Homeschoolers Vs. the State
An interesting debate has exploded into the mainstream as a California appellate ruling that bans homeschooling by uncredentialed parents. My own criticism of homeschooling has alwas been in line with the ruling by the court: it is a form of child abuse to subject children to an education at the hands of a person who is manifestly unable to provide it. But the debate also ties into questions about the aims and objectives of an education. Do we believe, with Justice Croskey, that "A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare?" We would be hard-pressed not to believe such a notion - but our sense of decency revolts at the idea of education as indoctrination. To be sure. But in response to the critics of the court's ruling, this: what is the education of a child by an unqualified or incompetent other than an indoctrination by a different name? I have in the past supported deschooling - but not the abandonment of a child's future to the whims of an uncertain learning. Joanne Jacobs, Weblog, March 17, 2008. [Link] [Tags: Schools, Online Learning, Wikipedia] [Previous][Next]Comments
Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
Although I haven't read any research myself, I have seen articles in newspapers that indicate that the home school children compare favorably on standardized tests with public school children. So, it's not clear to me why you say these parents are "manifestly unable to provide" an education. Can you expand on your position and provide some evidence for your claims? [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]
Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
Stephen, your generally negative take on homeschooling has always mystified me. I don't homeschool, and I'm not looking to be confrontational, but seriously, "child abuse"? I just don't get it, and can only assume that you're basing your opinion on old biases. It would seem to me that much of your educational philosophy would point directly to home-learning (who needs the "schooling" part) as perhaps the best possible model for learning. It's the most obvious manifestation of your ideals for how learning might best take place.
It's self-directed, community-based, hands-on, and tailored to the interests and needs of the child (and his or her family) at their own pace. It allows students to take advantage of technology and sources of information that will never be allowed in institutional schools. It removes students from the pressure and damage of negative group behaviours you experienced so painfully in school, letting them engage socially in the world on their terms, with people of all ages. It allows them the freedom to to learn what matters.
We know we don't need schools or state-hired teachers or bad textbooks to learn, right? Does the presence of the expert (teacher) equate to "real" learning? Kids learning at home may choose (or be forced) to follow the government-imposed curriculum and find that they learn just fine without the trappings of school, acing the dumbed-down standardized tests ahead of schedule if allowed. Many spend at least some of their time taking advantage of learning in the virtual schools that are growing very fast, collaborating online with their peers and maybe having occasional virtual contact with a teacher. Why force them to be arbitrarily present at a bricks 'n mortar school?
You seem to think deschooling and unschooling are probably ok. What do you think the kids who unschool are doing all day and where are they? They're at home, and much of the time they're learning. Home learning. It's all part of a spectrum of self-directed learning options that don't necessarily require school. If you take a really close look at how parents are approaching these options (seriously, talk to some of them), I suspect you'd be amazed (maybe even delighted) by the quality of the learning taking place in their homes.
Forget the old stereotypes of hillbillies keeping their kids at home only to brainwash them with religious fundamentalism -- the homeschooling families I know are scientists, entrepreneurs and creative folks who see the same deficiencies in the school system that you do, and they KNOW they can do better for their kids with their own tools, expertise and passion. They're better teachers than 80% of the "real" teachers out there and enjoy a 1-to-1 teacher-student ratio...of course, most would say they weren't teachers at all -- they're learning facilitators, coaches, collaborators and supporters of their children. Yes, it also "protects" their kids from the social difficulties of school, but since when was that a bad thing? [Comment]
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Qualified does not mean competent
Stephen, find your blog intelligent and informative: I am shocked that you of all people would take this position. Qualification and competence are not the same thing; it is commonplace to have one without the other. Incompetence and indoctrination have even less to do with each other. School is unquestionably a place of indoctrination. I cannot agree that training "patriotism and loyalty to the state and nation" is anything else - or that these are the best ways to teach good citizenship, respect for other people, or positive engagement with community.
Home schooling may be "uncertain learning", but that hardly distinguishes it from formal education. If school guaranteed anything, it would be mediocrity - but it doesn't. As often as not, it impedes learning. And it is a common site of child abuse, though we can pretend otherwise by calling it bullying and blaming it on the kids.
