Lonely Dreams (Social-Emotional Learning: Conclusion)

The crisis gripping public education is the stark and undeniable consequence of a fraudulent theory called social-emotional learning. Public education traded equality for equity, academic achievement for academic growth, and accountability for emotional safety. Standards evaporated, consequences were eradicated, and schools effectively transformed into centers for mental health rather than academic excellence.

This mistaken benevolence has enacted a devastating toll on our students, rendering them ill-equipped for the demands of a self-sufficient life. We've systematically stripped our students of their internal drive, their resilience, and their capacity for self-determination and self-respect. Passed on, year after year without any accountability from the system or an authoritative classroom mentor, our most neglected students are left functionally illiterate, their lonely dreams left to rot in a dusty elementary school classroom somewhere. That is a real victim. And we shamefully created them.

The path forward is clear. We must now reclaim our profession's soul, abandoning the soft tyranny of social-emotional learning for the genuine empowerment of accountable education. True compassion does not indulge. Instead, it challenges, equips, and holds liable. The lives of our students, the health of our society, and the sovereignty of our nation hinges on our immediate commitment to rectifying the calamity that is social-emotional learning. We cannot wait for another generation to grow up functionally illiterate — our country will not remain free.