Scientology in Public Schools
The San Francisco Chronicle reports:
Narconon's anti-drug instruction rests on these key church concepts: that the body stores all kinds of toxins indefinitely in fat, where they wreak havoc on the mind until "sweated" out. Those ideas are rejected by the five medical experts contacted by The Chronicle, who say there is no evidence to support them. ... Its lectures have reached 1.7 million children around the nation in the last decade, Narconon officials said, and more than 30,000 San Francisco students since 1991. Meanwhile, Narconon's anti-drug message and charismatic speakers earn rave reviews from students and teachers.
A Chronicle review of Narconon's curriculum found that, like the Church of Scientology, Narconon embraces Hubbard's belief that experiences are recorded in three-dimensional images in the mind, with sound and smell, called "mental image pictures" or "pictures in the mind." Taking any drug "scrambles" the pictures. "Our take-home message is that drugs are essentially poison," Carr said. "This is how we basically explain it to them. Drugs scramble pictures. When people take drugs, they affect the mental pictures." Scientologists believe that scrambled pictures interfere with one's ability to "go clear," a state of mental purity that is a goal of the religion.
"Is there a connection between Scientologists and Narconon? Resoundingly yes," said Linda Simmons Hight of the Church of Scientology International. "Scientologists are thoroughly mixed with the activities and finances of Narconon. I'm not talking about the church. I'm talking about (individual) Scientologists." For example, Scientologists pay for Narconon's school lectures and operate Narconon drug treatment centers across the country. ... "Scientologists are among the major supporters of Narconon drug rehab and drug education, financially and through volunteer actions, because we're so aware of the destructive effects of drugs on our society -- and because we have the solution to drugs," Hight said. ... "Narconon's orders come from the Church of Scientology's senior management," said Tory Christman, a former church member who worked briefly at Narconon International. "Their programs, policies -- it's all church policy. There's no question about this to anyone involved."
At least one teacher has been trying to get Narconon kicked out of the public schools in San Francisco, despite protests from administrators that there is nothing religious about it. In a Chronicle story the very next day after the above, it was reported that this effort was meeting with some success:
Narconon Drug Prevention & Education has until June 24 to revise parts of its curriculum, said Ackerman, whose health education staff no longer wants the program to make sweeping generalizations about all drugs or claim that drugs are stored in fat for years. "The fact that (Narconon) is addressing drugs is a positive," Ackerman said. "But some of the facts that they were teaching the kids support a philosophical or religious belief, as opposed to science, so we had to say 'no.' " Narconon must make the requested changes or be "removed from the list of Community Based Organizations" given to San Francisco schools, according to a letter faxed Wednesday by the district to Narconon's education director, Tony Bylsma.
Being removed from the list may not keep them out of schools completely, but it will go a long way towards that end. The problem for school administrators is that Narconon makes all sorts of dubious claims which have no real basis in science, but have all sorts of obvious connections to Scientology doctrine. In such a context, it can’t be claimed that Narconon is completely secular. Thus, either Narconon has to remove the Scientology doctrine or leave the schools. If the choose to keep the doctrine, the religious nature of the group will be made even more obvious.
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