September 22, 2021 – West Bend, Wi – Is there any truth to the claims that SEL is indoctrination? After all, how could something that teaches empathy and compassion be “bad?” Those are (obviously) unquestionably good qualities to reinforce in children.
No one opposed to SEL in schools “hates” those things. However it’s important to consider the source behind the dispensing of them. If we’re going to empower organizations to instill values in our kids, we should know who they are and where they stand on things. And that is where the problem lies.
SEL was developed by an organization called CASEL ( www.casel.org), and is used by the West Bend School District. I invite citizens to do their own research to see what this organization is about. But just as an example, in a webinar entitled “SEL as a Lever for Equity and Social Justice,” CASEL President and CEO, Karen Niemi, recently said, “social-emotional learning must actively contribute to anti-racism…We see SEL as a tool for anti-racism.” Of course, no decent person approves of racism, but the term “anti-racist” is used by liberal groups as a cover to advance their radical agendas.
In an essay “Anti-Racist Education is neither” by Frederick Hess, Director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institure (AEI), says about the term, “much of what passes for anti-racist education is a poisonous exercise in caricature and rank bigotry…something more typically understood as indoctrination.”
In December of 2020, Niemi announced that SEL was “updating” its definition to “pay attention to personal and social identities, cultural competency, and collective action (did you catch that?) as part of SEL,” and that the organization “will support schools, districts and states to infuse SEL systematically into curriculum and instruction, out-of-school time, discipline, student support services, professional learning, and ongoing assessment.” Niemi even brags that, “When SEL is woven into the daily life of school…” This language smacks of social engineering, at a level that should make every American’s hair curl.
I suppose they must have expected resistance to this because, they even conveniently include a report instructing “How to sell SEL,” noting that “Republicans are somewhat more wary than Democrats that SEL might divert schools away from academics or conflict with their own values.” You don’t say?
There are many other problems with SEL but you get the idea. As benign as it may seem (for now), SEL is indeed indoctrination, and the liberal agencies that see it as a lever for social justice are its architects. Do NOT let that wolf in the door. If values are seen as something necessary to be taught through the school district, let’s get it from a different source that doesn’t have such an overtly “woke” leftist agenda.
Chris Thompson
West Bend, WI
Please also note:
COMMENTING
WCI COMMENTING RULES OF ETIQUETTE: While open and honest debate is encouraged here, Washington County Insider asks that you comply with the following rules for posting. Those who do not comply will have their posts removed and may result in being banned from commenting.
In an effort to provide a great experience and be welcoming to everyone, Washington County Insider will not publish comments and reserves the right to remove posts on social media/Facebook that don’t adhere to the guidelines below.
- Are considered likely to provoke, attack or offend others. This is known as “trolling.” Trollers know when they are trolling, and so do we. *See definition of “troll” below. If you notice a few consistent blog trolls disappear, you’ll know why.
- Are sexually explicit, abusive or otherwise objectionable.
- Contains inappropriate or vulgar language that is likely to offend.
- Break the law or condone or encourage unlawful activity. This includes breach of copyright, defamation and contempt of court.
- Advertise products or services for profit.
- Are seen to impersonate someone else.
- Repeatedly post the same or similar messages (‘spam’)
- Include personal contact details such as telephone numbers and postal or email addresses.
- Include a link or photo that has not been approved by the editor prior to posting.
- Are considered campaigning. See also “trolling” above.
- Are unrelated to the topic.
NOTES:
- Just because your comment doesn’t show up right away doesn’t mean you’re being censored. When you post a comment it must first go through our filtering software. If it fails, your comment goes into a queue for manual approval.
- Just because a comment or advertisement is on the site, doesn’t mean WCI endorses it.
- The above rules are not intended to stop criticism or dissenters, but rather to stop those who are incapable of participating in a civilized manner.
*Trolling: a troll is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory,[1] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the intent of provoking readrs into an emotional response[2] or of otherwise disrupting normal, on-topic discussion,[3] often for the troll’s amusement. (source: Wikipedia)