Social Emotional Learning-The New Wolf of Wall Street
by Kathy Faucher
The popular 2013 movie The Wolf of Wall Street tells the true story of stockbroker Jordan Belfort who built his empire off unsuspecting victims: The working middle class who handed over their hard-earned money to invest in speculative stocks picked by Belfort and his merry band of greedy brokers. While the investors lost their money due to their shares being in failed or non-existent companies, the brokers lined their pockets with commissions, enabling them to live a lifestyle that few can dream of affording.
What does the above have to do with Social Emotional Learning (SEL)? You’d be surprised, and by the end of this article, you will have a better understanding of the greed, money grabbing and back scratching that is taking place in the name of helping your children and family (as Belfort was claiming to help his client investors better their own lives).
The management consulting firm MarketsandMarkets.com forecasts that the global SEL market size will grow from $2.7 billion in 2022 to $7.8 billion by 2027:
https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/social-emotional-learning-market-245017024.html
This growth is attributed to government agreements, collaborations and partnerships. Translation – tax dollars from your hard-earned income are going to public schools, who pay SEL consultants and curriculum companies, which are friends and partners of the government, to develop social and emotional competencies deemed essential for your child’s learning. Why would governments around the world expend so much energy and financial commitments to develop tutorials about being nice and making good decisions (something that is inherently modeled by all adults who teach and care for children)?
Because, just like with Belfort’s broker-dealer empire, there is an ulterior motive. Or in this case, a multitude of motives. Let’s pull back the curtain and assess what’s going on.
Are students really being helped through SEL, or are they being encouraged to view themselves or their peers as victims? Are these surveys and lessons actually creating toxic environments where children are encouraged to view one another in terms of class or sexual orientation or race, or to dwell on political and social issues that are outside of their control? Is SEL curriculum a wise use of taxpayer dollars and precious time in the school day? Rather, is it a distraction from the focus on teaching the math and reading skills students will need to prepare for their futures as productive citizens and life-long learners?
Data Mining Surveys and Social Credit Scores
Data mining using surveys is a ubiquitous part of SEL. How are children becoming better citizens and learning non-academic competencies? There is really no way to measure this, but in order to try, schools are willing to administer SEL surveys (also called school climate data) that ask children very personal questions about everything from how they are doing with friends and family to how they feel about social issues such as race relations:
There needs to be healthy skepticism about how this data is used by schools and shared with SEL vendors. Also, how the surveys influence political discourse in schools, and who ultimately collects and stores the data.
The SEL curriculum vendors gain financially from these surveys in two ways. They can sell the data at will, there are no laws protecting this data when it is collected by a hired contractor. The data will eventually be used to assign social credit scores to students. The second way they profit is to complete “aggregate” survey results for the schools, which always indicate anxiety, aggression, or some other mental health “problem” that is pervasive in the student body, and can only be treated with more SEL.
Parents, if you do nothing else, opt your children out of these surveys. Send in written notification to your school that you are opting your child out (it is federal law that under the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment your child is not required to participate in these surveys) and receive confirmation in writing from your school of your request. For more information on SEL surveys, go to
https://courageisahabit.org/#selsurveys
Courage is a Habit provides an opt-out template HERE:
The race to develop AI (artificial intelligence) is on, and what better way to develop this new technology than through taxpayer-funded SEL programs measuring the attitudes and emotional responses of our children?
Parents beware: Big Tech, Wall Street and the government are in full agreement that SEL is very much needed – for their agendas. You cannot fathom the number of apps and edtech products being researched and developed to cater to and collect data from your children. Everything from SEL robots to mental health apps are rolling out constantly in schools.
One such product is called Kooth. Developed in the United Kingdom, Kooth is starting to spread like wildfire in US schools as an online mental health platform for students.
Students can theoretically remain anonymous, and talk to peers or counselors online. The tool will track students and notify the school of any concerns. Obviously, if the student is being tracked, there is nothing anonymous about it. Parental consent is not a concern.
This is the Whole School, Whole Child model that puts parents in the corner so that the school becomes the parent. The state of Pennsylvania was awarded a $3 million grant through the Department of Human Services that enables school districts to opt into the services without cost to students, parents or the district. The grant was funded in the FY 2022-23 state budget (https://www.senatorbaker.com/2022/11/01/general-assembly-announces-3m-pilot-mental-health-program-for-schools/). Kooth has also been awarded a contract with the California Department of Health Care Services.
Similar programs are currently being piloted in Nebraska.
UN Sustainable Development Goals and the WEF
If SEL was just about helping children manage relationships and reduce anxiety, it’s doubtful that the US Department of Education and the World Economic Forum (WEF) would push, once again, this non-academic curriculum as vital for creating a productive citizen in the 21st century. Indeed, the WEF has a vision for the future – the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These goals are very much in line with Planned Parenthood’s mission of ensuring unwanted (or too many) children are not born. The SDGs are easily embedded into SEL curriculum, and with the help of educators who will facilitate social and political issues during SEL time, students become guinea pigs for political activism (read more about SEL and the SDGs HERE.)
