wolf should be hunting sheep with its pack as soon as it is able to walk. That way, it can identify sheep, predict its movements, and know when to strike and when to retreat.
The same thing applies to children. How will a child know how to cope with psychic vampires and bullies if they do not attempt to leech off of him or her? How will a child identify the weak and stupid without engaging them first-hand? Surely, no amount of homeschooling will prepare children for their inevitable and lifelong interaction with society; public schools are training grounds, where children are free to judge and manipulate others as they see fit.
This doesn't mean that public school is enjoyable. Children are forced to study standardized material instead of following their own obsessions, and do so every day in an environment filled with a variety of swine. But it IS necessary! Children who are unable to define themselves and develop self-discipline in the midst of the society that will oppress them for the rest of their lives will be worse off when they are thrust into the real world. Satanists should equip their children with the tools they need in order to succeed, but equipping (i.e. homeschooling) can only go so far.
To a Satanist, public schools shouldn't be hubs of pettiness and indoctrination. They should be viewed as boot camps, where little wolf cubs learn how to hunt.
Please comment with your experiences concerning public schooling and/or homeschooling. Do you think your method of schooling helped you, or hindered you? How so?
Hail Satan!
I've known people in the past that were home schooled and honestly it all depends on how it's done. Some are lucky (and rich) enough to obtain an actual tutor/teacher that the parents have hired to come in and educate their students, there's also the whole Homeschooling clubs where various home schooled students and their parents meet up for..well.picnic outings and whatnot. Mind you, home schooling seems nice if it's done right and if you got the right shit down pat and you have someone there that has the actual proven experience and knows what the hell they're trying to teach. The outings also help break that whole social barrier that most often occurs in home schooling..
And then you got the overly protective parents that only want to 'save' their 'precious baby' from 'the big bad bullies' and all the drugs and teen sex and peer pressure and to pretty much upright confirm that they have utter control of their kid to ensure that delicious life insurance plays out in the end. One experience I had (actually count it as two) was this guy I used to work with. He had literally been homeschooled about 95% of the time. The only time he actually went to a school was a Catholic Private School and most of his time was either spent at home with 'mummy and daddy' or in one class at the private school. He was, to bluntly put it, socially retarded. His skills in socializing were utterly deplorable and it clashed greatly, since the occupation we had (fast food joint) you HAD to be sociable. You HAD to interact with the costumers, and given your occupation there, you had to treat costumers right. Even if they were wrong, you had that age old bullshit of 'costumer always right' hanging over your head. Well, to make a long story short, poor bastard ended up getting fired because he was constantly yelling at costumers or simply being straight up awkward-creepy towards the females (both co workers and costumers). Whereas, his younger brother only had to deal with home schooling up until the 8th grade and he went on and did things in a normal, public high school. Least to say, his younger brother flourished with conversations and was a pretty cool guy.
I agree though, these days (and since damned near forever) public schools (mainly middle/high school) are the 'bootcamps' of life. It teaches you the classic, human survivor skills; pack mentality/socialization/communication. Cliques suck, they're awful, but cliques are human instincts to form bonds and relationships with people that share a common interest so you have all these group 'tribes' all in one building clusterfucking with one another. Sometimes you get those folks that make friends with every damned 'tribe' and they become the 'nomads' that succeed well. Hell, even the overly anti-social and loners form their own little clique-tribes. Public schools also teach you how to put up with a lot of bullshit. I mean holy cow, you deal with a LOT of assholes during those 'lovely' years and you don't realize it until later that life is simply, and damned near literally, like highschool that never ends. Granted the education system is utter shit (least locally around here) and you'll probably learn more by teaching yourself (this isn't bad, hell it's probably better) and the teachers are simply there to keep an eye on your ass and make their paychecks.
For my own perspective, high school was awful. Possibly the MOST awful years of my life, I didn't learn jack shit when it came to actual 'knowledge' until I dropped out and was forced to get into the real world two years earlier before my peers, but high school taught me how to tolerate bullshit and taught me how to simply survive. The pack-clique mentality you see in high school happens constantly even in big businesses down to the simplest jobs, the bullies sometimes may be your boss or the jackass that wont pitch in on that project, you're gonna get pushed around, people WILL judge you, there's going to be drama, people WILL be assholes. Public schools teach you how to handle it.
P.S. - sorry for long as fuck rambling comment..lots to say when it comes to the subject of schools..
