New High School Principal
We watched high school principal Dennis Prager of Colorado, along with Tom Brokaw on TV a while ago....what a dynamic, down
to earth speaker. Even though Brokaw was also a guest speaker he did little but nod and agree with him. This is the guy that
should be running for President in 2016!
A Speech Every American High School Principal Should Give.
By Dennis Prager.
To the students and faculty of our high school:
I am your new principal, and honored to be so.
There is no greater calling than to teach young people.
I would like to apprise you of some important changes coming to our school. I am making these changes because I am convinced
that most of the ideas that have dominated public education in America have worked against you, against your teachers and
against our country.
First , this school will no longer honor race or ethnicity.
I could not care less if your racial makeup is black, brown, red, yellow or white. I could not care less if your origins are African,
Latin American, Asian or European, or if your ancestors arrived here on the Mayflower or on slave ships. The only identity I
care about, the only one this school will recognize, is your individual identity -- your character, your scholarship, your humanity.
And the only national identity this school will care about is American.
This is an American public school, and American public schools were created to make better Americans. If you wish to affirm an
ethnic, racial or religious identity through school, you will have to go elsewhere. We will end all ethnicity, race and non-American
nationality-based celebrations. They undermine the motto of America, one of its three central values – e pluribus Unum,
"from many, one." And this school will be guided by America 's values. This includes all after-school clubs. I will not authorize
clubs that divide students based on any identities. This includes race, language, religion, sexual orientation or whatever else
may become in vogue in a society divided by political correctness.
Your clubs will be based on interests and passions, not blood, ethnic, racial or other physically defined ties. Those clubs just
cultivate narcissism -- an unhealthy preoccupation with the self -- while the purpose of education is to get you to think
beyond yourself. So we will have clubs that transport you to the wonders and glories of art, music, astronomy, languages
you do not already speak, carpentry and more. If the only extracurricular activities you can imagine being interested in are
those based on ethnic, racial or sexual identity, that means that little outside of yourself really interests you.
Second, I am uninterested in whether English is your native language. My only interest in terms of language is that you
leave this school speaking and writing English as fluently as possible. The English language has united America 's citizens
for over 200 years, and it will unite us at this school. It is one of the indispensable reasons this country of immigrants has
always come to be one country. And if you leave this school without excellent English language skills, I would be remiss in
my duty to ensure that you will be prepared to successfully compete in the American job market. We will learn other
languages here -- it is deplorable that most Americans only speak English -- but if you want classes taught in your native
language rather than in English, this is not your school.
Third , because I regard learning as a sacred endeavor, everything in this school will reflect learning's elevated status.
This means, among other things, that you and your teachers will dress accordingly. Many people in our society dress
more formally for Hollywood events than for church or school. These people have their priorities backward. Therefore,
there will be a formal dress code at this school.
Fourth, no obscene language will be tolerated anywhere on this school's property -- whether in class, in the hallways or
at athletic events. If you can't speak without using the f -word, you can't speak. By obscene language I mean the words
banned by the Federal Communications Commission, plus epithets such as "Nigger," even when used by one black student
to address another black, or "bitch," even when addressed by a girl to a girlfriend. It is my intent that by the time you leave
this school, you will be among the few your age to instinctively distinguish between the elevated and the degraded, the holy
and the obscene.
Fifth, we will end all self-esteem programs. In this school, self-esteem will be attained in only one way -- the way people
attained it until decided otherwise a generation ago -- by earning it. One immediate consequence is that there will be one
valedictorian, not eight.
Sixth, and last, I am reorienting the school toward academics and away from politics and propaganda. No more time will
be devoted to scaring you about smoking and caffeine, or terrifying you about sexual harassment or global warming. No
more semesters will be devoted to condom wearing and teaching you to regard sexual relations as only or primarily a
health issue. There will be no more attempts to convince you that you are a victim because you are not white, or not
male, or not heterosexual or not Christian. We will have failed if any one of you graduates this school and does not consider
him or herself inordinately fortunate -- to be alive and to be an American.
Now, please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of our country. As many of you do not know the words, your teachers will hand them out to you.
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