Critical Thinking
As an 87-year-old senior citizen, a war veteran and a father of six children I believe our country’s democracy and system of justice are being torn apart by the inability of Americans to distinguish the difference between facts, fiction and opinion.
I also believe the fundamental purpose of education is to teach students to think. Without question, the failure to accomplish that goal will put the future of our country in great danger.
With that in mind, I would like to propose all your readers contact their school boards and request them to seriously consider making a critically important addition to the curriculum presently being taught in all schools.
I would call the course “Critical Thinking.” We might not be able to teach old dogs new tricks, but we must be able to educate our children to make things better in the future.
The course should stand on its own and at a minimum it should be taught at least once a week to all students from first grade through high school.
The obvious purpose of my proposal would be to enable students to overcome the unbelievable amount of propaganda and misinformation that students are exposed to from everywhere they look including the internet and advertising/marketing industry.
If my request is adopted, I feel certain it will be enthusiastically accepted by all students as one of their favorite courses.
There should be no doubt by anyone that the ability to determine the truth by distinguishing between facts and fiction in today’s politically charged environment is just as important as reading math, science music and history.
In fact, a strong case can be made that it is more important.
Leopold Montagna
Calverton