“We do not need any more preaching about right or wrong. The old 'thou shall nots' simply are not relevant... Values clarification is a method for teachers to change the values of children without getting caught.”

This quote is inaccurate and misleading. Dr. Sidney Simon is one of the founders of Values Clarification and would never have said this. It's a piece of junk. Simon was teaching about helping students examine their own values and compare them to their own behavioral choices in order to help them become more consistent between thought and deed, between credo and actions. There was nothing sneaky or underhanded about what he did or does.

This is the dumbest quote. I took several workshops with Dr. Simon on this very topic and he never never said anything like this. The person putting this quote up is a provocateur trying to make trouble. The quote is a total, right-wing fabrication.

What nonsense! I worked with Dr. Simon as a colleague at University and know him for over thirty years. This is simply NOT anything he did say or would say. He is not underhanded, nor a propagandist for any cause. He has dedicated his life to helping people become more aware of and clearer about their values and to help them move their behavior more into agreement with their values. He is a very very moral man.

This is definitely a misrepresentation of Sid's work...values to him is choice and then doing something about it...this is the ultimate honesty...doing something about what you believe...!!!

I would like to know the source of this "misquote." It is definitely NOT something I have said. Or is it what I believe. Sidney B. Simon, May, 2007.

Look where our Wonderful Public Schools has put our children today - no morals, violence is the norm and no value of human life. Not worth the effort and if you keep this kind of stuff coming I'll quit the subscription.

The man says he did not say this Editor. Time to do the research, fair is fair after all. How often do you get the originatorof the quote to respond? This could be a test of sorts. Please pass it.

The first 3 comments were posted via the same IP address. I will check on the validity of Sidney B. Simon's comment. In the mean time, the quote will be labelled as Questionable. Normally we ask the author of the questionable quote to provide us with something they did say as a rebuttal. Certainly 'values clarification' in the schools is something that needs clarification of its own.

I do not know this gentleman’s writings but the questionable quote is questionable - Public or private is immaterial what is material is what is being educated. The Oxford Union debated last night the Jewish Holocaust - from the most private to the most public stupidity meets in the middle.

This type of thinking, absurdity, is why our once great Republic has failed!

'Values Clarification' sounds like politically correct jargon. Whatever happened to Ethics, Honor, and Compassion? Aren't these terms good enough? What 'values' and who 'clarifies' them for whom? I can certainly see why there are those who don't trust such a notion in our schools. I for one think the schools should not trump parents' authority.

First half of the quote accurately describes today’s educational system. Second part sounds like a criticism for the first part. Sounds like a quote that didn't happen or at least made up for some reason.

I am glad that I am an old man born in the WW2 age, where I learned to love freedom and the flag and the country and learned to love and respect the kids in the seats around me. My teacher was my dream of what I someday wanted to be my sweetheart. I am blessed to have been born in that golden era. I am so happy that I learned to love my country and to live in "one nation under GOD" those were the days!

Leo, I know a Canadian fellow who flew bombers in WW2. You and he would get along fine. He knew a time of freedom too. And he knows the difference between then and now. He said "This isn't what we were fighting for" God Bless.

The quote has been tagged false. Here is what Dr. Simon has sent us:

"It is definitely a false quote. I defy anyone to show where it appeared in print under my byline or a tape of those words from any speech I gave.

From the start, Values Clarification proudly stood for:

Less Moralizing, less indoctrinating, less inculcating, and less preaching and shaming. All of us, among the early scholars and writers, had lived through the Nazi period. We saw the impact of brain washing, propaganda, and the use of tools for manipulating people's thoughts.

We saw our work as just the opposite. We were committed to helping students search, process, and, by God, think. Our focus was not on having one set of values to inculcate, but on teaching people how to sort out the Chaos and Confusion of life.

Look at the seven values criteria. A value must be:
1. Prized and cherished.
2. Chosen from among Alternatives
3. After due reflection and awareness of consequences
4. Must be publicly affirmed
5. And acted on, and acted on repeatedly
6. It must be consistent with your other values.
7. And they must be chosen freely.

I'm proud to say that no one I know who has done the Values Clarification work ever hustled one set of values. It was always the process. The effort to close the gap between our creeds and our deeds, as Dr. Louis Raths, the real father of Values Clarification used to say.

The seven criteria above are not easy to live by. They demand much of both the students and the teachers who walk that exciting path.

Peace,

Sidney B. Simon, Professor Emeritus, Univ. of Massachusetts, 11-29-2007"

Sid Simon's workshops and all of his books are the exact opposite of this quote. He is a best selling author whose books maybe someone should look at to determine his values. Why is this quote still up? It undermines the credibility of this website.

I wrote the quote above but didn't see the "Your name" box.