Canadian public school taught me the 3 Rs, essay writing, public speaking, a pile of French, and an abiding dislike for Shakespeare. Most of the rest of the time it was an active hinderance to learning. Worse, it was a place of violence and exclusion, in which students were trained to set aside their curiosity and their self-motivation. A student must understand that his value is imposed from outside by those who assign the tasks (no matter how meaningless) and the marks. (I was not alone in my experience: google "Voices from the Hellmouth".) I am in my 30s. My son will begin school in a few years. I pray he does not encounter what I did: but if he does, how in good conscience can I leave him to the mercies of the system? You would deny us a way out? [Comment]
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Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
Justice Croskey, states that "A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare?" We would be hard-pressed not to believe such a notion -
Strangely enough I am not hard pressed to not believe this jingoistic notion.
Good citizenship yes. but global citizenship, global patriotism and global loyalty to prosperity, peace, global commons of environment, water and shelter not stupid outmoded outdated concepts of loyalty to some artificial state or nation.
"Patriotism" "loyalty to the state" these are the buzzwords of repression of ideas and thought that lead to global paranoia about "communism" "terrorism" "security" [Comment]
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Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
I'm compeled to agree with the comments made here so far. To supplement my income, I substitute teach in the public school system in West Virginia where recently graduated young teachers come to gain the few years teaching experience they need on their vita to qualify for better paying positions in neighboring Maryland and Virginia. As a sub I serve a vital role in the resulting system that has developed. This does not translate into a functional educational environment for students. To an unreasonable extent this system is in effect merely keeping an adult presence in the classroom. A large portion of classes are taught by "permanent" subs who lack certification, not that I believe for a second that certification guarentees competitence or indicates that these inexperienced teachers do a better job than the subs who stand in for them. What I have seen is that competence is the result of experience. That said, the experienced teachers seem to be cut of the same cloth, that is, as in any institution, over time the institutional culture that grows out of, well, institutional culture, creates a conformity of personality, belief systems, and attitude that is clearly reflected in any teacher's lounge at lunchtime. I've noticed that the larger the school, the more the culture resembles a prison and when you throw in the "compulsary" attribute, this analogy takes on the type of reality that impels parents to protect their children from the negative aspects of the experience. Virtually none of the teachers I know are adept with learning styles and the disadvantages created by serving up material in the same way to all students in a competitive environment. My children are grown and have turned out very well, some of them without the advantage of a public education and the rest in spite of it. [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]
Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
How do you draw a connection between being uncredentialed and child abuse? Credentials prove nothing, even in the public schools where they are most commonly used as a determining factor in hiring. Research has proven that it is a poor predictor of teacher success, and many are looking into alternative means of getting quality teachers in the classroom.
Simply because you disagree with a practice does not make it abuse, and I think we would all be better off to respect the different learning styles and options of our children rather than using such offensive terms toward people who choose to follow a course they believe best for their children with sometimes great personal expense and sacrifice. [Comment]
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You must be joking!
Please tell me, Stephen, that you are not serious in this assertion?
How Silly! [Comment]
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Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
I agree that subjecting a child to a poor quality education constitutes neglect. However, that kind of neglect can happen in a traditional school as well as a homeschool. I would argue that it happens far more often in the former, since government employees have significantly less motivation to ensure any given child succeeds than the child's own parents do. The majority of teachers have tenure and if the school has layoffs, it'll be done by seniority rather than performance. At the end of the year, they'll just pass the buck (so to speak) to someone else. I'm not suggesting they don't care about their students because most do. They just don't have as much at stake with any particular child as parents do.
Unfortunately, I don't know how we as a society can effectively monitor the quality of the education a child receives without crossing the line into a nanny state government. There are too many pitfalls. For starters, who gets to define what exactly is a "high quality" education? Ask 100 people and you're likely to get 100 different answers to that… [Comment]
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Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
Most of the private schools that people pay megabucks to send their kids to for a superior education do not require their teachers to be certified. Is a private school education child abuse also?
All education is indoctrination of some sort. The question is, who shall decide what sort? The government or the parents? There was a Supreme Court decision that decided this aeons ago (can't remember name - maybe Pierce v Society of Sisters?) in favor of the parents, with regards to whether Catholic parents could choose parochial schools for their children in place of public schools... [Comment]
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Correction
I didn't mean to comment anonymously (directly above). Sorry! [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]
Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
I can't add much to the comments here except that your attitude, Stephen, is typical of the prejudice many have against home schooling. Where's the scientific reasoning--looking for proof to back up your claims? It turns out that homeschooling often has spectacular results! Especially with the distance education options available to them, as well as homeschooling organizations to provide social support, they often receive a far superior education. To assume that all kids would benefit the most from public schooling is to assume all kids are the same. They are not. Likewise, not all kids benefit from homeschooling. We should throw away our namecalling and prejudices and consider what is best for each individual child.
