Latest news with #indoctrination
ABC News
3 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
China forces young Tibetan children to indoctrination boarding schools to push state propaganda
Distressed Tibetan children as young as four sent to Chinese state-run boarding schools for indoctrination have been beaten for praying and wearing Buddhist blessing cords, forced to sleep on sheepskins and taught only in Mandarin, a new report has found. Researchers and activists say the boarding schools have been used by authorities to suppress the local culture and language of people in China's Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR). Details of the violence and coercive indoctrination have emerged in a new report from the US-based Tibet Action Institute (TAI) titled When They Came To Take Our Children. Two Tibetans interviewed told the TAI that children were reprimanded for practising their religion. "Students are restricted from wearing any sungdue [Buddhist blessing cords] around their necks and wrists and chanting Tibetan prayers," the report says. A former student, who has left Tibet, told the TAI if school authorities inspected dormitories and "found that we had not kept it clean, we were beaten as a punishment". Along with the allegations of beatings, the report says Tibetan children are indoctrinated to praise the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and taught only in Mandarin. "It's an effort to move Tibetan children away from family and community … expanding its control over what they're learning and thinking," Freya Putt, the author of the report and TAI's Director of Strategy, says. The TAI said its research was based on rare firsthand accounts from people in Tibet, and with those who have recently fled — as well as Chinese news reports and research papers. Human Rights Watch Associate China Director Maya Wang said they too have gathered evidence of the CCP's enforcement of Mandarin instruction of Tibetan schoolchildren. "It's part of a bigger forced assimilation drive, where the intention is to punish any kind of expression of Tibetans that are not following the Chinese government script," she told the ABC. Chinese authorities have denied children have been mistreated, and have used state media to cast the schools in a far more positive light. TAI's previous research found that 800,000-900,000 Tibetan children aged 6-18 were living in state-run boarding schools. Fieldwork by educational sociologist Gyal Lo suggests another 100,000 aged four to six are also in boarding preschools. "Some people do not want to send their children to boarding school but they don't have any other choice," a Tibetan who recently fled is quoted as saying in the report. "Parents do not want their children to be illiterate, so with that hope they send their children to the schools. But when these children return home, they cannot speak in Tibetan with their family members, they only communicate in Chinese. Dr Lo said he had even seen this happen to his two grand-nieces. He described it as a "sort of cultural genocide", and that his grand-nieces seemed to be uncomfortable sharing the family's Tibetan identity. "They became a stranger at home," he said. "That's just the result of the three months in the boarding preschool." The TAI's report detailed terrible conditions in boarding preschools. A student teacher's online diary is quoted, describing how "children in the lower bunks were prevented from falling off by boards; children in the upper bunks were tied up with a strap. For nap time, children have to sleep with their heads on their desks". Another account from a Tibetan still in Tibet described how the young child of a friend was so distressed they had to be locked in a room so their parent could leave them at boarding school. "China is using Tibetan children as the final frontier on the battleground to eliminate the Tibetan identity language and the culture," Dr Lo said. Former UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Fernand de Varennes, described these practices as an "existential threat" to Tibetan people. "Within two generations, if this situation does not improve, the language, much of the identity [and] culture will be lost," he said. Tibetan-Australian Yangkyi Dolma Sangpo, 25, attended a boarding school as a young child. Yangkyi's parents fled Tibet when she was only four months old. "My father, he got in trouble with the Chinese government because he was bringing Tibetan scriptures and Tibetan political texts from India back into Tibet," Yangkyi said. Her parents could not risk taking her on a month-long journey through the Himalaya mountains to India, she said. So she was left in the care of her grandmother. Yangkyi remembers being taught in Mandarin at school in the village where she lived with her grandmother. She said they did learn Tibetan "on the side", but the school was closed down when she was about six. She was then told she would have to go to a boarding school. At that school, students were strongly discouraged from speaking Tibetan or keeping possessions tied to Tibetan traditions, like prayer beads, she said. "We received a lot of bullying from other students who were there a long time … they were looking down on us," she said. At boarding school, Yangkyi said they were only taught Chinese culture and language. "We were not practising Tibetan religion or any