Lies My Teacher Told Me

"Some adults simply do not trust children to think. For several decades sociologists have documented Americans' distrust of the next generation. Parents may feel undermined when children get tools of information and inquiry not available to adults and use them in ways that seem to threaten adult-held values. Many parents want children to concentrate on the 3 R's, not on multicultural history. . . Perhaps adults' biggest reason for lying is that they fear history -- fear that it isn't so wonderful, and that if children were to learn what has really gone on, they would lose all respect for our society. . . . Ironically, only people who themselves have been raised on shallow feel-good history could harbor such doubts."