It’s Not About Speech
What to know: According to Education Week, the recent student walkouts from class in planned protests against ICE are reviving “free speech debates.”
The TPPF take: It’s not about free speech; it’s about schools’ duties and responsibilities.
“Districts cannot simultaneously claim that students are their responsibility during the school day while asserting that no action will be taken if students simply decide to leave campus,” says TPPF’s Brian Phillips. “With additional school-related protests reportedly planned later this month, the broader issue remains unresolved. Once again, public education appears to be drifting further from what parents expect: schools focused on rigorous, age-appropriate academics, not institutions that place children at the center of adult political controversies.”
For more on the student walkouts, click here.
Sunspots
What to know: Solar activity has been increasing lately, including a sunspot last week that was the width of 15 Earths.
The TPPF take: The sun is stronger than our electric grid — and we are defenseless against it.
“The sun has an 11-year cycle, and this year is the peak of the cycle,” says TPPF’s Chuck DeVore. “A Carrington-level event today wouldn’t just spark a few fires in telegraph offices. It would risk melting or destroying hundreds of massive high-voltage transformers, triggering widespread blackouts that could last months or years. Supply chains would collapse, water systems would fail, fuel pumps would go dark, communications would vanish and refrigeration would cease. Yet despite clear warnings, America’s grid remains dangerously vulnerable.”
For more on solar activity, click here.
PE
What to know: Some states are increasing the physical education requirements in their schools.
The TPPF take: Our children’s obesity problem is only getting worse.
“To protect our sovereignty, secure our liberties, and return to the stars, we must have the courage to mold our bodies with the same seriousness we reserve for our minds by restoring physical education as a disciplined practice and an enduring virtue,” says TPPF’s Cameron Abrams. “America, and most importantly its children, must have their habits formed early, reinforced daily, and regarded as an essential dimension of responsible citizenship.”
For more on physical education, click here.