Tag Archives: Education

“Reading IS Freedom!” Op-Ed

By Tonja Condray Klein©01/15/2026

The name of this opinion editorial might raise some people’s eyebrows in question for what the assertion might be attempting to mean in the current United States of America, especially since academics for several previous decades have prided themselves with being some of the most literate and educated individuals in the world… at least according to them. I propose that while many see themselves in this way due to ongoing college education, the normal teenager in America in 2026 can’t even read what I used to read at the age of eight years old. Some even graduate from high school without even THAT grade level of comprehension. That reality bothers me since even my ninety-three year old Mom Vada who’d only passed to eighth grade could read books beyond that level, and some college students CAN’T even understand the lower.

My Dad Truman only got to second grade, but he knew more about the space program than most people because he later read every book he could get his hands on. He taught himself things he needed to know and served in World War II, way before I was born in 1972. By the time I was in school in 1977, he still would read my books from school as well as all of those that my older sister, my older brother, and others bought him until he died at eighty-five. It’s amazing to me that a coal miner born in 1913 Virginia and living in Dayton Ohio was more interested in READING than so many seem to even in this most formatted and book available time now in history. How can present-day learning fail so epically with something necessary for EVERY technical and support job needed for ALL business fields? When did abilities get lost?

I knew that neither of my parents even had full basic education, so I tried to go above and beyond my abilities to make good grades to go to college, make them proud, and have what neither was allowed to even dream of accomplishing. I was sick my whole life and had to fight the ongoing battle to stay well enough to go to school. I’ve told it before, but I’ll tell it again for those who haven’t read my posts; I graduated 4th in my class with a 4.3 GPA and the scholarships to go to college to take Computer Science as my Major and Teaching as my Minor. I got sick and had to withdraw to join the main workforce instead. Nine years later as an Office Manager, I got my Technical Certificate for Webpage Development from Edison State Community College and began making computer websites for various businesses locally and in the USA.

I’m including this because I want EVERYONE reading this to understand that I truly believe that ANY success in life BEGINS with READING! I’m now an Award-Winning Author myself, but my love of reading books is what brought me to this point of writing my stories, making the websites for myself and others, and using software to create my music for song lyrics I write. THIS IS ONGOING LEARNING BY READING! I feel like I need to shout this out to the masses! I know that some of my Gen-Xers and those after have seemed to lose the ability to have imagination that books require, and this situation spells the doom of this country if we don’t get this fixed! What happens when people can’t read what a document says and sign away all of their rights? Yes, that could REALLY HAPPEN in the future IF WE CAN’T READ.

I feel like I’m screaming into thin air sometimes, and that makes me want to go to downtown Dayton, stand on a street, and hold up a sign that says, “READ OR YOU WILL LOSE EVERYTHING!” The problem is that so many won’t even be able to understand the words now. If we were in 1400’s Europe then I’d expect that since the populace then were controlled by not being taught or sometimes not even allowed to read; but we’re in America 2026, so this is something as summed up by what THE PRINCESS BRIDE taught us with a single emphatic word, “INCONCEIVABLE!”. I’m going to be fifty-four years old this September, but I have embraced the technological advances as a webpage designer the same as my computer technician husband, but we BOTH STILL READ BOOKS! My new most books read is in 2025 at 142!

I recently put in for a job at one of the Dayton Library locations since I for one believe in the necessity of teaching every single student whether child or adult to LOVE READING! Reading books fuels the imagination, transports you to places you might never have been able to visit in real life, or helps you to discover worlds that you never would’ve known since they wouldn’t have existing in reality if not written in a book. I live in a mobile home community, so when I began meeting the children in the park I bought some of my favorite books from my childhood to be kept at that office so when they sometimes stop by for snacks after school they could visit while they ate and maybe read too. Children who can read have such an advantage over those that can’t when it comes to scholarships for colleges and then real job opportunities.

Whether tales of Peter Rabbit, Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail or The Tawny Scrawny Lion, The Bouncy Baby Bunny Finds His Bed, The Velveteen Rabbit, The Shoemaker and His Elves, or The Little Red Hen, giving those kids an ability to imagine, dream, and learn from the many lessons contained in each is what every parent or loved one should want for each child. I have many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, and even great-great nieces and great-great nephews, so even though I don’t have children of my own I’ve helped to raise many! I also taught at church for various age groups over the years. While I’m a Christian and don’t read certain genres by choice, I also read various genres in both secular AND Christian categories vociferously! A wider variety gives you a more balanced life view.

