If children are taught that patriotism is wrong, Britain's very identity is at stake

One of the most startling aspects of our society at present is the way things that were once considered to be virtues have now become the object of intense disapproval, and vice versa.

A recent survey of teachers by London University's Institute of Education found that some three-quarters of them believed it was their duty to warn their pupils about the dangers of patriotism.

Once upon a time, loving your country enough that you were prepared to die for it was held to be the highest virtue.

Indeed, without patriotism there would be no one serving in the Armed Forces.
For the past 1,000 years, it has given the people of these islands the strength and courage to repel invaders and defeat the enemies of liberty.

Is it not extraordinary that such affection for your country should now be considered so objectionable that children should be told it is positively dangerous?

One teacher said that praising patriotism excluded non-British pupils.

'Patriotism about being British divides groups along racial lines, when we aim to bring pupils to an understanding of what makes us the same.
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But on the contrary, patriotism is what binds us together through a shared sense of belonging and a desire to defend what we all have in common.

What this teacher seemed to be saying was that children from immigrant backgrounds can't have that shared sense of belonging because they are not really British. Is that not itself a racist attitude?

And if such children really are merely foreign visitors, it is even more extraordinary that teachers should tailor the education of children who are British to suit the few who are not.

But then, some of these teachers seemed unwilling to acknowledge the concept of citizenship at all, spouting idiotic nonsense instead about promoting 'universal brotherhood' or the need to 'identify as humans'.

With no awareness of any irony (they probably don't understand what that means either) some said promoting patriotism was a form of 'brainwashing'.
So what, pray, is promoting 'universal brotherhood'? Planet earth to teachers: make contact, please!

As the researchers who conducted this survey point out, much of history and politics is incomprehensible without understanding the power of patriotic sentiment.

Accordingly, they say, schools should ensure that pupils not only understand what patriotism is, but are also 'equipped to make reasoned judgments about the place it should occupy in their own emotional lives'.

Surely that's the point. Teachers should not set out to put across one point of view, which replaces education with propaganda. Instead, they should be giving pupils both knowledge and the ability to think about it and learn from it so they can arrive at their own conclusions.

But on the grounds that love for your country is wrong, many teachers have long stopped passing on to children the knowledge they need if they are to admire and identify with Britain. Somehow this has got mixed up with racism, xenophobia and the BNP.

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