Indoctrinating the Children

The techniques of brainwashing developed in totalitarian countries are routinely used in psychological-conditioning programs imposed on American school children. These include emotional shock and desensitization, psychological isolation from sources of support, stripping away defenses, manipulative cross-examination of the individual's underlying moral values, and inducing acceрtance of alternative values by psychological rather than rational means. These techniques are not confined to separate courses or programs [...] These are not the isolated idiosyncracies of particular teachers. They are products of numerous books and other"educational" material in programs packaged by organizations that sell such curricula to administrators and teach the techniques to teachers. Some packages even include instructions on how to deal with parents or others who object. Psychological isolation can be achieved in a number of ways, and stripping away psychological defenses can be done through assignments to keep diaries to be discussed in the group and through role-playing assignments, both techniques used in the original brainwashing programs in China under Mao. (p. 1)