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From Crayons to Condoms: The Ugly Truth About America's Public Schools
by Steve Baldwin, Karen Holgate
Product Group: Book
Publisher: WND Books (2008-06-03)
ISBN: 0979267110
EAN: 9780979267116
Dewey Decimal #: 371.01
Binding/Media: Hardcover - 293 pages
SKU: 070320090553
Condition: New
Comments: 0979267110 New, never read, may have minor wear on cover.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
What's really going at your local public school? In From Crayons to Condoms: The Ugly Truth About America's Public Schools, Steven Baldwin and Karen Holgate let parents, concerned teachers and students speak for themselves about the dismal state of government education in America today. The conclusion? Today's schools are laboratories for disaster, where failed methodologies and policies continually find new life thanks to bureaucracies more interested in maintaining power than in educating. Lavishly armed with your tax dollars, government at every level encourages mass social experimentation on our kids - success optional. In From Crayons to Condoms you'll discover... * The lesbian gym teacher who hands out a paper called "101 Ways To Do It Without Going All The Way" in every class.
* The "Inventive Spelling" curriculum which demands of parents that they "avoid giving in to our natural desire to correct the mistakes" because it's "harmful to the children"
* The "innovative name-calling" program for kindergarteners and first graders that teaches new words and concepts like "dyke" and "faggot."
* The required courses in "death education" that actually encourage teen depression and suicide.
* The math classes in which students write down how they "feel" about math problems...as opposed to learning fractions, algebra and multiplication tables. Today's public schools are not just rife with bizarre, inaccurate textbooks and failed teaching practices - they encourage classroom activities that produce dangerous, even deadly, results. Can our schools be saved? Yes say the authors, but only if parents are informed and ready to fight for their children every step of the way. The stories in From Crayons to Condoms: The Ugly Truth About America's Public Schools are sure to horrify and energize anyone concerned about today's kids - and our nation's future.
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Customer Reviews
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"MUST READ" for Parents
Rating  (5)
Date: 2010-03-17
1 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
I wouldn't have believed much of what was in this book if it weren't for the fact that my eldest daughter recently entered 5th grade and changed schools to a middle school in a rather liberal area of the country. She started bringing home books from the school library that contained extreme violence including sadistic torture of children, graphic sex and profanity. She also informed me that her teacher reads books aloud daily to the class that contain profanity.I was disturbed by these books as was my daughter. I started reviewing the books in the middle school (grades 5 - 8) library and found some of the most disgusting "literature" imaginable - some of which would be rated not "R" but "X" if ratings could be given to books like they are to movies.) But, unfortunately, books are not rated, even for children (and I consider 10 year olds to be "children" not "young adults" as the teachers and librarians appear to catagorize them as and so steer them to in their reading selections. )Anyhow, this "enlightenment" has led me to do a significant amount of research in this area and sadly, the information presented in "Crayons to Condoms" is an accurate depiction as to what is going on in our public schools. It would behoove all parents to take some time to really check out what is in your child's school library and what is being taught in their classes. A good place to start would be with the reading of this book, "From Crayons to Condoms: The Ugly Truth About America's Public Schools." It helped my husband and I make the decision NOT to have our children return to the public schools next year.
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TERRIFYING - IMPORTANT
Rating (5)
Date: 2009-07-31
3 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful
Do you like a good horror story? Drop the Stephen King novel and pick up this non-fiction piece.
For any American parent, a MUST READ. The authors were painstaking in their research. The book is filled with personal testimonies of parents throughout the country.
Conclusion: The problems are systemic, not anectdotal. I was led to the web pages of ceratin state boards of education. What I found was extremely disturbing.
The authors fill the back of the book with resources and contact information to effectively address the issues.
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RACIST CLOSED-MINDED BOOK
Rating  (1)
Date: 2009-01-06
4 out of 18 customers found this reveiw helpful
I read through most of this book. None of it is factual, all of is complaints from parents. There were a few things I agreed with in the book against the public school system. But, somethings I felt were taken to an EXTREME. For example, many parents complained that their children are not being taught the same way they are being taught--well DUH they are complete different generations there would be a problem if they were taught the same way. It seems like these parents just want to stick to the old school way of teaching and are not open to creativity. I mean I do agree with the fact that the public school system is far from perfect; but the things the book picks are to an extreme. Many of it seems to come from completely sheltered and closed-minded parents that do not want to open and fear opening the minds of their children. I DO NOT recommend this book to anyone.
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Must Read for parents!
Rating (5)
Date: 2008-11-24
2 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
This book is an eye opener to me, unfortunately not in a good way. This is a must read book for parents, the stories might, as some reviewers mention, just individual incidents, but it does reflect that some really ugly activites might be going on in your children's school, and it tell us where we should look into to avoid it happens to your child.
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If parents want to micromanage what happens in schools, then get a degree
Rating (1)
Date: 2008-11-11
8 out of 24 customers found this reveiw helpful
As someone with a very high interest in educational policy, this book was frustrating on many levels. Firstly, the stories are mostly by parents. That's all well and good. I understand that there are times when a teacher or school does not do the right thing and the parent has every right in the world to complain. My parents certainly stepped in when they had to, and they were both teachers.
My problem is with the overall tone of the book. It pushes a very, very narrow-minded agenda. One parent complains about her child having to learn about evolution in a science class. Imagine that! Learning SCIENCE in a SCIENCE class. The parent said that such teachings "contradicted their religious beliefs."
There's a reason schools don't teach Creationism in science classes.
I found myself laughing at the one parent who complained about her 7th grader having to read "The Giver." Apparently this book could influence support for euthanasia. Funny, I read that book in 7th grade and thought it was a brilliant work of satire. I wasn't aware that someone who has no formal background in English/Literature education is better equipped to decide what should and shouldn't be in a curriculum. The people in this book are laughable.
The later chapters in the book were perhaps the most troubling. It's no surprise that racism and bigotry continue in this country. When parents refuse to allow their children to be exposed to realities that exist outside of the family's bubble, it's hard for anyone to become truly tolerant of anything. Granted, there were stories in the book that certainly went over the line and the parents did the right thing by complaining. It's the constant under-lying hatred that is troubling.
The only people who will enjoy this book are those who already detest the public school system and are already considering private schools or homeschooling. If you have a bad temper or a weak stomach for close-mindedness and masked bigotry, don't bother reading. It's only going to irritate you.
There's a reason Dr. Laura endorsed this book. After reading about 5 pages, you'll know why.
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