Shaw’s aphorism today
It was the acerbic Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw who coined the aphorism, “Those than can do, those that can’t teach.” If one wants to roil a group of teachers – and for good reason – try grafting that quote into a conversation. It is a gross generalization to be sure, one would say stereotype. But as we have said in these columns before, stereotypes are based (at least partially) in truth – that’s what makes them “stereotypes.”
But even the most ardent supporter of the teaching profession must be concerned with the characters that seem to be appearing daily over social media or making inane decisions about things not based in fact, but on political opinions.
Take for example the recent kerfuffle in Colorado Springs, CO, where a 12-year-old boy was dismissed from class until he took a patch off his backpack that had the Gadsden Flag emblazoned thereon. The yellow standard has a coiled snake shown with the famous legend, “Don’t Tread on Me” underneath. Anyone who took even a sixth grade US History course should know the flag was a standard used during the American Revolution.
One would think so until an administrator at the Vanguard School saw it. He was told to take it off as it would be “disruptive.” Jaiden had other patches the school disliked. One had a semi-automatic weapon on it. This was something school officials could not condone as it somehow threatened the safety of the students. No, that’s what the official line was. How a patch threatens safety is an example of the overly sensitive, over-the-top nitpicking we have come to expect in today’s world. Everything is offensive to someone therefore it must be banished.
But in the matter of the Gadsden Flag, the administrator said the emblem evoked the era of slavery and was offensive to some students. We doubt that. It is not the students who make the complaints, but the (not so) liberal wokesters who seem to run all too many schools. Jaiden’s mother met with the administrators and gave them a history lesson on the flag.
Even Democratic Gov. Jared Polis saw the inanity here. He opined, “(The flag is an) iconic warning to Britain or any government not to violate the liberties of Americans. It appears on popular American medallions and challenge coins through today and Ben Franklin also adopted it to symbolize the union of the 13 colonies. It’s a great teaching moment for a history lesson!”
We agree, there is a lesson here, but we believe it makes the point that ignorance knows no race, creed, color, or college degree. Rick Moran of PJ Media put it best, we think.
“The ‘teaching moment’ here is not history. It’s current events. This is how fragile our freedoms are that some tyrannical, ignorant educator can snatch them from us at a moment’s notice. Just because the Constitution says we’re free doesn’t mean squat unless we fight for that concept every day.” Quite so.
There is another lesson here: Children – and adults it could be argued – should not be pandered or pampered and learn to see and hear things with which they might have great disagreement. It’s called growing up, maturing, seeing that people in the world have different, but valid, views. It is also a matter of knowing some facts before one makes blanket assertions – that’s called education.