My husband Ken and I have both been bemoaning this current state of affairs with Reading abilities. Each of us have worked at various places and have shared with each other how some co-workers even separated by decades in ages didn’t seem to want to READ then. While I understand everyone not having the same interests, when it comes to books in general I can’t believe that EVERY SINGLE PERSON doesn’t have at least ONE genre of books that appeals to them. I READ EVERY DAY. Seriously, EVERY DAY! It seems impossible for others not to. On my Kindle I have been reading for 322 weeks in a row and 1179 days in a row as of 01/15/2026. It would have been longer if not for the hospital visits to family that interrupted my reading streaks since I got my iPhone in 2017. READING IS LIKE BREATHING TO ME!

I know the title of this is FREEDOM instead of breathing, but it truly grieves my heart that so many are missing out on a pastime I hold as close as my Faith. Researching for my non-fiction book I’m writing does have me reading the books some would not out of pleasure since they are history, science, supernatural, religion, and Christian apologetics. A majority of what I do read, though, are historic and supernatural secular and Christian Romance along with many secular and Christian Science Fiction-Fantasy novel series. I did Japanese Anime OhayoCon PowerPoint Presentation Panels for years since I love that media and used that artwork type for my Fantasy novel series characters I’m presently writing. My own world of Eirinth is a place I love to get lost in sometimes too, but I don’t have to read to visit it since it lives in me.

Narnia was my first Fantasy world that I adored by C.S. Lewis, but it was the world of Merovence then Gramarye that became my two ultimate favorites to visit in books by my all-time favorite Fantasy/Science Fiction writer Christopher Stasheff who passed away in 2018. His books have now been taken out of some libraries for either lack of space or recent interest, and it breaks my heart that they are not available for other people to find in the place I saw as a launch pad for my imaginative travel. His books are still in some bookstores AND all on Amazon. His Merovence began in 1986 when I was fourteen years old, and his writing inspired me to write my own world of Eirinth. I was blessed that Stasheff did give a bit of feedback to me for first novel I published. My favorite Author reading part of my book then commenting was amazing!

My final point is that even if you don’t write, don’t care for academics, or don’t want to use your time to read any books because life is just too busy, I hope that anyone somehow reading THIS will come to realize that being ABLE TO READ is a NECESSITY to be FREE, and people MUST take it seriously and NOT take it for granted. Local libraries are much needed resources for each person in EVERY community around the country. READNG IS FREEDOM! If you like Fantasy novels with Action and a touch of Japanese Anime then begin with my “Rebirth of Eirinth” Series that IS at the Montgomery County Public Library: BREAKING THE SHACKLES at 289 pages and TREADING THE PATH at 485 pages by Tonja Condray Klein and music EP “Eirinth Breaking”. PLEASE ENJOY MY EIRINTH BY READING!

#America, #Books, #Education, #Enjoyment, #Freedom, #Reading, #Rights,

“One ‘Page’ Away From FAHRENHEIT 451 in America…” Op-Ed

By Tonja Condray Klein©02/21/2023

I read FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury sometime between 1985 and 1990. I bought the E-book and just read it again in 2023. Although I remembered what it was basically about, I was astounded by the fact it was from, 70 years ago in 1953! The fact that it is even MORE realistic NOW than back then makes it even more alarming for me. I looked at my bookcases at home and felt fear of what it would mean for me personally if my beloved paperbacks were burned, especially since many can’t be replaced by no longer being in print or E-Book formats now. It would mean I’d never be able to read them again, and THAT IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE. I’m a writer of my stories and an AVID READER of others’. If someone showed up with a flamethrower to torch my collection, I’d interfere violently.

