Posted: 6/25/2009 1:02:11 PM EDT
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529099,00.html Symbols of communism and marijuana and a prediction that "capitalism will fail" aren't exactly the sort of end-of-year messages you'd expect from an eighth grader. But that's precisely what some students at the Black Pine Circle School, a private school in Berkeley, Calif., chose to include in their "Class of 2007" mosaic. The symbols, which are prominently displayed outside the school, have prompted questions about the appropriateness of images like a hammer and sickle and a marijuana leaf on school grounds — and have led critics to say they are blatant proof of political indoctrination of young children. Black Pine Circle bills itself as a day school where students from kindergarten through eighth grade will be "maximally free of all the 'isms' which pervade most aspects of the world around them: from racism to sexism to the less obvious forms of discrimination," according to its Web site. Capitalism, even if it fails, apparently isn't one of those: Tuition for a 10-month term costs more than $17,000. Laura Wolff, assistant director and head of BPCS's Lower School, told FOXNews.com that each graduating student makes a tile to commemorate his or her time there, sometimes teaming up with other students to make a "dual tile." She said school officials do not edit or otherwise influence the end products. "Being Berkeley, of course, we don't censor their creative expression," Wolff said. "It's fun to see what they come up with." During a brief interview, Wolff said she was not familiar with the images in question — including the four-tile hammer and sickle depiction — and referred inquiries to John Carlstroem, director of the school, and art teachers Kieren Dutcher and Kim Buckingham. Multiple messages seeking additional comment were not returned. Ron Reynolds, executive director of the California Association of Private School Organizations, said the images were in "bad taste," but stopped short of calling for their removal. "I am certainly not enamored by that particular expression and I certainly disagree, but I don't think there's a law against someone expressing a stupid thought," Reynolds told FOXNews.com. "If they felt capitalism will fail, I'd be curious to see what their alternative is." The mosaic's location on the perimeter of the school serves as an "advertisement for discriminating parents," according to Reynolds, who said he thought the images were conjured up solely by the students. "Living in Berkeley, I don't think it's a tremendous stretch," he said. "If it were in Irvine or Van Nuys, yeah, I think there would be some raised eyebrows." Alice Davis, 21, attended Black Pine Circle School from 1998 to 2001 and remembers painting her own tile — a "cityscape scene at nighttime." Davis, now living in Brooklyn, N.Y., said she doesn't recall receiving any instruction regarding the content of her creation. "They left it up to a bunch of 13-year-olds to decide," Davis told FOXNews.com. "They were hands off in telling us what was appropriate and what wasn't. It was left to our judgment." Meanwhile, Danae Condos, president of the Berkeley College Republicans, said she found the images "shocking" and not suitable for young children. "I know some people might say it fits in with the Berkeley atmosphere, but it does say something about the type of education the students are receiving," she told FOXNews.com. "It's obvious that they're receiving some political indoctrination from the school or from their parents. There's no doubt in my mind they're being politically influenced in their education." Condos, a 19-year-old student at the University of California-Berkeley, said she doubted that school administrators would allow any and all symbols. "They wouldn't allow a swastika symbol," she said. "It shows where the school's standards lie. If you're seeing this at one of the top-notch schools in the area, imagine what's going on it other schools that don't have the same privileges." |
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What is mind boggling is the love for communism. Communism killed more people than Hitler DREAMED of, yet we have thousands of Liberals that are deeply in love with it. Do they want more oppression and death? This is why I simply cannot understand the insanity that we call Liberalism. |
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What is mind boggling is the love for communism. Communism killed more people than Hitler DREAMED of, yet we have thousands of Liberals that are deeply in love with it. Do they want more oppression and death? This is why I simply cannot understand the insanity that we call Liberalism. It makes my head hurt |
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Quoted: Kids of that age dont even really grasp the gravity of what that means. They obviously have heard that bilge from the fanatic leftists in our pathetic education system. And worse, their parents are spending 17,000 a year to indoctrinate their kids into hating capitalism.  |
| Well the left has complete power now. So they had better produce the utopia they have swore their policies will bring, and fix the economy(which they won't)or their popularity among the sheeple will sink very rapidly at some point. But the destruction they will have caused by the time they are booted, will be very difficult to reverse. But in the end, their indoctrination tactics WILL fail. |
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What is mind boggling is the love for communism. Communism killed more people than Hitler DREAMED of, yet we have thousands of Liberals that are deeply in love with it. Do they want more oppression and death? This is why I simply cannot understand the insanity that we call Liberalism. Oh but we can do it the right way. |
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What is mind boggling is the love for communism. Communism killed more people than Hitler DREAMED of, yet we have thousands of Liberals that are deeply in love with it. Do they want more oppression and death? This is why I simply cannot understand the insanity that we call Liberalism. Liberalism is evil from start to finish. They start by stealing from one and giving to another and they have no qualms about killing those who don't want to participate whether through IRS and asset forfeitures or straight up work camps and purges like soviets and Chinese did. They reward evil elements in our society like criminals and deadbeats and tax and mock the productive. Ive never believed liberals are benevolent people. They are about destroying freedom both financial and personnel to give to their malcontents all in the name of what they call fairness but is really about revenge. |
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good thing we live in a republic and not a democracy. ya well too bad the people that understand the republican (not the GOP) form of government never bothered to go to Washington. Its now occupied by fucksticks and retards. Oh, and hippies. I wish I had though that up when I wrote to my reps!!!! |
schools out though
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What is mind boggling is the love for communism. Communism killed more people than Hitler DREAMED of, yet we have thousands of Liberals that are deeply in love with it. Do they want more oppression and death? This is why I simply cannot understand the insanity that we call Liberalism. |
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What do you expect.
