SEL
Social Emotional Learning
CASEL is the Company that sets standards for Social Emotional Learning. Students are called human capital, and an equity lens is applied to transform an entire school by dividing students into groups by race, gender, income, etc. The expressed goal is to achieve “equal” outcomes (equity) for designated groups, especially “marginalized” ones such as minorities or those with LGBT identities. Equal opportunity is now passe’ for the current educational culture.
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Founders, Funding and Educators of SEL include, but are not limited to the following: John Fetzer of the Fetzer Institute, a New Age enthusiast and devotee of Alice Bailey who was the controversial occultist that founded the Lucifer Publishing Company (aka Lucis Trust); Linda Darling-Hammond, board member emeritus of
CASEL and associate of communist terrorist turned educator William Ayers; Kamilah Drummond-Forrester, an educational consultant who wrote “Teaching (white children) to be aware of their racial identity would allow them to better understand the privileges that accompany that identity,” adding that this would help them dismantle the “concept of ‘ whiteness’”. Millions of dollars from the Gates and Dell Foundations, et al. are
spent to replace the values and beliefs that are compatible with individual liberty. The goal appears to a transformed global student that is easily manipulated by a one world government.
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Framework of CASEL is Backwards. SEL is at the core with the government and schools supplanting the responsibility of parents to raise their children fundamentally in the way they see fit. Family beliefs and values will be replaced by the values of the government in teaching these five competencies: self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision making, relationship skills and social awareness. See diagram below.
Is SEL a school course? No. It’s a transformative methodology rooted in a worldview with goals of molding students' beliefs and behaviors, manipulating impressionable minds, and creating activists for progressive social causes. Although the intent appears to be therapeutic, the results appear to be counterproductive. In application, SEL is woven into many classes and school activities and its use will:
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Promote data collection on students with assessments that are recorded in a student’s permanent data records. Many responses are private information best suited between a counselor and patient.
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Impersonate mental health services. Designed to shape a child’s developing brain to accept world views regarding sexuality, racial attitudes, and other social issues. Operates under the guise of providing a mental health benefit and used on the ENTIRE student population of a school, not just kids with behavioral issues.
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Promote psychological evaluations by unqualified school staff. Selective interventions may be prescribed by staff with limited training. These records may adversely impact a student’s record and impact future college admissions and/or job applications.
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Disclose student data that could be used against parents regarding personal choices they make for their children. This is an issue of Private Policy Concerns. Example: Based on his/her responses to assessments on issues such as gender, sexual orientation, etc. a student may be removed from a home.
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Seek to replace the family in teaching values and social norms. This is a form of cultural Marxism where sacred family beliefs may be classified as unkind or unacceptable instead of a matter of morality. This may be seen as spiritually, mentally, and emotionally abusive as a student may be forced to choose between two leaders in authority (parent vs. teacher) resulting in even more anxiety for the child.
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Impact education on sexuality by undermining traditional values and beliefs taught by abstinence-based/risk avoidance programs. SEL brings obscene sexual behavior into the classroom by teaching elements of the Comprehensive Sex Ed (CSE) curriculum which embraces high risk behaviors that align with the LGBT movement. It may include normalizing anal and oral sex practices; implying sexual promiscuity, such as hooking-up; teaching sexual pleasure; eroticizing the use of condoms; etc.
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Require students to accept false concepts such as sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). The endless gender identities are not based in science and present false concepts as based in factual truth. Other false concepts presented by SEL are a student may be told she may be trapped in the wrong
body, she can pause her puberty without adverse consequences, her parents don’t need to know, etc. -
Violate North Carolina’s sex education law as stated in #6. Controversial teachings on sex, sexuality, and gender in the name of sexual education are not compliant with current state laws.
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Promote activism, allegiance, and division. This is a form of social engineering where Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Marxist lessons are taught regarding oppression, oppressors, race, gender, and religion in ways that promote concepts that may violate the US Bill of Rights. Community organizing events and after school programs are often promoted.
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Advance revisionist programs. Remember Common Core Math? Math concepts were transformed to fully embrace SEL by progressive agendas. How well did that go for students and parents? Unfortunately, history and science classes aren’t exempt from revisions either. SEL is part of the Common Core
State Standards used in every school district in North Carolina. There is a tremendous incentive to integrate SEL in the curriculum of every school as it is tied to federal funding,
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Sales Pitch for SEL Behavioral problems in school are nothing new. Unfortunately, children are experincing an increasing level of anxiety with the onset of social media and the extensive use of electronic devices. Teachers and parents want children to be more attentive, less disruptive, and more civil to classmates and others. SEL appears to be sold to educators as the means to resolve problematic behaviors. Self-examination is one of the tools used in SEL tools that prompts students to perform frequent intropections. However it appears that the power of suggestibility from SEL-infused lessons may actually increase anxiety in a child. For example, how would the following questions impact your thinking? “How often do you keep your anger in check?” “How often did you remain calm, even when someone was bothering you or saying bad things?” This is just a sampling of the numerous questions from a Panorama SEL survey in an elementary school.
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Malpractice? How is SEL used to improve behavior and help students cope with stress? Interventions and group work can be assigned based on SEL survey answers. The role of schools is shifting from academics to SEL with a nanny-state like focus on mental health. Is this a form of malpractice? It appears there is a movement to replace guidance counselors with mental health counselors in school- based health clinics. The American School Counselors Association (ASCA) which promotes DEI and other Marxist concepts appears to support this move. Managing mental health issues would best be done by referring a student to a professional
clinical psychologist/therapist in a clinic off the school campus and after instruction hours. In October 2023, a wellness center for Clyde A. Erwin Middle school was opened for care. The Warrior Wellness Center is one of 34 school-based health centers operated by Blue Ridge Health in seven Western North Carolina counties.
This development raises a number of questions. Are there duplications of services provided by local health departments? Although parental/guardian consent is required, is it a blanket consent? Will parents be informed when a child recieves treatment? When is it appropriate for a child to receive medical care without the
presence of a parent/guardian? Who benefits financially from opening a doctor’s office on a school campus? What happened to the school nurse who used to provide medical care for students?
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Second-Step Program in North Carolina. This SEL program is used by many individual school districts in North Carolina. More on that program will follow.
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Statistics that shock. The problem with education in America is illustrated in a report by the Department of Education. Between 2000-2019 the percent growth of population in public schools for district administrators grew by 87.0 % during those years, far outstripping the growth in the number of students (7.6%) and teachers (8.7%). There has been a radical fundamental change in education with the administrative system/bureaucracy and other institutions/stakeholders draining resources that would benefit students. Collecting and managing data from SEL programs is just one of the many uses of funds that have no educational purpose. Who benefits?
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What can parents do? Reinforce your belief system at home with your child. Caution your child about group think and emphasize the importance of personal responsibility and decision making. Demand parental rights and privacy for your child’s and family’s information. Write to your legislators. Speak out at school board meetings and to other parents. If possible, consider homeschooling or enroll in private school. But beware, SEL is being found in private schools too.
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Resources:
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Karen Metzger; Parents on the Level; 2024
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Alex Newman, Trading Academics for Far-Left ‘Social Emotional Learning’; 2021.
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Larry Arnn, Imprimis, Education as a Battleground; November 2022.
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UtahParentsUnited.org/SEL
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https://cdn.secondstep.org/static/pdf/funding-grants/federal-funding-for-purchasing-second-step-programs.pdf
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https://webservices.ncleg.gov/ViewDocSiteFile/39601