I mean Satanisim has a rather strong support of survival and the whole encouragement of seeking knowledge (Have I misinterpreted that?) and homeschooling seems to hinder that. I've interacted with a lot of homeschooled folks (it's kind of popular around here because lolbenifets) and about 8/10 most are just straight up...odd. Not like negative odd, but..'off'. Like you can literally feel that vibe they give of being sheltered and..well...weakness I suppose? That and a good portion of home schooled systems are set up right in the backseat with most devout religious lots that their only excuses for taking their kids out of public school is because: 'big ol mean bullies'/'teaching evolution? BLASPHEMY!'/'not teaching muh bible stuffz? YOU'LL BURN IN HELL'/'I'm not going to open my kid up to those young bimbos running around having sex with anything that walks!'/'you keep your filthy hands off my precious baby with all your talk of abstinence and drug talk!'
Granted I'm only speaking from personal experience from what I've witnessed and what I've interacted with, but I'm just as curious as you are with finding one as such. If that were to happen around here the poor kid would probably be kicked out of the house and disowned, sadly. :c
After all, well-socialized homeschooled kids often belong to groups, teams and clubs; have friends; and observe their parents' interactions with neighbors, friends, and family members.
You also don't need to be in school to learn how to develop and stick to goals, how to see dirty jobs through to the end, and how to follow passions.
BUT, I believe that if one chooses to enroll one's child in school, it's a tragic and stupid mistake to put up one's feet and assume that it's the school's job to educate and socialize the child now.
Magistra Barton is right that not everything schools teach is positive, productive, or even, accurate, because the original goal of the public school system was largely to educate children just well enough so that they'd make for competent-enough workers.
The schools and teachers which actively encourage curiosity, engagement, and passion are few and far between, and No Child Left Untested has made it harder for those special programs and instructors to do what they do best.
Oh, and let's not have grand illusions about little wolves learning to herd and manipulate sheep. When it comes to public school, even when the wolf is technically smarter, the sheep still outnumber them, and learning how to handle and rise above bullies and their ilk usually doesn't happen overnight. That your kid is the son or daughter of a Satanist doesn't mean they'll be at the top of the heap, necessarily--nay, even if they're smarter or more determined than their classmates.
As for me, I'm a veteran of the American school system, but many of the most meaningful and interesting lessons came as a result of discussions and interactions with my parents at home. School taught me academic lessons that my parents wouldn't have been willing and/or able to teach, and social and personal lessons and skills I might not have learned otherwise. But, it also traumatized the ever-lovin' shit out of me, and taught me some false and damaging untruths about others, myself, and the world that it took several years for me to un-learn. I had some truly memorable, wonderful, inspiring teachers, and some absolutely terrifying and/or terrible teachers who were the bane of my existence. So, it was a mix of good and bad, in the end.
Oh, and I'm sorry if I sounded a little grumpy in the main post. Long day today, and I started to have flashbacks of being besieged and smothered by shitty little sheeplings!
I have a profound empathy for outsiders and weirdos, a pretty vivid memory of my own childhood, and I'm still a big kid at heart in many ways, so I'd say I'm quite suitable for the job!
And, it helps that I'm bigger n' older than them now, so they no longer scare me. :)
the fuck?
I could go on and on about schooling and I don't want to but I'm wired on a billion cups of coffee suck fuckitall I'm doing it.
I hate homeschooling. Unless there is a very, VERY good reason (such as constant travel or illness, or something like that) I don't think it should be considered. It's too easy for parents to indoctrinate their views and prevent their children from experiencing others with differing world views and opinions. If the parent is also a teacher then, I'll be a tad more lenient.
Then you have unschooling. Yes, it is a thing and apparently legal for some reason. I hate that even MORE because it's more or less "oh, they'll find out when they feel like it".
As for personal experiences, I am really glad I went to public schools. I mean, yeah, I was picked on, assaulted, etc but it helped me grow a spine and defend myself. I read like a mother fucker from elementary because of D.E.A.R (Drop Everything And Read) Day, which made me read more advanced books in middle and high school. I learned about so many different religions and cultures because of this so I wasn't one of those people that hated others because they didn't understand. I was (and still am) Christian, but I respect (almost) every religion because I understand where they are coming from.
This carried more into high school where I was part of band (fuck yeah band!) and anime club. Band gave me a huge appreciation for music, teamwork, dedication, and competition. Also, if not for high school, I would not have realized my passion for forensic science.
There really needs to be more love and attention towards public schools. That includes funding AND good leadership of where the fuck the funds go. Sorry but colleges don't need fucking Mac computers when their own are perfectly fine. Pay the teachers more, hire more, ANYTHING to make sure that educating is the primary focus. Not the latest technology that does DICK.
Okay I think I'm done
I have some neighbors who have "unschooled" their children because they're lazy and because they have traumatic memories of their own school days. Kids as old as 12 can't read or do simple math, and their social skills and manners also tend to be absolutely terrible. These parents are basically ensuring that their kids will never be able to attend any institution of higher learning, and never be able to get anything above the level of a menial job. It enrages me.