The commies targeted our education system. They saw the "long march through the institutions" as the way to win what they couldn't do via violence due to our nukes and general ass kicking military prowess. They've won. They've been in our schools for decades brainwashing the stupid into their sick death cult and now those kids are starting to make up more and more of the voting block. hence obama. the younger generation like the one in this story is even worse. |
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Needs to be washed down with several gallons of aircraft stripper. Not just the "artist", the painting, too. Communism is the enemy of freedom and liberty. Anyone who supports it is OUR enemy. CJ and this Quoted: What is mind boggling is the love for communism. Communism killed more people than Hitler DREAMED of, yet we have thousands of Liberals that are deeply in love with it. Do they want more oppression and death? This is why I simply cannot understand the insanity that we call Liberalism |
It's a PRIVATE SCHOOL.  Nobody is being forced to send their kids there. The only parents that have kids at that school are parents who have paid money to send them there, so why does ANYONE who doesn't have a child in that school give a shit? It's nobody's business.
I'm sure there are lots of people who don't like some of the things that are taught in PRIVATE religious schools - of various faiths and denominations - and that's also nobody's business except that parents who send their kids there. If YOUR KID isn't going to this private school, then it's really none of your business what's going on there (.. unless you have evidence of criminal acts or child abuse, of course). I swear - this "information age" has helped to create a nation of giant fucking busybodies. 
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Kids of that age dont even really grasp the gravity of what that means. They obviously have heard that bilge from the fanatic leftists in our pathetic education system. And worse, their parents are spending 17,000 a year to indoctrinate their kids into hating capitalism.
That's the funny thing. They're enjoying the privileges of capitalism by attending a private school, yet they clearly hate capitalism & creating wealth...
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It's a PRIVATE SCHOOL. Nobody is being forced to send their kids there. The only parents that have kids at that school are parents who have paid money to send them there, so why does ANYONE who doesn't have a child in that school give a shit? It's nobody's business.
I'm sure there are lots of people who don't like some of the things that are taught in PRIVATE religious schools - of various faiths and denominations - and that's also nobody's business except that parents who send their kids there. If YOUR KID isn't going to this private school, then it's really none of your business what's going on there (.. unless you have evidence of criminal acts or child abuse, of course). I swear - this "information age" has helped to create a nation of giant fucking busybodies.
I might have missed it, but I didn't see any post advocating that the values and ideas espoused in that mural be suppressed or that those children should be forbidden from learning any such thing. We are merely critical of those ideas and values themselves. Also, by displaying a mural, wouldn't they be making it our business? I doubt those kids and school employees painted that mural to remind themselves of their own beliefs. 
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I guess I'll be in the minority when I say that I wish I had gone to a school like that. Meaning, a school that doesn't censor you and force you to think a certain way. Oh really? I would wonder how conservative views are recieved at that school? We all know about the liberals "tolerance" and all of that, don't we? |
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The USA has been told it wouldn't last since the Revolution. Everyone seems to always count us out. Many times in our past we kept hearing about how Communism was going to prevail and the United States was going to eventually fall. The USA has ALWAYS proved the critics of America and the doom and gloomers wrong And seriously... There were ALOT more people that wanted Communism in the great depression and during WW2 than today. It seems the previous generation always accuses the new one of not having what it takes to succeed... well I call fucking bullshit on that idea. |