Archive for the ‘Culture Wars’ Category

Fighting the culture war for political gain | GARY COSBY JR. – Tuscaloosa Magazine

Former President Donald Trump appears to be in real trouble in New York and Georgia as investigations into his business practices and in his efforts to bully Georgia elections officials seem to have prosecutors on the brink of filing criminal charges against him.

Trump was already walking on thin ice within the Republican Party due to the fiasco of the mid-term elections that most certainly didnt go the way Republican officials had hoped. He has borne much of the blame for that poor performance and now, with revelations from the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit against Fox News, it is apparent even the hosts on that network knew he was lying about the election.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appears to be gaining an edge on Trump, assuming he declares for the presidency. The question Republican voters must confront is if the man who is at the forefront of the culture war is the right man to lead the party.

DeSantis recent push in Florida to ban books in schools, control school curriculums, and push for restrictions on health care for people with sexual identity issues might at first seem like a winning strategy with conservative voters. If you look beyond the surface, problems become quickly visible.

The problem for Republicans is that DeSantis message is playing to a diminishing segment of the population, that being older, very conservative voters, many of whom have deeply held religious beliefs. That is a core demographic of the conservative party and DeSantis is not wrong to play to that group. It is his choice of issues that needs questioning.

The danger in this strategy lies in the fact that this voting group cant elect him president. He will need moderately conservative voters and not a few of those all-important swing voters who do not identify as either conservative or liberal. They are the ones he must convince that he is the man for the job.

This leaves one wondering if the strategy of belligerence he is pursuing in Florida is going to play well nationally and particularly with that group of voters. The whole issue of transgender and gender identity issues is a relatively small issue, but it carries with it large ramifications.

Only a tiny percentage of the population has gender identity issues. This means the DeSantis is making a mountain out of a molehill for potential political gain. The same thing goes with the attempt to ban books in the public schools. I believe many of the books targeted deal with sexual identity issues. Again, we are talking about a tiny percentage of the books in the school libraries and a tiny percentage of people who might read them.

More:How sinful is Alabama? Survey has surprising answer | GARY COSBY JR.

This is purely opinion, but I think that conservative parents who back this sort of book-banning fear that their child might read the books and then develop a desire to become homosexual or transgender or have some kind of sexual identity crisis. That is an unrealistic fear, but it is a fear that DeSantis is leveraging for political gain.

Think about it for a moment. I dont like the first-person shooter games that most kids play online. Nevertheless, though it might desensitize them to violence, simply playing a video game or reading a book about guns doesnt transform kids into mass murderers. In like manner, the likelihood of kids reading books about trans people isnt going to produce a tidal wave of sex changes in Floridas youth.

These issues are but a microcosm of the overall culture war that is being fought on Americas airwaves and on the internet all the time. Fears of transgender people somehow mucking up the system are mostly just that; fear. It is largely a non-issue that is being turned into an issue because media providers know controversy sells and this is an excellent controversy to stir up because it hits at parents fears.

The culture war is mostly about fear-mongering to begin with. If you dont recognize that, you have lost the battle. Do you remember the transgender bathroom issue that was raised during the last few years of Barack Obamas presidency? Yeah, how many trans people have you run across in public bathrooms? It wasnt a problem then and it isnt a problem now. In fact, if you have been in a public restroom with a trans person, you likely didnt even know it.

The problem with the conservative approach to the culture wars is that we are pushing away the next generation of voters to play to the fears of older voters today. The older voters wont be around in a few years, but those who are young today will be in the arms of the Democrats and will be essentially a lost generation to Republicans. Short-sighted politicians of today are losing tomorrows elections. Since the culture war is mostly about political posturing rather than true conviction, it seems to me that it makes a great deal of sense to position conservatism to make future gains rather than give up the future over what is essentially a non-issue.

Gary Cosby Jr. is the photo editor of The Tuscaloosa News. Readers can email him at gary.cosby@tuscaloosanews.com.