You correctly note that homeschooling parents are not usually credentialed. But they do have more intimate knowledge of a child's unique learning abilities, motivational buttons, educational needs and deficiencies, etc. More important than any of this--they love that child more than a teacher ever could, and love will motivate a child to learn more than anything else and provide them with the self-esteem to succeed in life.
We've only homeschooled our child for one year and she jumped two full grade levels in achievement, and we did not do anything spectacular--we simply gave her one-on-one attention. I am not against public schooling, and she will probably attend public schools next year. I think we need to support public, private, charter, and homeschooling and give options to parents--because kids are all different.
You're too intelligent and well-spoken, Stephen, and I truly respect many of your opinions. Lose the prejudice! [Comment]
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Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
I'm new to this blog but I'm hoping to see Stephen respond to the questions raised in the comments. [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]
Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
I have responded in a video here:
On Home Schooling.
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Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
Hello,
Such a pity many of the above comments were made by 'anymouse'.
"A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare?"
I think the judge has been refreshingly honest here.
The majority of public schooling has been little more than to raise the junior population to the approved age and thought structure appropriate to the status of 'Production Unit', when the mainstream media seamlessly takes over to ensure that 'Right-Thinking' continues to hold sway.
"They (in reference to teachers) just don't have as much at stake with any particular child as parents do."
Quite correct!
Are you infering that the parent has much at stake, or the child?
I think you will find that the parent does, although it will be disguised as concern for the child.
the parental factor that requires the child to succeed in order for the parent to garner the indirect success element, invariably at the child's expense.
Introducing the child into a social environment whereby some level of sociological self-establishment and independence of entity can be established is a required, and dare I say it, necessary educational step.
To retain that child within the home environment, driven by the fear generated by a parents very selfish, personal requirement would appear to be a massive step in retrograde.
Let us not fail to remember, that a very significant number of young people, having failed, within their own definitions, then turn to the realm of parenthood assuming that because they are biologically capable of having a child, they are, therefore mature enough to be parents. The principle of selfish achievement in action.
Let's turn this issue on its head for a moment, and consider, that as of tomorrow, say, home schooling is compulsory.
How would that usually misapplied term 'Social Capital' be improved, nationwide or otherwise?
"How do you draw a connection between being uncredentialed and child abuse?"
'Uncredentialed' also is not synonymous with 'qualified', by the way.
Beware the quantum leap.
It may well be located at the cliff-face.
All in all, more harm may well be done by 'home schooling' than in a more impersonal environment that doesn't have the judgemental aspect inferred by the parental gods.
Social skills are a required skill that need to be learned also.
Bullies, for example, are not isolated to the school environment and navigating these life hazards are not learned in isolation.
Within the school environment, bullies also have the opportunity to learn that their fear-driven tactic is not the way to 'get ahead'.
I'm all for reform in the conventional school format.
Institutionalisation is not conducive to the advancement of the individual.
But, again, reform is not brought about by isolation.
You've got to get your hands dirty.
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Equity
Mr. Downes,
I take strong issue with your point about equity. I agree that not everyone has the means to home educate, and I am fully supportive of creating the best possible public educational system to provide for children whose families cannot home educate. I love your idea of getting the community involved in public education, and I hope that more homeschooling families can take the initiative to share their advantages with families who cannot offer their children a home education environment. Just because someone homeschools does not mean they have to stop caring about the fate of the public school system.
I do not agree, though, that those who can homeschool ought not to simply because not everyone can. I'm not familiar with your audience, so I apologize if this is a taboo subject on your blog, but I'm going to use breastfeeding as an analogy. The medical community universally agrees that it is much healthier for an infant to be fed breast milk rather than formula, but sadly, not all women are able to provide this advantage for their children, for a variety of reasons. That's not fair to the women who cannot, but we should by no means discourage those who can from doing so! You don't make life fair by telling those who can provide certain advantages for their children that they cannot provide those advantages; you look for a way to provide the disadvantaged with as much as you can.
Please limit your criticisms of homeschooling to reasons why you believe it is not best for a child, not reasons why it's unfair if some people can do it and others cannot. If it is in fact an advantage, let's figure out how we can share it with as many children as possible.