You will also find an informative podcast by James Lindsay HERE:
Second Step – an SEL Curriculum in Nebraska Schools
If you are a Nebraska legislator or state school member concerned about SEL in Nebraska schools, it would be worthwhile to look into the SEL programs in each school district. One of the most prevalent SEL curriculum purchases is Second Step, developed by the Committee for Children (CFC).
An experienced educator in the Bennington Public Schools district, Lisa Schonhoff brought up her concerns with Second Step to the Nebraska Legislature’s Education Committee hearing on SEL in July 2023. Lisa began her testimony by clarifying that she is not against SEL. Most teachers, and parents, are not against the concept of learning about managing emotions and making responsible decisions. This is the beauty of hijacking a popular concept for other motives. Lisa and other parents have been scrutinizing Second Step content, as some of it is not controversial, while other lessons and videos nudge or direct teachers to discuss politically driven and sensitive topics in the classroom. In Schonhoff’s example, she cited a 7th grade lesson in which it was deemed appropriate to receive a flirty text message, as long as the student is comfortable with it and wants the attention. It is a lesson for 12 year olds about “consent.” This is very reminiscent of Comprehensive Sexuality Education material that was struck down in Nebraska in 2021.
Lisa Schonhoff is doing more than talking about her concerns, she is running for the Nebraska state board of education in 2024.
https://www.lisafornebraska.com
Other parents have stepped forward in Nebraska and around the country to sound the alarm on Second Step. Much of the concerning curriculum is in the videos, which cannot be viewed by parents easily, as the content is considered copyright protected and therefore not shared outside the walls of the schools. For example, students might view videos about gender transition under the guise of anti-bullying. In this scenario it is the parents who are painted as the “bully.” Obviously, these videos facilitate classroom discussion on LGBTQ rights and enables educators to take their students down that political rabbit hole.
So who is behind Second Step? What funding goes into developing the curriculum?
For starters, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave a large sum to CFC in 2021:
What does the Gates Foundation believe in? Refer to the above information on Sustainable Development Goals. Gates gave $1.5 million to the International Planned Parenthood Federation for a youth-friendly family planning program in Haiti: https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/committed-grants/1998/11/opp590. The Gates Foundation committed $400,000 to the Pride Foundation in Seattle for the purpose of “Building Hopeful Futures for Homeless LGBTQ Youth”: https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/committed-grants/2012/11/opp1075996
Gates made his billions by collecting and selling personal data.
Now, let’s look into the CEO of Committee for Children, Andrea Lovanhill, who describes herself as a cisgender queer. Lovanhill subscribes to identity politics and wrote an article promoting studies in white privilege and other critical and gender theory concepts. Of note, Lovanhill brings in a salary of $300,000. So yes, Nebraskans are paying Lovanhill a hefty salary to develop curriculum that will bring Seattle politics to their children’s classroom (oh yes, CFC is based in Seattle).
Marketing is Everything
In an effort to thwart parents’ complaints about Second Step, the CFC published propaganda on its website. They use pictures of adorable children, accompanied by the survey data to tout the overwhelming popularity of SEL among parents:
The Benenson Group
Who is behind the polling and research conducted for CFC? If you review the data and scroll to the bottom of the material, you will find the following disclosure statement:
The Benenson Strategy Group is a leftwing consulting and strategic research firm whose client list includes the ACLU and Obama for America. It is safe to say that they have a political agenda.
A Community of Leftist Causes
Committee for Children is not just a curriculum developer. It is a member of many coalitions. CFC states on its website:
“Our collaboration with outside organizations and individuals is critical to the success of our mission. Through joint advocacy, we affect policies by combining our efforts to improve the lives of children.”
“CFC is a member of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of organizations with the common purpose of seeking to advance civil and human rights for all Americans through government action at the national level.”
Who is on the board of directors of the Leadership Conference? Currently, board members hail from the Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Federation of Teachers, and a cadre of social justice organizations whose common purpose appears to be promoting abortion access, marijuana legislation and policies that defund the police.
What does this have to do with teaching children to proactively make responsible decisions? Absolutely nothing.
The Wolf at Your Door
This is what your taxpayer dollars are promoting when your district purchases Second Step curriculum that seeks to shape your child’s worldview and values. Nowhere but at school are parents expected to give their children over to an online program that they cannot preview, and that may have lasting deleterious effects.
The Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort, transferred investors’ money to benefit himself and his brokers. The school districts across America are transferring our wealth to the government, and all the grifters in education, and it’s not to help the students; in fact, it is likely hurting students as SEL takes up more of the school day that could be spent learning how to read and solve math problems.
Jordan Belfort spent time in prison for his crimes of selling a product that turned out to be a fraud. What is SEL? It’s a pretty package, but now we know what’s underneath the wrapping. Look into the SEL product that’s been sold to your school. Contact your legislators, school board members and administrators. Push past the talking points that it’s about self-awareness, social awareness, relationship management, and responsible decision making. It’s really about data mining and indoctrination.
If you are in a position of power as an elected leader, you must address this issue. Second Step is a market leader in SEL. CFC has SEL programs for K-8, out-of-school time, SEL for adults, and is developing a high school curriculum. If you do nothing, SEL and all the edtech mental health products it is spawning will soon be a part of your family’s life.
The author is a Nebraska Mom and a board member of Moms for Liberty-Douglas County