A new front in the culture war is social emotional learning. The folks who are banning books without reading them and disrupting school board meetings over critical race theory are calling SEL a gateway to CRT. All in the name of “parent’s rights”.
What is SEL, you may ask?
Social emotional learning consists of five core competencies:
- Self-awareness
- Self-management
- Social awareness
- Relationship skills
- Making responsible decisions
In other words, teaching kids to be good people.
But isn’t that what parents are supposed to do. Well yes, but the right-wing is becoming extreme, sowing hatred of those who are different because of their skin color or non-conformist lifestyle.
I grew up in the 60s and attended parochial school, so I doubt I would have been exposed to SEL. I certainly would have benefited from it. I was gifted academically but at the expense of learning emotional and social intelligence.
So why would parents not want their kids to learn empathy and the soft skills that help them to handle their emotions and succeed in life? Excuse my while I scratch my head at people who admire authoritarian leaders and want everyone to share their belief system.
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