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Fighting the culture war for political gain | GARY COSBY JR. - Tuscaloosa Magazine

Poll: Involve parents in what’s taught in N.J. schools – Stockton University

Galloway, N.J. Two-thirds of New Jersey adults believe parents should be more involved in local decisions about what curriculum is taught in the schools, according to a Stockton University Poll released today.

Only 5% of the 600 state residents interviewed said parents should be less involved in deciding what gets taught, and 26% said the involvement level should stay the same as it is now.

More respondents identified curriculum (24%) as their top education concern than any other issue, with bullying next at 9% and students falling behind in core subjects at 8%.

Majorities considered it very important that noncore subjects be taught in the schools, including racism and its impact (66%) and sex education (57%). But only 30% considered it very important to teach about gender identity and sexuality and 35% on gender issues and stereotypes. Republican respondents, for the most part, did not think it was important to teach about gender identity issues.

New Jersey adults support teaching sex education and material about racism and its impact, which have been controversial elsewhere. But the poll shows many in the Garden State still have qualms over teaching about sexual identity and gender norms, especially in the earlier grades."

John Froonjian, director of the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University

More than one in four (28%) supported the banning of certain books from school classrooms and libraries, including 19% of Democrats and 54% of Republicans. Sixty-one percent opposed book banning and 9% were unsure. Meanwhile, 73% were concerned about book censorship, but 22% were not.

Gender issues being taught in schools has been a hot-button topic for parents in many states and has become part of the culture wars in our politically polarized nation, said John Froonjian, director of the Hughes Center.

New Jersey adults support teaching sex education and material about racism and its impact, which have been controversial elsewhere. But the poll shows many in the Garden State still have qualms over teaching about sexual identity and gender norms, especially in the earlier grades, Froonjian said.

Overall, New Jersey residents are satisfied with the states schools and teachers. A majority (60%) are satisfied with the quality of K-12 education in the state and the vast majority (85%) have at least some trust in New Jersey school teachers.

Anywhere from 81-83% of K-12 parents, in particular, said their children are either on track or ahead of where they should be in core subjects like math, science, reading and writing, as well as social and communication skills. A minority of 14-16% said their child is behind.

Respondents were asked to rank the importance of various curricula, assuming the topics are being introduced and taught at an age-appropriate level.

Financial literacy was considered important to school curriculum by the highest rate of residents (97%) followed by social and emotional well-being (91%), sex education, media literacy, and racism (all 85%). Gender-related topics ranked last with lessons on gender issues and stereotyping deemed important by 62% and gender identity and sexuality by 59%.

When asked at what grade level these topics should be introduced, a majority (51%) said social and emotional well-being should be introduced in elementary school. A plurality (44%) said racism and its impact should also be introduced at this level. When it comes to sex ed, most (55%) said it should be introduced in middle school. A plurality of one-third said gender issues, and gender identity and sexuality should be introduced in middle school as well.

At least somewhat important to incorporate into curriculum

Gender identityand sexuality

Views toward topics of gender were divided sharply along partisan lines, with Republicans less supportive.

For the most part, K-12 parents are generally satisfied with New Jersey schools handling of potentially controversial topics, said Hughes Center Research Associate Alyssa Maurice.

Of those with children in grades K-12, a majority (62%) said their childrens school does a good job of keeping parents informed about what is being taught, including potentially controversial topics. A plurality said their childrens school gives parents the option to opt-out of potentially controversial lessons while 29% said the school did not and 27% were not sure.

Those who did not have any children in grades K-12 currently think that schools should keep parents informed about what is being taught at a rate of 71%, while 21% do not think schools should do so.

An area of consensus among New Jersey residents is supporting students mental health, with 90% in support of offering more mental health resources in schools.