The woman who collapsed in the house with her books that the ‘firemen’ were burning was someone I related to completely and was in tears over, but then I GOT ANGRY. I understood her dying with her books because ‘firemen’ and local government in the book were against her so she must have thought she’d rather die than live without the books she loved; unfortunately, for any who would try to burn my books, I wouldn’t burn with them unless I took the ‘firemen’ with me and only if I didn’t have any other choice. I’d probably try to do what Guy Montag did to the ‘firemen’ in some way BEFORE any of my books were burned. Even if a book is considered ‘evil’, I’m NOT for book-burning. I’ll cite Henry Jones, “…morons like yourself should try READING books instead of BURNING them!” He is COMPLETELY right!

My point is that even though we haven’t come to THAT point YET, I can see it happening sooner than I thought possible a decade ago. FAHRENHEIT reminded me that once we lose freedom to read former and present books as the written word that I was taught to embrace even in my generation X education, we face the threat turning into a nightmare should the government turn against us and we fail to protect our rights legally. TO READ MEANS YOU KNOW REAL FACTS! Yes, I write fiction, but I research reality too. I read a lot of fiction and nonfiction by writers in various genres. I might be more eclectic than some, but when one to two generations after me can’t read what I did in third grade at age 8 then this is distressing and could be the beginning of the major decline for cherished intellectual learning in America!

READING IS FREEDOM! Whether I’m reading Graham Hancock archaeological nonfiction, Christine Feehan paranormal romance fiction, the Christian Holy Bible nonfiction, or Ray Bradbury science fiction, I find facts from eras and research represented. Some people claim fiction is lies so no facts exist in them, but I’ve read historical books citing mythological stories from before the time of antiquity or the written word in cuneiform text with archaeological finds to question if worldwide ‘tales’ are that off-base with actual history. If you can’t READ the books now, then how can you understand anything like the histories of the world or the way our government is supposed to protect citizens with what OUR RIGHTS ARE? I’m not going to trust ANYONE to tell me ANY of those things. I will READ it ALL for myself!

Verbal history happened before writing began. When it comes to various places around the world, writing didn’t develop as quickly as it did with others, so verbal ‘stories’ were passed on from generation to generation until writing was learned. One of the books that tell this reality is THAT’S WHAT THE OLD ONES SAY by Chief Joseph RiverWind. Not only does it explain how Native American tribes passed on their history verbally, it also shows their relating of it through centuries to millennia verifies historical accounts, the Jewish Torah, and Christian Holy Bible. There are many reputable books that bring history into better understanding from research and artefacts found more recently than what we had only two centuries ago. How can we let children, grandchildren, family, or community NOT be able to read at all in 2023?

If you haven’t taken the time to read FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury, then I suggest you find it in a library while you still can or get paperback, E-Book, or audiobook all available on Amazon. It has several curse words so it’s not religious, and it has various books mentioned that I don’t agree with, but it has a message that Americans NEED in 2023. One kid I know in my neighborhood told me he can’t read, and it broke my heart since he’s even older than I was when I got the box set of Narnia books by C.S. Lewis for Christmas and began reading them in third grade. Covid-19 pandemic put learning on hiatus, but I’m not sure that is the reason for this loss of ability. Gen-Z can’t seem to read, write, do math, or even understand the sciences that my ninety-one year-old mother learned before she reached eighth grand long ago!

I read books by people I don’t agree with on some things but at least agree with on something, and I think that’s a way to stretch your understanding of other viewpoints that helps you to become knowledgeable about more than only the things you are comfortable with learning. I’ve read things that went against something that I knew as a fact or believed in personally as proven truth but carelessly discounted without evidence supporting another viewpoint or theory. THIS lack of being able to examine more than one viewpoint or piece of evidence on any given subject then becomes an incomplete conclusion and the beginning of ideological indoctrination used by government systems like socialism, communism, and totalitarianism. WE MUST BE ABLE TO READ BOOKS TO KNOW THE FACTS OF REALITY! If not, we lose all.

This could be WHY education is trying to NOT teach children to READ. If we don’t stand up and demand that all children are given the life-preserving education that previous generations were taught without compromise, then we will see America become more and more like the FAHRENHEIT country that made BOOKS illegal to read or own. America CANNOT allow this to happen in 2023 or any time in our future! I might not like or agree with what some books say or teach, but like FREEDOM OF SPEECH we need FREEDOM OF READING for adults! Age-appropriate restrictions are still necessary to protect kids, but that should be the ONLY censorship. Books from the past might have speech that we don’t agree with anymore, but THAT is what shows we have LEARNED from the past enough to know things changed.