other type of traditions," she said. Yangkyi remembers the culture shock when she returned home. "Because my grandmother and my extended family … they don't speak Mandarin, and me coming home [I was] completely speaking Mandarin all the time and correcting little words," she said. "Like if they said 'socks' in Tibetan, I'd be correcting them to say it in Mandarin." Yangkyi said she had a kidney condition as a young child. Her family used that as an excuse to keep her at home in the village instead of returning to the state-run boarding school. She eventually went to another privately run boarding school that taught Tibetan language and traditions. Then in 2010, Yangkyi was reunited with her parents who had been relocated to Australia on humanitarian grounds. Even outside of Tibet, people like Yangkyi and Dr Lo put themselves at great risk by speaking publicly about their experiences and research. When Dr Lo was recently in India, his father died. "My brothers and sister could not directly inform me that my dad passed away because they're afraid of Chinese authorities' intimidation," he said. Accounts from Tibet have been extremely difficult to verify. Yangkyi tried for months to get documents or photos from family still there, to help the ABC verify her story. But it was not possible without putting them at risk. Even chatting briefly with Yangkyi spooked one of her cousins. "He left me a note saying: 'Hey, I'll be MIA for a while, I don't want to get in trouble,'" she said. There have long been accusations and documentation of religious and cultural suppression in Tibet. In 1950, the then-newly proclaimed People's Republic of China sent troops into Tibet. It was annexed by China and after a failed uprising in 1959 the Dalai Lama — Tibet's spiritual leader — fled to India, where he set up a government in exile that still exists. Tibetans living overseas say communication with relatives is limited, and there is great risk talking about anything political or controversial. People in Tibet are also routinely restricted from travelling and being issued passports, according to the Central Tibetan Administration, the India-based government in exile. Foreign journalists and officials are rarely allowed into the region. The US State Department's East Asia and Pacific bureau stated in May that five requests in 2024 and three in 2023 by American officials to visit were rejected. Diplomats visiting Tibetan areas outside the TAR are subject to "conspicuous surveillance to intimidate, monitor, harass, and restrict [their] movements", it says. It says the TAR is the only part of China its officials need to formally request permission to visit. The ABC has made repeated requests to visit Tibet to report on the devastating earthquake in January, which killed at least 120 people. They were all denied, with officials citing safety concerns. The CCP has mobilised its media outlets to portray the schools in a positive way. A video posted on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, by China Tibet Net — a state media outlet — shows children in class, playing outside, conducting chemistry experiments and dancing. The description emphasises that enrolment in the boarding school system was voluntary, and students received free food and accommodation with tuition in both Tibetan and Mandarin. There was another video posted by The Tibet Daily, the official newspaper of the CCP's Tibet Autonomous Region Committee. It features footage said to be from foreign media reports, accusing them of spreading fake information about boarding schools. In the video, two Chinese reporters visit a school in Tibet where a teacher tells them they give classes in Tibetan language, culture and dancing. The video says the boarding schools are the only way to provide high quality education in such a large and sparsely populated region. In 2020, China's State Council introduced measures aimed at "promoting and popularising the national common language and script", with policies encouraging teachers from other regions to support teaching in Tibet and improve Chinese proficiency among local teachers. There was no requirement for teachers to have Tibetan language skills, according to a 2024/2025 recruitment document issued by the Shenzhen Municipal Education Bureau. Zoe Bedford from the Australia Tibet Council said her organisation had asked the Australian government to sanction Chinese government officials responsible for Tibet's boarding schools. "We get the reply back that the government raises the issue of these colonial boarding schools publicly and privately in their conversations with Chinese officials," Ms Bedford said. A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said they would not speculate about potential sanctions. "The Australian government has serious concerns about the erosion of educational, religious, linguistic, and cultural rights in Tibet, including through the boarding school system," it said in a statement. In October, Australia's ambassador to the United Nations, James Larsen, raised concerns about the "separation of children from families in boarding schools; and erosion of linguistic, cultural, educational and religious rights and freedoms". The ABC contacted China's Embassy in Canberra for a response. Professor de Varennes, the former UN special rapporteur, called on UN institutions and democratic countries to do more.
