Anyone who reads articles outside the Mainstream Media is well aware of the lack of diversity of thought on college campuses today. Students with opinions outside the conventional left-wing mantra inevitably face brutal retaliation, often accompanied by administrative reprimands. David Horowitz, Ann Coulter, and outstanding organizations such as FIRE (www.thefire.org) have for years been at the forefront of the fight against this intolerance. But liberal indoctrination doesn’t start at college, and very few people dare to confront the dogmatism at younger ages. Sam Besserman, who is twelve, is a noteworthy exception.
When Sam was first brought to my attention he sounded too good to be true. His father, Ira, sent me a column that Sam had written that was published on American Thinker. The article, written when he was eleven, described some of his educational experiences. When I noticed the word “misandrist” (with which I was unfamiliar), I asked Sam’s father whether his son actually wrote the column. He related how Sam had approached him while writing the essay, inquiring whether there was a similar word to “misogynist” for people who don’t like men. The two of them did a little research and found “misandrist.” I figured this must be one smart kid.
When I met Sam, I found that not only was he exceptionally bright, he was awfully principled for a skinny little kid. Whereas most students – from elementary school through post graduate work – are loath to challenge educators who substitute their political beliefs for educational material, Sam has been willing to confront the orthodoxies of the education establishment. Unfortunately, this establishment existed in a liberal Jewish environment.
Sam started to question the process as early as nursery school, and continued through second grade. He noticed that he was only provided feminine role models, not only by in-class personnel, but also in the books and projects on which they worked. In addition to becoming dismayed by the attempt to feminize the young males, he observed that there was no attempt to encourage male role models. I asked if he was ever encouraged to read stories about baseball players, male elected officials, or other historic men; the answer was no.
He seethed, but bit his tongue. At his urging his parents moved him to what turned out to be another left-wing Jewish educational institution. He experienced the same aspects of liberal indoctrination at his new school, which he attended from the middle of 2nd grade to the middle of 5th grade. The coup de grace was when he was required to sign a commitment to reduce his carbon footprint. Sam refused and told his parents to send him to public school, because they should not be paying for this left-wing propaganda when they could get it for free.
And indeed they got it, courtesy of the Beverly Hills public school system. After Scott Brown was elected to the US Senate, one of his teachers, Kate Biggs, stated in class that “Right-wing Nazis are taking office all over the place.” From then on, Sam started taking notes of the slanted comments that this teacher was making in class. Biggs instructed him to stop taking notes in class – a rather novel educational approach.
So Sam started a petition to get Biggs to stop the politicalization of the classroom by her constant injection of a left-wing agenda inside the classroom. 32 students signed on, at which point Biggs started to threaten kids that she would lower their grades. Sam went to the school Principal and Biggs retaliated by failing Sam. Finally, Sam and his parents took the case to the Interim Superintendent of the Beverly Hills School District, Dick Douglas, who said he would investigate the matter and get back to them. He never did. A family friend of some influence met with Douglas and was informed that it would cost $250,000 to remove Biggs due to tenure. Biggs, regrettably, is still employed by Beverly Hills today.
Sam’s family has moved to Burbank, California. Both Sam and his father have expressed interest in home-schooling, principally so Sam would not have to endure teachers attempting to brainwash him regarding left-wing elected officials, global warming, feminist agendas, or “demasculinization.”
That would be a shame. We need voices in the classroom challenging teachers who force political claptrap down the throats of susceptible young children while their parents are paying for them to learn reading, writing and history. Sam may be somewhat unique, but I like to think of him as a role model. We need more Sams to protect the children. Maybe Sam needs to start an academy to train others. Then maybe Horowitz and Coulter and other right-of- center speakers might start to receive a positive reception at college campuses.
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