A large amount of young adults and even adults right now in 2023 can’t read books that were read in elementary school only decades ago and can’t understand the Declaration of Independence, United States Constitution, or the Bill of Rights. One of the things used by despots and ruling classes in history was NOT allowing the people of their countries to be able to have education at all so they wouldn’t be able to rise above the ‘class’ the rulers deemed as acceptable… they wanted and still want servants or slaves. That infuriates me since America fought against that kind of mentality to be free to choose our own government laws. Now I’m seeing what should alarm everyone. Protect your rights to keep burning of your books from happening in America… or you might have to protect them with a flamethrower by yourself…

“WHEN I WENT TO SCHOOL…”

By Tonja Condray Klein©03/21/2021

When I went to school from 1977 through 1990 there were several subjects taught as FACTS to ALL students, NOT for a certain color, race, religion, community, or income: Biology is a SCIENCE invented by Aristotle in 384-322 B.C. through empirical investigation and has been the standard for medical research and development since; Mathematics began in GREECE during the 6th century B.C. with needed CALCULATIONS that are now used for the safety and proper production in many occupations of the past and the present; History may have different viewpoints depending upon their source or speaker, but they ALL are necessary to learn for complete understanding of our diverse country and the world, which is why there is local history, United States history, and World history. Opinions can vary but FACTS DO NOT.

1+1=2. See that period there? IT IS REALITY. It is NOT racist. It is NOT a point of debate. It is NOT something meant to confuse anyone working a regular math problem at any place in the known world. IF you have one (1) piece of gum and you add (+) one (1) piece of gum then you will have (=) two (2) pieces of gum. I’m 48 years old and have times of sickness, confusion, and even slight memory lapses, but I KNOW how to ADD (+), SUBTRACT (-), DIVIDE (/), and MULTIPLY (x) in real time. This is SIMPLE mathematics and FACT! ALGEBRA is a FACT. GEOMETRY is a FACT. TRIGONOMETRY is a FACT. CALCULUS is a FACT. Now when you get into theoretical mathematics with negative numbers or other calculations used for Quantum Physics then things change. THE OTHERS ARE ALL FACTS!

Why am I writing this? Well, have you looked at the homework of your kids, grandkids, or great-grandkids lately? I have helped my oldest niece and her children with many subjects over the years, and the changes of known methods that actually HELP do all the occupations we need done in this country are not only astounding but done on purpose to STOP children from learning basic skills that they need for the budget of their income. I took typing and business accounting in High School that helped me to get my first secretary jobs that didn’t require any more college training until I needed to make business websites nine years after high school graduation. I’m for education that helps student be trained for certain fields, but the education of 2021 is COMPLETELY INEPT compared to that of 1990!

Yes, I have had this mentality expressed in other op-eds I’ve done, but this one is full of absolute rage. Yes, I know you can’t fight the system or stop the machine either, but I DARE to BEAT the System and also RAGE AT the Machine! Will it do any good? Maybe not, but at least my typed voice could be heard and help people to see what we HAVE lost, what we are losing NOW, and what we COULD (GOD FORBID!) lose in the near future. I’m not being negative or against change that is proven as needed for the good of humanity. I AM against SCIENCE being lost as a PROVEN FACT that has been used against Christianity for centuries and any other ‘belief’ system of religion. I knew Science was NEVER against God Almighty who CREATED it to begin with. This reality is WHY it’s being tossed.

No reality is proven according to the academics in 2021. We CHOOSE what we want to be even if a Science formerly proved it without any doubt with empirical evidence that used to be demanded by scientists and inventors of disciplines needed for understanding, excelling with, and overcoming through any problem that could be solved if the right algorithm, calculation, timing, or lesson learned from the past could be used correctly. There is now NO right or wrong answer to a question for many subjects that used to have the student CRITICALLY THINK BY SCIENTIFIC COMARISON to come to the PROVEN FACT. PHILOSOPHY is NOT a Science but a Humanity study that has the opinions if different teachers or inventors to explain life questions of existence or thinking. It is ONLY opinions.