Fox News
6 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Parental rights watchdog exposes left-wing climate group's strategy to recruit kids for environmental activism
FIRST ON FOX: Parental watchdog group American Parents Coalition is sounding the alarm about a left-wing climate advocacy group that they warn could be coming for your kids. In a new report, published via APC's parental notification system called "The Lookout," the parental rights watchdog alleges climate advocacy group Our Children's Trust (OCT) is "emotionally manipulating" children to advance its climate agenda. Besides OCT's lawsuits that entail youth plaintiffs, APC pointed to curriculum materials the climate advocacy group promotes, which the watchdog said are "aimed at indoctrinating kids into a particular set of beliefs about the environment." APC also cited OCT's promotion of social media posts and research studies that talk about children's "climate-related stress." "Our Children's Trust should not be 'trusted' by parents," APC Executive Director Alleigh Marré said. "The left's obsession with undermining parental authority and targeting young minds has now entered the climate movement." In May, on behalf of 22 young people, several of whom were minors at the time of filing, OCT filed Lighthiser v. Trump to challenge the president's executive orders related to the fossil fuel industry and peeling back Biden-era green energy mandates. APC says the suit utilizes a narrative of climate hysteria, arguing, "Plaintiffs were born into and now live in a destabilized climate system…" and "Every additional ton of GHG pollution and increment of heat Defendants cause will cause Olivia [a child plaintiff] more harm." Meanwhile, in addition to using children to help file its climate change-related lawsuits, OCT also pushes educator resources and course materials to schools that perpetuate the idea of climate-related stress and anxiety in young people. For example, APC pointed to course materials that included a brainstorming session for students, which the watchdog group said implies parents are not offering adequate protection for children. The classroom exercise asked students: "What might make youth different from other people in the eyes of a court?" Sample answers provided to students included, "Youth generally will outlive older generations and so will have to live with the consequences of adults' present-day actions," and "Youth are often dependent upon adults for protection of their physical, mental and social well-being." APC also pointed to OCT's use of social media and research to promote the idea that their child-driven climate lawsuits are necessary. "Climate anxiety is real and it's impacting children's mental health," an Instagram post highlighted by APC states. "Children are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to their physical, developmental and socio-economic characteristics," another Instagram post highlighted by APC says. "No organization should be focused on stoking anxiety and fear among kids in an effort to persuade them to join lawsuits that are activist and political in nature," Marré said. "The bombardment from Our Children's Trust and other activist groups pushing climate alarmism and hysteria are having devastating impacts to children's mental health. Exposing children to this kind of extremist mentality is not productive and leads to manipulation rather than education." Marré also complained that this stifles children's ability to think for themselves. However, OCT vigorously disagreed with the assertions made by Marré and APC. "Our Children's Trust, a group founded by mothers, equips young people with the education and tools to understand the world they know they are inheriting—and to participate in civic life in a meaningful, lawful way," OCT said in a statement to Fox News Digital when they were reached for comment. "While the APC did not allow us to review its report in advance of its release, we can confidently say its conclusions represented to us by Fox News are false. We do not manipulate young people. Youth come to us already deeply aware of how climate change is impacting their lives and futures. They pursue legal action because the political branches of government are harming their fundamental rights to life, safety, and health." The statement from OCT went on to argue that the assertion that "climate anxiety among youth is somehow manufactured" is "out of touch" and "insulting to the millions of children facing record-breaking wildfires, floods, and extreme heat." "It's telling that this group purporting to represent parents would rather discredit youth voices than address the real climate harms children are living through," OCT's statement concluded. "Our work is grounded in science, constitutional and children's rights, and civic engagement—not fearmongering—and is supported by pediatricians, parents, teachers, and faith leaders across the country. Young people don't need to be manipulated to care about the planet. They are already living the consequences."
Daily Mail
30-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Two sisters, 19 and 21, arrested by terror police for running 'virtual jihadi academy' for young women from their bedrooms
Two sisters have been arrested in Spain for allegedly running an online 'Jihadi academy' aimed at recruiting and training young female extremists. Police arrested the suspects on Monday in Alcorcon, south-west Madrid, in the home that they shared on charges of terrorist indoctrination. Cops also seized their computers, which are currently being analysed by terrorism experts. The women, aged 19 and 21, are believed to have run a virtual platform, that under the guise of providing religious teachings to Muslim women, actually operated as a 'jihad academy' that actively sought to recruit and indoctrinate members. Spain's Home Office said in a statement that the women had 'created a complex social engineering structure, where under the pretext of teaching religion, they indoctrinated other Muslim faithful. 