I do agree that homeschoolers are all-too-often ideologues who just want to isolate and brainwash their kids. I've seen it done well, but I've also seen it done poorly.
I KNOW! It's wikipedia but the actual site for unschooling was giving me pop-up after pop-up of security risk thing so I went with the safest route.
And, call it a long shot, but something tells me it may be helpful for people to know how computers work. Just a hunch, though.
There are also many skills that are best learned during a particular developmental stage, and a few which can *only* be learned within a certain developmental window.
And the bit about unschooled children "learning well" is a joke. Because the parents, in my experience, don't compel or encourage their children to pursue any real interests or intellectual questions, the kids seem to spend most of their time just dicking around.
What we know is that people often require some amount of scaffolding in order to develop certain higher-level skills, or take their current skills to the next level. If you lock the typical child in a room with a pad of paper, an alphabet, and a pen, the apes will write Hamlet before the kid will blossom into Hemingway.
How the fuck is this even legal? o.0
Also I don't remember it being called that but we did have a contest thing for those who read 25 books. I was part of it and I think every 300 pages was considered a book so a 600 page novel was two books. I won because Harry Potter and Stephen King :3c
Also, BOOK FAIRS. Holy shit Book Fairs got me into Animorphs and it was awesoooome.
Usually the elementary schools were seriously strict when it came to having their students read back then. IDK wtf happened the older I got, but back then we had a system set up, we had contests and a literal 'marketplace' in our library. Anyone remember BOOKIT? Hell to the yes. Bookit was glorious. BOOKIT involved a system that whatever class read the most books by the end of the year would win a huge as fuck pizza party. And I mean these parties went ALL out! They had the owner of the local Papa Johns helping sponsor the contest and whomever won that year? The entire last day of school was spent gloriously with pizza, ice cream, movies, and doing whatever the hell you wanted at the end of the day. That thing right there encouraged so many kids to read like crazy.
I remember in 5th grade, our teacher had this system set up to where we'd read books. Certain books were marked and once you were done reading them, you'd take a test on them with questions that reviewed the book itself. Depending on how well you did, you got points. Depending on how many points you got, you could trade in for tokens. These tokens were used to buy stuff at the 'Library Marketplace' at the start of every month. So depending on how many tokens you got, you could buy one really big nice thing or a lot of cute little things. The teacher himself, along with some help from parents, would provide the items for the 'marketplace'.
Sad to say, but I feel like if a lot of teachers made education fun and more stimulating like they did in elementary, they'd probably get more motivation out of themselves and out of students who want to learn. Sadly that ain't the case much anymore :[
I agree that children need to experience differing worldviews and opinions. That's all I have right now; I'm very sleepy...but I think it sums it up well enough.
I was going to say, parents need to be more involved, but then I thought, if a closed-minded parent is too involved, that could lead to indoctrinating the kids, so maybe in some cases they should be less involved. This topic can get very complicated. What's good for one person might be bad for someone else; there's no universal right answer.
I learned to read by myself at 3 (with some help from my grandmother who was a teacher)
My mother (a natural witch and "defacto") used to read Poe and Zola to me instead of children books and I inherited her hunger for reading.
When I started school in Kindergarten and I immediately noticed the teaching was designed mold children into a herd conformity and mediocrity. I always knew I didn't belong. I had good grades, but I was always bored. The stuff they taught was uninteresting. I knew it was a waste of time, but I had to endure it.
There is very little of the stuff I learned at school that was useful to me as an adult.
My real learning started when I got home and I went to read the kind of books I wasn't supposed to read. Books not intended for kids my age. My sources were my mother's library and my grandfather's collection of books about aviation and airplane mechanics.
So I guess I was both "self-homeschooled" and "regular-schooled".
Later I went even further and started procuring books that were forbidden by my country's government.
True, I learned other things at school, like dealing with bullies... but I got that out of school all the time anyways. There was not shortage of bullies in my city block.
Socializing? That's a very easy skill to learn. All you need is pretend you care. The hardest part is to fake a convincing smile. (That one is useful now that I work in a restaurant, it's incredible how flexing a facial muscle and induce people to give a generous tip!)
At school, I was always the pariah. And in a way I liked it. I was seen as a freak because I would go to the library when everyone else was dancing salsa.
But eventually teachers noticed and started labeling me as a "non-conformist" and "antisocial" in their reviews. My mother was called and informed of my "unruly" behavior and she always pointed at my good grades and asked what was wrong with me not liking to dance. Eventually they found an excuse to expel me.
That was my last time at school. I was 17 and I soon found my first job in a factory where I learned more about "socializing" and real world interactions in a week that I had learned in the previous 10 years of school.