Kid Pan Alley Helps Students Write Pro-Occupy Song, Sparking National Controversy

[Twitchin Kitten]

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I'm not buying that these 3rd graders wrote these lyrics themselves. WTF are they teaching the kids in schools?

Kid Pan Alley Helps Students Write Pro-Occupy Song, Sparking National Controversy <--clicky

An elementary school in Charlottesville, Va., has drawn criticism after some of its 3rd grade students apparently wrote and sang a song in favor of the Occupy Wall Street movement, CBS Washington reports.

According to the report, the song, titled "Part of the 99," was written and performed during a visit with Kid Pan Alley group, who, according to their website, "uses the group songwriting process to inspire and empower children to become creators of their own music."

In the sessions, children are asked what topics they want to sing about. In this case, one of the students at Woodbrook Elementary School said they wanted to write about "having it all and losing it all."

Despite nationwide controversy over the lyrics, Albermarle County School Board Chair Steve Koleszar told WCAV that they don't want to discourage students' creativity and that Kid Pan Alley was not steering the songwriting process.

"They don't censor what the kids write. They don't shape what the kids write," Koleszar said. "It all comes out of the kids own mouths and the kids own words."

The station's report included a full transcript of the song:

"Some people have it all But they still don't think they have enough They want more money A faster ride They're not content Never satisfied Yes -- they're the 1 percent
I used to be one of the 1 percent
I worked all the time
Never saw my family
Couldn't make life rhyme
Then the bubble burst
It really, really hurt
I lost my money
Lost my pride
Lost my home
Now I'm part of the 99

Some people have it all
But they still don't think they have enough
They want more money
A faster ride
They're not content
Never satisfied
Yes -- they're the 1 percent

I used to be sad, now I'm satisfied
'Cause I really have enough
Though I lost my yacht and plane
Didn't need that extra stuff
Could have been much worse
You don’t need to be first
'Cause I've got my friends
Here by my side
Don't need it all
I'm so happy to be part of the 99"

Nevertheless, in a statement released today, Kid Pan Alley took responsibility for the lyrics, WCAV stated in a separate report.

Paul Reisler, the group's founder and artistic director, said they should have taken more care in keeping the song stance-neutral and avoiding phrases like "I'm part of the 99."

"This is a song about being satisfied with what you have, a song about how life has its ups and downs, as so many people in our country are experiencing now," Reisler told the station. "It was my personal mistake to introduce these phrases and I take complete responsibility for it. I will not make a mistake like this again."

[Gunnen4u]

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Well, in some schools, they do sing songs praising Obama himself. I am not surprised at anything like this that comes out of a Public School. The public likely funded this song writing adventure.

[Twitchin Kitten]

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We have a thread in here somewhere about that school in south Jersey where the teacher was having the kids praise Obama.

Parent's don't get outraged enough these days. Teachers should teach facts and not brainwash kids. Art should be encouraged (art = music, written, drawings, acting etc) but not with brainwashing antics like this. Keep it simple and let the kid/s develop their own minds and opinions.

[Gunnen4u]

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Yes, but remember, doing that doesn't produce properly educated (re: ignorant), complacent citizens. We're not trying to breed adventurous rebels here, we working on making the model American for today's political and social climate.

Remember, the socialization that public schools claim kids need isn't the company of other people, it's literally socialization in another sense. There is a more insidious reason behind some states forcing parents to send their kids to *approved* schools (such as California).

[Twitchin Kitten]

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I don't even know what that is - *approved* schools! I think I'm glad?

We were able to ask a teacher any question we wanted, even religious and they were happy to oblige. They didn't brainwash us but they gave us the best honest answer they could muster. If they couldn't, they said they couldn't. We had plenty of "leftie" teachers and we had just as many "conservatives" and all of them treated us like we had a brain.

Even my liberal friends see what's going on. Well, calling them liberal may be too much, more like Blue Dog Dems. Either way, parent's need to be speaking up more and making a huge stink over shit like this. They won't though, that takes effort and too many are spineless.

[Gunnen4u]

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And too many local and state gov'ts are overly entrenched in their power - too few to fight too much of a powerful system. When the state or county is in charge of something, they are in charge. School board members, among others, are some of the worst petty tyrants I have encountered in my travels on this Earth.

This, along with the rash of ridiculous sexual assault arrests, are just fruits of the system. It's amazing how many Americans don't realize the reality of their own country.

[Twitchin Kitten]

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That's because they are the very problem at its core.

[Gunnen4u]

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Well, there are 300 million potential problems at present. I've come to accept the fate everyone else has set forth for themselves.

The only thing to fix it is serious disaster or failure, to get through to people, but no one wants that at all - comfort breed complacency and ignorance. So things continue apace.

If you wanted to fix things, try running for a local school board. Oh wait, most folks couldn't bear that nightmare, and if they could, just fixing the whole system arrayed against you would be an adventure unto itself. There is so much to articulate over fixing things, especially something as a school system, it's insane.

[Twitchin Kitten]

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They'd have to know how to read first.

[LKTraz]

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My local school district hates to see me coming. i never fail to remind them that they are MY EMPLOYEES and as such they need to sit down and shut up while I straighten them out. It works every time!