'This virtual platform, which operated similarly to a jihad academy, primarily targeted the indoctrination of women.' Police began investigating the sisters last year after counterterrorism experts identified social media profiles managed by the siblings that shared radical and violent content linked to terror group Daesh. One of them pledged to 'wage Jihad' and even praised a violent attack on six women in the Barcelona underground last year. The young women are also said to have used encrypted messages to hide their digital footprint. One of the sisters has been remanded in custody while the other has been released on precautionary measures. Police have not ruled out further suspects. Their arrests come months after Spanish police arrested seven people, including four suspected 'jihadist influencers,' for alleged links to Islamist terrorism. The arrests were made in Madrid and Toledo, which is an hour's drive from the Spanish capital. Another arrest was made in Pontevedra in north-western Spain. They were accused of hiding their radicalism behind videos about physical training and self-defence, as well as ISIS material. One of the accused is believed to have a 'significant influence and accessibility... to disseminate jihadist ideology.' The arrests of the sisters in Madrid also comes months after ISIS families living in Syria's largest refugee camp declared the terror group is 'ready to rise again'. Since the jihadist organisation lost its final stronghold in Syria in 2019, tens of thousands of ISIS fighters and their families have been held in prisons and refugee camps in Rojava - the Kurdish-led autonomous region in northeast Syria. Now, the instability following the toppling of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has created fertile ground for a horrifying ISIS resurgence. Back in February, military officials in Rojava told MailOnline that ongoing clashes between Rojava's Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Turkish-backed militias may force camp guards to abandon their posts and head to the frontlines. If this happens, security at the camp could collapse and Islamic State could stage a breakout.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion - Trump can't stop schools from teaching the truth
The Trump administration is seeking to replace education with indoctrination in America's K-12 public schools, demanding schools paint a fairy tale picture of the American story that focuses only on the good while ignoring the bad and the ugly. We owe our children better. Alarmingly, the administration wants to withhold billions of dollars in federal aid to schools unless they bow to its dictatorial demands. An executive order signed by President Trump, titled 'Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling,' says that schools must instill in students 'a patriotic admiration for our incredible nation and the values for which we stand.' It denounces schools that teach 'anti-American, subversive, harmful, and false ideologies.' The order gives the federal government dangerously wide latitude to censor what it considers impermissible educational content. Another Trump executive order on schools denounces 'gender ideology' and 'the false claim that males can identify as and thus become women and vice versa.' It is being used by the Trump administration to demand that transgender students be barred from athletic teams and restrooms that align with their gender identity. In addition, a memo sent by the U.S. Education Department to state education officials in April threatened to cut off federal aid to public schools unless the schools end their diversity, equity and inclusion or DEI programs, which the memo claimed are illegal even though no court has issued such a ruling. Republicans have long called for greater local and state control of public schools, and Trump signed an executive order in March claiming to 'return authority over education to the states and local communities.' But the Trump administration is acting like a national school board, seeking to exercise unprecedented control over how and what students are taught in an effort to sweep our nation's flaws under the rug. Fortunately, three federal judges have ruled separately that the Education Department cannot block aid to schools, rulings the department is expected to appeal. Teachers unions, civil rights groups and 19 Democratic state attorneys general have all filed lawsuits seeking to stop the aid cuts. Ironically, while denouncing indoctrination by the left, the Trump administration seeks to subject students to its own right-wing indoctrination, filled with false claims about an America without flaws — an America that has never existed. This propaganda amounts to educational child abuse and malpractice. Reality can be disturbing. But schools need to teach students about the world as it really is, giving them a truthful accounting of the past and present to enable them to recognize the challenges America faces and learn from injustices and mistakes 'in order to form a more perfect union,' as the Constitution puts it. Even our founders knew this union called America was flawed because it was formed by flawed men. It is simply dishonest to whitewash America's flaws, including slavery, the seizure of land from Native Americans, systemic racism and sexism, religious bigotry and anti-gay and anti-transgender bias. It is also dishonest to claim we live in a colorblind society where all forms of prejudice have disappeared and to deny that centuries of inequality still hold back marginalized groups. It is equally false to claim that efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in workplaces and schools are an illegal racist attack on white Americans, as President Trump has repeatedly charged. DEI programs do not tear anyone down — they simply open the door to the American Dream a little wider for groups shut out in the past and enable additional qualified people to compete for open positions. It is a blatant falsehood, perpetrated by those who claim to want to make our country 'great again,' that DEI requires employers to hire unqualified people of color and women. Germany and South Africa offer valuable lessons on teaching students ugly historical truths. Rather than trying to cover up or distort the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were murdered by the Nazis, German schools are required to teach students an accurate account of this horror. Similarly, South Africa requires schools to teach how European colonialists enslaved Black people there between 1652 and 1834 and how the white minority continued to oppress Blacks and deprive them of most human rights until the racist apartheid regime was replaced by democratic rule in 1994. Some Nazi death camps and South African prisons have been preserved as museums, so that their existence will never be forgotten. Educating young people about these atrocities is vital, because as philosopher George Santayana wrote in 1905: 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' We send our kids to school to be educated — not to be brainwashed with false and misleading lessons. Dictatorships like Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and Cuba infuse education with propaganda and indoctrination in schools, censoring content the government dislikes, limiting academic freedom and promoting a favored ideology. America should never emulate these totalitarian states. The truth is not a partisan issue. No presidential administration should try to put a political spin on the way schools instruct students about our history and about life today. If the Republican-controlled Congress will not halt the Trump administration's efforts to cut funding to schools that refuse to substitute propaganda for education, the courts should and probably will do so. A. Scott Bolden is an attorney, NewsNation contributor and former chair of the Washington, D.C. Democratic Party. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
