Good morning,

For 15 years, schools in America and Britain have poured money into tablets and laptops. Nearly a million British children now complete nearly all their lessons on a personal device. As this week’s Spectator notes, the “educational” apps their teachers require them to use are glorified video games, keeping kids engaged but teaching little.

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• Last month, I wrote about students handing their thinking over to machines. Now we need to look at the fact that adults are often requiring them to do just that.

The results of this educational experiment are clearly bad:

• Federal test data on nearly 300,000 American fourth and eighth graders showed that the more time students spent on digital devices in reading class, the lower their reading comprehension scores.
• The harm isn’t only academic. More than 150 British clinicians recently warned of a “crisis” in children’s physical and developmental health involving eyesight and language problems, all linked to learning their lessons on screen.

But the teachers are using the tech too. There are screens mounted to classroom walls, PCs at the teacher desk, phones in hands. A Gallup poll found that 3 in 5 American public school teachers surveyed admitted they used AI to design lessons, write worksheets and quizzes, and grade student work.

• Some parents have wanted to reduce their children’s screen time and purchased actual books for their children to read, but teachers have required the children to use the app instead.
• The tech industry is speeding the trend along. Last year, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic committed $23 million to train members of America’s second-largest teachers’ union in AI.
• Britain’s Department for Education now permits teachers to use AI to grade student work and to write letters to parents. It is funding AI tools that generate tailored feedback for individual students. The government’s Oak National Academy offers an AI assistant that builds lesson plans in minutes.

It is hard to wean children off machines when the adults teaching them are using the same machines more and more.

• Schools reach for tech because the machines solve adults’ problems: bigger classes, heavier paperwork, fewer parents checking homework. An app grades the work, tracks every minute, and never misplaces a handout.

Parents handed education to the schools, and overwhelmed schools are handing it to machines. But the fact is, God never gave that responsibility to the state, let alone to software.

• He commands parents: “And thou shalt teach them [my laws and truths] diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house …” (Deuteronomy 6:7).
• Real education is built around relationships. It takes a parent, a child, a conversation and God’s law at the center.

We parents must be deeply involved in our children’s education. That includes knowing what is being taught in school, helping with homework, and being bold enough to look for alternatives to public school.

• As our book Child Rearing With Vision points out, parents are their children’s primary educators: “You should view all schoolteachers as your assistants, not as your child’s primary educators.”

True education for your children doesn’t come from the right app, additional funding or school boards. It comes from your active involvement and application of the timeless lessons and principles of the textbook for human beings: the Holy Bible.

Berlin Coalition’s Tussle Over Anti-Semitism

The Green Party and Social Democratic Party (spd) will resume talks with Die Linke (The Left) party to form the state government of Berlin, party leaders said yesterday. Berlin is one of Germany’s 16 federal states, as well as its capital city.

• Last week, the three parties agreed to make certain commitments to guard against and punish anti-Semitism among their members. But on Tuesday, the Left produced a document regarding anti-Semitism and Israel’s right to exist that was “completely different” from the agreement, Berlin spd leader Steffen Krach said.
• Also on Tuesday, the Left added Vanessa Emde, who doesn’t believe the State of Israel should exist, to its Berlin parliamentary group.

The parties made amends yesterday, with the Left mayoral candidate Elif Eralp saying the misunderstandings were “cleared up” and that last week’s agreement on anti-Semitism measures would be used if the parties successfully form a government.

The Left has frequently been accused of anti-Semitism. Just last month:

• Former spd coleader Bärbel Bas stated that “large parts” of the Left “act in an anti-Semitic way,” and the Central Council of Jews in Germany stated that the party “crossed the line with anti-Semitic remarks during the election campaign” in Berlin.
• Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt called Eralp an anti-Semite, resulting in a lawsuit from the Left.
• Economics Minister Katherina Reiche said the Left is now “openly embracing anti-Semitism.”

For good reason:

• Ferat Kocak, one of its members of parliament, was photographed at one of the Left’s victory parties with Ibrahim Ibrahim.
• One of its campaign events included a rapper who exclaimed “Yallah, yallah, intifada!” and “Death to the idf!” (Most Jewish Israeli adults are either veterans of or active duty members of the Israel Defense Forces.)

The spd stated that the Left should “not allow a millimeter of space for anti-Semitism” in September. Yet the spd isn’t holding them to that standard.

• That could be because the Left received the most votes in Berlin’s state election at 25.7 percent, and so it’s advantageous to negotiate with them in forming a government.

Anti-Semitism from both the left and right is spreading in Germany.

IN OTHER NEWS

Iran sinks two more cargo ships: Iran sunk two cargo ships from the United Arab Emirates in the Strait of Hormuz around October 13-14. This constitutes a major setback for the United States Navy, which has been attempting to protect civilian ships in the strait since early May. The last time Iranian attacks sunk ships was in early March. Iran’s decision and ability to reescalate show that it remains willing to push, violently. In fact, the worst is yet to come.

Nord Stream trial begins: The Ukrainian special forces leader accused of blowing up sections of the Nord Stream pipelines in 2022 went to trial for war crimes in Hamburg, Germany, yesterday. The situation highlights the fact that although Germany officially supported Ukraine in its defense against an ongoing Russian invasion, it also continued to import large amounts of gas through these pipelines, funding Russia’s war machine, up until 2022. The defendant’s attorneys denied that he participated in the bombings, with one, Nicola Canestrini, adding: “Germany showed the world in Nuremberg what war crime is and who should be charged with it. Nord Stream was … a weapon of Russia … a financial, military and political weapon.” The complexity and future of Germany’s relationship with Russia can be understood only through Bible prophecy.

Seven-year-olds are on disability benefits in England and Wales. In fact, they outnumber the 50-year-olds on disability, according to government data analyzed by the Telegraph. A total of 69,799 7-year-olds are now receiving benefits, compared to 66,670 50-year-olds. The “health issues” these children are claiming benefits for are mostly learning difficulties, adhd or behavioral issues. Benefits currently cost Britain $440 billion a year, and children who start on benefits often stay on benefits for the rest of their lives. The largest cost is the sheer waste of human potential, as thousands spend their lives as wards of the state instead of experiencing the benefits and joy of accomplishment.