We’re facing academic totalitarian rule in classrooms. Critical Thinking is being dismissed. You either accept everything taught or you will fail the class or be labeled as someone who should be ‘re-educated’. This is the path to indoctrination of any premise of many different types of government that we have been fighting since this country’s creation. Men and women have fought and died to protect us FROM these horrible mind-controlling studies that are AGAINT EVERYTHING the United States of America stands for and WHY people around the world have tried to immigrate for centuries for the freedom we expect to have every day. Our Freedom is ending. The academics are no longer TEACHING or children; they are PROGRAMMING our children with things we DON’T want for them!

I’m not a parent, but I don’t want my two nieces’ children and grandchildren to be taught lies, conditioned to accept everything without the right to question or see proof for any given absolute taught. WE are not allowed to have absolutes, but THEY are allowed to give absolutes that they want future generations to accept as truth when their own absolutes are blatant misperceptions, absolute misdirection away from proof of the opposite, and down- right LIES. It used to be that academics USED to demand PROOF before teaching any given subject that is supposed to be proven FACTS. Used to be – a past tense past my own patience as someone who took my education very seriously! I studied these subjects and KNOW the TRUTH. I can’t be re-programmed! I also don’t want anyone’s kids to go through it!

Parents should NOT allow this to be happening! Go to your school’s board and make your own DEMANDS. They are teaching material that has been used to promote Marxism, Communism, and Totalitarian regimes that are all AGAINST the AMERCIAN models of legislation and government. What is happening RIGHT NOW is beginning to display it was an attempt to not just change the political party in power but an actual overthrow of Capitalism and our Democratic Republic. The Covid-19 pandemic made it possible for local, state, and federal government to gain almost total control of our rights. This has disenfranchised American citizens of their rights given by our Constitution and for longer than was stated. This was under the cover of ‘safety’, was maniacally planned, and then was blithely executed.

Now it’s already March of 2021, and we still don’t have all of our rights back even though we were promised it would only take weeks to ‘end the spread’. Ohio is doing better than other states with regaining rights, but we also don’t have as many as others at this point. I publishing my second book Christmas 2019 but was denied any opportunity to do book signings anywhere. I barely got Eirinth book 2 into the Library, but at least they didn’t stop that. I know any loved ones have been lost, and I don’t want to demean anyone still dealing with that. My husband had verified Covid-19 and recovered. I had the same symptoms first and survived. My mother almost died with a ‘virus’ that wasn’t verified, but symptoms she had later correlated to Covid-19. This is not about avoiding being affected by this pandemic. We were,

The main FACT is that government officials, media moguls, and academics are all trying to destroy the subjects that students need to be taught with FACTS instead of propaganda for government systems that generations of American soldiers fought against for the safety of OUR American citizens, OUR freedoms, and OUR way of life. This should NOT be allowed! Parents need to check out your schools and demand these types of lessons be STOPPED. IF they had tried to do this at Northridge when I was in school, my mother who was 41 when I was born would’ve been a FACT force to be reckoned with over something like this being allowed. We MUST maintain the integrity of Mathematics, Science, and History. If we don’t protect Fact-based lessons then this country will fall to ignorance and ideology worse than death!

As law-abiding American citizens, we are tasked with the protection of our freedom and that of our youth. We are responsible for the next generation, and as I’ve stated before, my generation failed their children in ways I grieve it. Their grandchildren might face even worse because of our mistakes in protecting all of the things that our parents did protect for us. As Ronald Reagan stated, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.” This is frightening but very TRUE as we are witnessing it happen firsthand in 2021.

I don’t agree with any political party completely, but as a Christian American I have to vote my conscience. What is being systematically overthrown now is not only political but also academic. This is DANGEROUS. If our schools now only tell one side of History then that is indoctrination. If only one side of Science is shown then that is omission. If there is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-racial community that is told that Mathematics is racist instead of offering help for anyone needing it so they can excel then THAT is racist! It’s NOT the equations that can give them the real possibility of providing for a future family with better skills for a better life. THAT is the American Dream no matter what color, race, religion, or background you are. It is WHY Americans need to STOP the infiltration of LIES in this nation’s schools!