I don't want to ruin it for you...

I ran across this blog post today on Babble.com. Take 3 minutes to read it and consider writing your first impression before reading my response.

Former Governor Mike Huckabee Hawking Animated History Videos for Kids

POSTED BY MEREDITH CARROLL ON MAY 12TH, 2011 AT 6:30 PM

Who would you trust more to teach your kids about history? A text book or a former and possibly future politician?

I don’t know about you, but I’m quite comfortable with the idea that my kids will learn about history in school when they’re old enough to attend. If I wasn’t, I guess I would take on the burden of educating them myself. But I have a good deal of faith in the curriculum of the local school system and I feel like I would have heard by now if there were a large gap in learning or a glaring bias in the lesson plans.

I’m kind of scratching my head at former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who has launched a new “education company” that sells animated history videos for kids because “our children’s classes and learning materials are often filled with misrepresentations, including historical inaccuracies, personal biases and political correctness,” his website claims.

To me that seems like an awful lot of paranoia and hostility, particularly coming from someone who is potentially running for president next year and, if he does, will undoubtedly talk about healing our nation’s divide. But I’m not a historian or a politican, so what do I know.

Huckabee’s company is offering video episodes (God forbid our kids read more!) that dramatize various chapters in history. The first episode is titled “The Reagan Revolution.” The bad guy in the video, by the way? A knife-wielding African-American man wearing a disco shirt. Kids will learn how Reagan “believes we can do anything! We just need to get the government out of the way.”

Huckabee says on the website that schools haven’t found a way to make history fun for kids. I don’t know about the kids, but it sure sounds like these videos will be fun (or funny) for the adults.

Are you satisfied with the history curriculum in your kid’s school? Do you think Huckabee’s raison d’être is valid, and that there’s a benefit to the videos he’s peddling?

Image: LearnOurHistory.com

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Had enough time to digest that?

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To MEREDITH CARROLL:

You don't know about me, eh? Well, let me tell you a little... I am absolutely NOT "comfortable with the idea that my kids learn about history in school..." Have you read the history books in your local school system? Are you really waiting to "hear" about it?

History books are biased and have changed throughout the years to reflect the views of powerful people. Yes, some changes are good, like including information on "Japanese internment camps" (comment from KikiRiki on the blog); much of history has been rewritten and rewritten to benefit those controlling the government school system.

And what about the history of slavery and racism that has been rewritten? Frantz Kabreau, founder of the National Association of Conservative People of all Colors (NAACPC), has been studying the history of race relations in America and wrote a book about it: Stolen History. Did you know that the first official slave owner in America was black? Won't learn about that in school!

Most importantly, though, is that our American children are some of the dumbest in the industrialized world (in general - not mine or yours, of course!). It's because parents shirk their responsibility as teachers and researchers so that the government can spare them the "burden". Shouldn't American history, at least what you know of it, be part of family discussions? Or would you rather chat about Harry Potter or the Royal Wedding?

Whether or not Huckabee's videos are silly or biased, and no matter your political viewpoints, believing that your local school system is the only education your kid needs on American history shows a lack of parental responsibility that is plaguing our future.