IB: Socialist and Anti-American 

So... I don't get it. The article says that becoming a world citizen instead of an American one is somehow worse, that there's some inherent harm in being a bigger part of the world than the U.S. Are we all not part of the world? We could all stand to gain from more internationalist viewpoints. I just don't see what's lost, and if the only harm is that these people identify more as members of a 6 billion large population than the 350 million large one that we live in, that's no harm at all.

I went through the IB program in high school. Let me cite my "American"ness credentials for you.

1) The daughter of two members of the American Diplomatic Corp, the Foreign Service and the State Department.
2) I grew up in embassies and military bases, around United States Marines. Because of this, I've always had a deep respect for them.
3) I defend and stand by my country when she is right, and only when she is right.
4) I criticize my government and politicians when I think they will hurt my country more than they'll help it.
5) I am a member of the United States Peace Corps, and my job is literally to promote peace and a better understanding of the American people to those abroad so that they will respect us and our differences.

So I don't know what "anti-American" means to you, but if I may so so myself, I think I'm pretty damn American. I may not bleed red white and blue - but I certainly bleed red. Just like everyone else. And I don't need to shout about socialism and communism and anti-everywhere-else-in-the-world North Korea style to prove my patriotism to anyone.

And yeah - I'm a graduate of the International Baccalaureate Program. I graduated - along with sons and daughters of military officers and embassy employees - at the Pyramids of Giza. And yet, I'm still as American as I possibly can be. And I don't need anyone telling me that my values are "anti-American." Least of all by someone who would call me a socialist in the same breath.

Waving American flags in a bus full of idealistic young Americans as we drive down an African high way on the fourth of July. That's my "American." It may not be yours, but thankfully, America's not yours either. It's ours. And we each define what "American" is for ourselves.

Apparently your 'wonderful' education left out the fact that the US is a constitutional republic that has something called sovereignty.. which means no other country can rule over it.

Your IB program promotes the idea that the UN should be 'world gov't' and you should be one of its subjects.

Sorry but no thanks. UNESCO's program is pure brainwashing. It has nothing to do with learning and everything to do with indoctrination against the republic which is the best form of gov't in the world.

UN wants global slaves.

Care to back... any of that up?

The U.S. is a democratic republic, and we do have our own sovereignty. So does every country. But that doesn't mean that every country can unilaterally decide to invade another or to treat its citizens as it wishes. Not in today's world. The UN does scant little to actually decide what countries do, but it will deplore activities that it finds problematic. They're not a global police force, they're a global ethics board, and its only enforcement occurs when individual nations decide to take action.

@Teacher35

As a fellow teacher (professionally, not just on the Internet), I'd like to invoke the educational philosophy that we are never done learning, no matter how many degrees we have or how long we've been educators.

With this in mind, please consider the fact that my knowledge of the IB program comes directly from having experienced it, having friends (American and international) who experienced it with me, and also being friends with several of my former IB teachers, who continue to teach the program every day. By the way you speak, I believe I can presume that your knowledge of the IB program comes from secondary sources - articles, perhaps even dissertations that you have read on the matter - but no significant first hand experience with the program.

So please, trust my word when I say that there is no "ulterior motive" behind the IB program. Its motive is stated upfront. It's meant to educate a global population (not just Americans, but those in many other nations, hence the "international" in its title) on how to be ethical, contributing members of our global and local societies. It teaches students to, as they say, "think global, act local." Unlike AP, its American equivalent, it requires CAS hours - community service, as well as a number of other requirements like Theory of Knowledge beyond the basic academic necessities of math, science, literature and history. These requirements aren't meant to indoctrinate anyone, they are meant to, quite literally, promote volunteerism (with CAS hours) and free thought (with Theory of Knowledge). Free thought is quite the opposite of brainwashing.

And never, in my entire high school career or life experience with the IB program, have I ever heard them try and tell me that the United Nations should rule the world or control everything. Indeed, we were encouraged to criticize the United Nations, debate its sanctions and conventions, and the efficacy of the peace keepers.

A program that A) Creates thinkers, not workers, B) Fosters a sense of global responsibility and C) Encourages free speech and debate is certainly a program that I can get behind.

"Basically, the idea taught is that no one political philosophy is "right" and that no one country or system is superior to another."
"The American experience is valued at the same level as any other nation's"
""American principles of government and law are undermined and minimized in subtle ways, including the simple fact that they are grouped alongside so many other governmental styles and arrangements in a "value-neutral" way. "

Oh god forbid! I mean, how dare they they present material without bias!

"This disarms these students from being able to recognize the legitimate advantages of our constitutional republic"
"That steers the students toward accepting globalism rather than valuing American sovereignty and American principles."
"Student minds can be shaped toward globalism and socialism, rather than toward capitalism, democracy and pro-Americanism."
"Of more concern is the fact that the IB program requires schools to teach what is contained in the United Nations' "Universal Declaration of Human Rights," as well as the content of such treaties and accords as Kyoto, the UN Treaty on the Rights of the Child, the Earth Charter, Agenda 21, the Biodiversity Treaty"

By the sounds of it, it's not the the IB that's doing the brainwashing- more like the schools that DO teach children to "recognise the advantages of our constitutional republic" and DO "shape childrens' minds toward capitalism, democracy and pro-Americanism." *coughblindpatriotismcough*

So you can't impart knowledge to children about world-wide treaties? Interesting concept- mere knowledge would make kids into little socialists. Doesn't that tell you something?

I'm so sorry that the IB doesn't make children into the nationalistic flag-toting little Tea Party tykes you want them to be, but really, then you go and wonder why the rest of the world think Americans are arrogant toerags? It's because of people like this author who write crap like this author. I hate this article. I can't stand it. How anyone could be so immersed in their own self-importance and so blindly be convinced in their own nation's superiority to anyone else's is beyond me.

I am starting the IB next year (I am very scared, but only because I've seen the massive workload necessary- cinders did you die?) and I chose it specifically BECAUSE it shares a global perspective.