Editorial Staff

AEI’s Naomi Schaefer Riley on Parenting, Excessive Screen Time, & Religion in American Education

/0 Comments/in , , /by Editorial Staff
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

This week on “The Learning Curve,” Gerard Robinson and guest co-host Kerry McDonald talk with Naomi Schaefer Riley, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of several books, including Be the Parent, Please. They discuss findings from her book on how excessive technology use negatively impacts children’s intellectual, social, and moral development – which was even more of a challenge with the wide usage of remote learning during COVID-19. The conversation turns to Riley’s extensive commentary on the relationship between religion and education in American society, and lessons K-12 education policymakers should learn from higher education’s handling of faith on campus. She delves into why religion and church-state issues remain such a stark fault line across American K-12 education. They also talk about the development of anti-intellectual efforts on college campuses, and in the larger society, to use speech codes, political correctness, wokeness, and now cancel culture to shut down the free exchange of ideas, and why such campaigns to undermine the fundamentals of democracy persist.

Stories of the Week: EducationWeek reports that over 1.3 million American students did not return to school this year due to the pandemic-related closures. Juneteenth, which honors the 1865 ending of slavery in this country, has officially become a U.S. federal holiday.

Guest:
Naomi Schaefer Riley is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute focusing on issues regarding child welfare, as well as a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum. She also writes about parenting, higher education, religion, philanthropy, and culture. She is a former columnist for the New York Post and a former Wall Street Journal editor and writer, as well as the author of six books, including, Be the Parent: Stop Banning Seesaws and Start Banning Snapchat (2018). Her book, Til Faith Do Us Part: How Interfaith Marriage is Transforming America (Oxford, 2013), was named an editor’s pick by the New York Times Book Review. Ms. Riley’s writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the LA Times, and the Washington Post, among other publications. She appears regularly on FoxNews, FoxBusiness, and CNBC. She has also appeared on Q&A with Brian Lamb, as well as the Today Show. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in English and Government.

The next episode will air on Wednesday, June 30th, 2021 at 12 pm ET with guest, David Hackett Fischer, University Professor and Earl Warren Professor of History Emeritus at Brandeis University, and the author of numerous books, including Paul Revere’s Ride and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington’s Crossing.

News Links:

More Than 1 Million Students Didn’t Enroll During the Pandemic. Will They Come Back?

https://www.edweek.org/leadership/more-than-1-million-students-didnt-enroll-during-the-pandemic-will-they-come-back/2021/06

Congress passes bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/16/politics/house-vote-juneteenth-federal-holiday-senate-passed-june-19/index.html

Tweet of the Week:

Get new episodes of The Learning Curve in your inbox!

Related Content

AFC’s Denisha Allen on School Choice & Black Minds Matter

Denisha shares her journey and the motivations behind founding Black Minds Matter, a national movement dedicated to celebrating Black excellence and promoting high-quality educational options for Black students. She delves into the politics of urban school reform, highlighting the challenges posed by race and class-based achievement gaps and the political influence of teachers' unions.

UK’s Prof. Richard Holmes on Coleridge, the Ancient Mariner, & Poetry

Prof. Holmes delves into the life and literary legacy of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, one of the most significant poets of the Romantic era. Holmes offers a comprehensive overview of Coleridge's early education, highlighting how classical learning deeply influenced his worldview and writings.

NYT’s Anupreeta Das on Bill Gates, Microsoft, & Tech Billionaires

NYT’s South Asia correspondent, Anupreeta Das discusses how she became interested in writing her acclaimed biography, Billionaire, Nerd, Savior, King: Bill Gates and His Quest to Shape Our World, emphasizing Gates’ corporate and philanthropic influence on our era.

National Alliance’s Starlee Coleman on Public Charter Schools

Starlee Coleman discusses her role as CEO of the Texas Public Charter Schools Association, highlighting the growth of charter schools in Texas, as well as the broader efforts to expand school choice.

Houston Supt. Mike Miles & Urban School Reform

Mr. Miles reflects on his lifelong dedication to public service, starting as a soldier, then a diplomat, and later as an educational leader. He shares insights into his family background and formative experiences that shaped his commitment to serving the public.

Dr. David Heidler on Andrew Jackson & American Democracy

Dr. David Heidler discusses the transformative period of Jacksonian Democracy, from 1829 to 1837. He explores the political changes, sectionalism, and reforms that characterized the era, alongside the controversial figure of Andrew Jackson, whose volatile nature and strategic political management propelled his rise and image.

MIT’s Nobel Winner Joshua Angrist on the Economics of Education & Charter Public Schools

Prof. Angrist explores the controversies and his motivations behind studying K-12 education, emphasizing what policymakers often overlook about education and labor markets. He discusses his groundbreaking research on charter schools, highlighting how his findings have influenced policymakers. Angrist also talks about his Nobel-winning work on the analysis of causal relationships in economics and the innovative research currently underway at Blueprint, his lab at MIT.

Stanford’s Arnold Rampersad on Jackie Robinson

Stanford University Prof. Arnold Rampersad, author of Jackie Robinson: A Biography, discusses the life and legacy of Robinson, the hall of fame baseball player and history-changing civil rights leader.

Pulitzer Winner Kai Bird on Robert Oppenheimer & the Atomic Bomb

Mr. Bird focuses on the life and legacy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, “father of the atomic bomb.” He discusses Oppenheimer's impact on history, his early life and education, and his academic achievements in quantum physics. Bird covers Oppenheimer's political views, relationships, as well as his leadership in the Manhattan Project and his role in the Trinity test.

Georgetown’s Dr. Marguerite Roza on Federal ESSER Funds & the Fiscal Cliff

Dr. Roza explores the complexities of education finance and its impact on American K-12 education. She outlines the three phases of school funding over the past 40 years and their effect on equity and student achievement. She highlights that only about half of the K-12 education dollars reach student instruction, with significant funds absorbed by the ever-expanding education bureaucracy.