The Greatest Threat to the Imagination

Jeannine Ouellette‘s puzzling article seems to cite
the regimentation of children’s lives and the role of technology as a
threat to the development of imagination. As a girl in the ’50s and
’60s, I faced far more restrictions to my imagination and free play than
any kid today.

But the greatest threat to imagination goes unmentioned: the intrusion
of religion into the schools. It may not seem so bad here in
Minneapolis, but there are parts of the country where the schools are
NOT focused on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). They
are afraid to teach anything that might threaten third century AD
notions of cosmology or biology. There is a brain drain due to
restrictions on research (stem cells, etc) and govermnent science is
censored on the subjects of reproductive health and climate change.

Minneapolis doesn’t have to do all this to limit the development of its
children, however. It’s school board has merely decreeed that eduction
be withheld from anyone not rich, not white, or not a resident of the
southwest quadrant of the city.