The Florida Department of Education has approved controversial videos created by a right-wing nonprofit organization for educational use in Florida schools. The videos created by PragerU "can be used as supplemental materials in Florida schools at district discretion, reports People.
Jill Simonian, director of PragerU Kids, has told WINK News that the videos are not political in nature and not meant to reflect a particular viewpoint, but the content of the videos suggest otherwise and have caused many to be concerned about what children might be learning in Florida schools.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has voiced support for "education not indoctrination," but WUSF Media reported that Dennis Prager, the founder of PragerU, wants his content to indoctrinate people.
Since PragerU content is free and accessible, the fact that the Department of Education has "approved" the content has made it seem like they are promoting the content. People reports that the Department of Education said PragerU's content "aligns to Florida’s revised civics and government standards."
"It's not an accredited university," Jessica Wright, vice president of the Florida Freedom to Read Project and former educator, told WUSF Media. "It does not have creators with a vast education background. And it says right on their website what their intention is, which is purely for indoctrination. And it says specifically for conservative values."
One of the most controversial videos created by PragerU is called “Leo & Layla Meet Frederick Douglass,” an animated video in which two kids are confused about activism and justice then travel back in time to the 19th century to speak to Douglass, an abolitionist. The Fredrick Douglass depicted in the video defends slavery.
"I'm certainly not OK with slavery, but the Founding Fathers made a compromise to achieve something great, the making of the United States," the fictional Douglass says in the video.
"Their priority was getting all 13 colonies to unite as one country. The Southern colonies were dependent on slave labor, and they wouldn't have joined the union if they had banned it," the fictional Douglass says in the video.
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That same video begins with the children watching the news and talking about how "things are so weird right now" after hearing news of protesters drawing attention to systemic oppression and wanting to abolish the police.
The boy in the video says his math teacher gave students an assignment about being "activists for justice," and adds that in math class, they "spend a lot of time learning about the stuff they talk about in the news."
"That's weird. Isn't math class supposed to be for math?" The girl says — an apparent "anti-wokeness" critique.
Jessica Wright explained to WSUF Media why the materials could be dangerous, noting that they appear professional and might even seem like they come from "an accredited institution," even though they do not.
"A lot of educators who have a traditional education background, or they've been in the profession for a long time, they're going to be able to recognize in those materials, that PragerU is representing what we would refer to as a logical fallacy, meaning the material that you're reading or listening to might sound like it makes sense. But if you are educated on that topic, you would know that they came to a conclusion that's not based on fact," Wright added.
Another controversial video from PragerU depicts explorer Christopher Columbus and also shows an animated, fictional version of him defending slavery.
"Being taken as a slave is better than being killed, no?" the fictional Columbus says in the video.
In the beginning of the video, the children are "stressed" because it's a "weird" day. "Columbus Day. Or Native American Day. Or Indigenous People's Day. It's weird, right?" The girl says in the video.
Another reason the content is dangerous, according to Wright, is because some educators might use the content unintentionally, without any specific agenda.
"The amount of resources that the state has approved that's traditional curriculum to use has been very limited this year. They cut out a lot of curriculum that we typically would be able to choose from, and so they've created what a lot of us refer to as a resource desert," Wright explained. "So if you're in a resource desert, you're gonna reach for the most accessible resource, which could be PragerU in this situation."
PragerU also has a video for kids about "embracing masculinity," in which a speaker says masculinity was necessary to "defeat Nazi Germany in World War II."
"It takes masculinity to have a solid family and a strong country today," the video says, noting that masculinity is "not toxic."
Many people took to social media to share their concerns about the PragerU content that can be taught in schools in Florida.
"The description of Frederick Douglass in this animation is a flat out lie and the concept that children should be learning from this should scare everyone," one person tweeted. "The idea that slavery was ‘compromise’ in order to make ‘America great’ is an insidious and ridiculous claim."
"Slavery was 'no big deal.' That’s what Florida schools are now allowed to teach students after this offensive garbage from PragerU was approved by Ron DeSantis’ Department of Education," another person wrote. "This level of indoctrination would make any fascist dictator proud."