For full poll results, visit https://stockton.edu/hughes-center/polling/polling-results-2023.html

Methodology

The poll of New Jersey adult residents was conducted by the Stockton Polling Institute of the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy from Feb. 24-Mar. 10, 2023. Stockton University students texted cell phones with invitations to take the survey online and Opinion Services supplemented the dialing portion of the fieldwork, which consisted of cell and landline telephone calls. Overall, 92% of interviews were conducted on cell phones and 8% on landline phones. In terms of mode, 75% were reached via dialing and 25% were reached via text-to-web. A total of 600 New Jersey adult residents were interviewed. Both cell and landline samples consisted of random digit dialing (RDD) sample from MSG. Data are weighted based on U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data for New Jersey on variables of age, race, ethnicity, education level, sex, and region. The poll's margin of error is +/- 4 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. MOE is higher for subsets.

About the Hughes Center

The William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy (stockton.edu/hughescenter) at Stockton University serves as a catalyst for research, analysis and innovative policy solutions on the economic, social and cultural issues facing New Jersey, and promotes the civic life of New Jersey through engagement, education and research. The center is named for the late William J. Hughes, whose distinguished career includes service in the U.S. House of Representatives, Ambassador to Panama and as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Stockton. The Hughes Center can be found onYouTube, and can be followed on Facebook@StocktonHughesCenter, Twitter@hughescenterand Instagram@ stockton_hughes_center.

# # #Media contacts:Stacey ClappDirector of Strategic CommunicationsStacey.Clapp@stockton.edu609-626-3645609-412-8069

Mark MelhornAssociate Director of News and Media RelationsMark.Melhorn@stockton.edu609-652-4593609-569-6026

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Poll: Involve parents in what's taught in N.J. schools - Stockton University

National Poll Finds Americans Support Freedom to Read – Publishers Weekly

Iowas Grinnell College and Seltzer & Co., a polling company in Des Moines, which partner to conduct a national poll each year on the attitudes of Americans towards politics and political figures, as well as hot-button cultural issues, released their latest data Wednesday. The findings regarding controversial books and their accessibility in public schools should hearten librarians and booksellers everywhere.

We run different experimental questions each time on top of the political battery and this time we have books, noted Ellen de Graffenreid, v-p of communications at Grinnell College, regarding the completed surveys of 1,004 adult U.S. residents that was conducted this past week. Three of the 16 questions addressed books in middle school libraries considered contentious or divisive because they explore sexuality, race and racism, or religion.

In response to a question on whether such books should be included in public middle school library collections, a majority of respondents agreed that students should have access to books addressing the following subjects: sexual orientation (56%), racism in the U.S. (76%), gender identity (57%), the Bible (84%), creationism (67%), and the Quran (67%). Interestingly, 10% of respondents were not sure about books on creationism and 8% were not sure about books on the Quran.

A follow-up question asked to what degree various groups should have a role in deciding what books should be included in public middle school collections. A majority of respondents, 57%, said that school librarians should play a major role in making such decisions, while 55% of respondents said students also should, and 53% said families of students should as well. Although 44% of the respondents said that local elected school boards should weigh in on such a matter, only 17% said that state elected officials should get involved.

The third question on the topic of controversial books provided two options concerning views on controversial books: 62% were concerned that materials of value to students could be removed from school libraries due to the current culture wars, while 30% were concerned that materials that were harmful to students would remain on school library shelves.

Americans want decisions about materials in school libraries to be made locally by school librarians, families, school boards, and students themselves, Peter Hanson, a political science professor who is director of the Grinnell College National Poll, said in a statement.

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National Poll Finds Americans Support Freedom to Read - Publishers Weekly

Ex-N.J. congressmans next campaign will be fighting culture wars in public schools – NJ.com

Ex-N.J. congressmans next campaign will be fighting culture wars in public schools  NJ.com

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Ex-N.J. congressmans next campaign will be fighting culture wars in public schools - NJ.com

Woke Grammys show ‘culture wars are over and the left won’ Joy Reid claims as she revels in ‘total defeat’ – Fox News

Woke Grammys show 'culture wars are over and the left won' Joy Reid claims as she revels in 'total defeat'  Fox News

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Woke Grammys show 'culture wars are over and the left won' Joy Reid claims as she revels in 'total defeat' - Fox News