August 12th 2023.
PragerU, a right-wing advocacy group, has recently come under fire for the content featured in their educational entertainment program, PragerU Kids. An example of this is a video of Frederick Douglass discussing slavery as a "compromise between the Founding Fathers and the Southern colonies for the benefit of the U.S." This is contrary to the civil rights icon's actual beliefs. In the same video, Douglass's fellow abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison is also criticized. Critics have suggested this is a reference to the 2020 police brutality protests.
The PragerU program has received a lot of backlash, especially when CEO Marissa Streit revealed in July that the group had been chosen as a Florida education vendor. Streit has argued that while some of the content may be deemed offensive, the criticism is only coming from one side of the political spectrum. She said, “I challenge those same people to look through every word that Scholastic has printed or, or every word that BrainPOP has published, and tell me that you’re not going to find something that you are not offended by.”
Despite the criticism, the Florida Board of Education recently approved the PragerU content for classroom use. In a statement, the board expressed their belief that schools have been "hijacked by the left" and are no longer focused on the needs of the students.
The PragerU Kids website also features a video titled "Los Angeles: Mateo Backs the Blue," which follows an animated 13-year-old student as he navigates the issues between police and Black Lives Matter protestors. According to the website, the video is meant to teach kids about how the Black Lives Matter movement affected cities in the U.S.
Overall, PragerU has received major backlash for their misleading and inaccurate content. While they argue that some of the material may be seen as offensive, critics remain unconvinced and worry about the impact this will have on children's education.
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