Respectfully,
Laura [Comment]
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Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
It is incredible that you appear to assume that the parent-child relationship is automatically toxic. There is absolutely no psychological or medical evidence to support that assumption. It has been found in several studies that the nurturing environment of the home does more for intellectual and social development than any other factor. (Becker, 1964; Baumrind 1969; Eisenberg, 1992; Main and George, 1985; Zahn-Waxler, 1979; Cohn, 1990; Denham, 1989). A healthy home life with involved parents has also been linked to a lesser likelihood of substance abuse.(Coombs and Landsverk, 1988; Dix, 1991)
Maybe the focus should not be on removing children from the home, but providing more education and resources for parents to learn how to create that nurturing environment.
What I find so ironic is that the Academic Dream you propose and pursue is already being lived by the thousands of home educators you are disparaging. [Comment]
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Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
Weaver, do you have any idea what the implications are of what you have said?
All in all, more harm may well be done by 'home schooling' than in a more impersonal environment that doesn't have the judgemental aspect inferred by the parental gods.
If you honestly believe this, I doubt any rational discussion is possible, but if parents have nothing but selfish interest in the raising of children, how much less altruistic interest does the supposedly impartial community have which has neither love nor affection nor instinct to mitigate its reactions to a child?
And your connection of homeschooling to isolation just further points to the fact that you have not gone beyond your own stereotypes of what it means to be a homeschooler...or even a parent...to see what people are actually doing and why. [Comment]
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Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
For clarification- the first part of my comment is directed at 'Weaver', and the last statement is for Stephen. Sorry for any confusion. [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]
Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
Sir,
If I were you I would do a wee bit more research before you make these ludicrous
blanket statements about homeschooling. By any reasonable measure... test scores, college admissions, citizenship, or even ethics and moral values, homeschoolers are way above the average state educated student. Why do people homeschool? Because they have seen how people with a statist mindset have destroyed public education. (I. e. "your children do not belong to you"!)
Why don't you find a local homeschool leader and discuss these things? Go to a homeschool convention and see the full range of curricula available. I think you eyes will be opened.
RRick
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Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
"It is incredible that you appear to assume that the parent-child relationship is automatically toxic."
There is no blanket statement to match this in anything that I have written.
To credit me with stating that 'all' parent-child relationships are 'automatically toxic' immediately places you in the realm of failed, attention-deficit, drama 'teachers'.
"There is absolutely no psychological or medical evidence to support that assumption".
Thank you for endorsing my viewpoint.
To emphatically state the assumption that 'all' parent-child relationships' are 'nurturing' I find a statement that could only come from a personality totally shielded from reality.
Get out into the real world or stay safely at home until your standard issue, methamphet housebreaker drops by one night to explain the situation to you in his own inimitable, syringe-filled, blade-toting style.
It has been found in several studies that the nurturing environment of the home does more for intellectual and social development than any other factor. (Becker, 1964; Baumrind 1969; Eisenberg, 1992; Main and George, 1985; Zahn-Waxler, 1979; Cohn, 1990; Denham, 1989).
Again, you assume that all home environments are 'nurturing'.
I look forward to your in depth explanation as to why 'society' doesn't answer to its description.
A healthy home life with involved parents has also been linked to a lesser likelihood of substance abuse.(Coombs and Landsverk, 1988; Dix, 1991)
This depends, very much, on the level and style of 'involvement'.
'Involvement' can take many forms, including, off the top of my head, claustrophobic 'involvement' to the point where the child is robbed of any level of self-achievement.
All done in the name of 'love', of course.
Think of the mother, who every time the child falls, runs to pick the child up.
How is the child ever to learn to regain her feet after a fall?
This is the kind of selfishness, disguised as maternal instinct, that creates the dependent personality that requires substance abuse to change perception of reality later in life, because the person (we can't say 'individual', because that potential has been stolen from her by the ones that profess to 'love' her) has been 'taught' that she is incapable of bringing about a change in what she perceives as an unpleasant reality.
Over nurtured?
Would that apply?
"Maybe the focus should not be on removing children from the home,"
Where is it stated that children should be removed from the home?
All I have stated is that children need additional room and space in which to further establish their individual identities.
Nowhere have I suggested that your children be stolen from you by the State.
"but providing more education and resources for parents to learn how to create that nurturing environment".
There are plenty around.
You are currently attempting to communicate by way of one.
Google will give you the rest.
But why do I get the gist that you need to possess the situation completely?
I think you do protest too much. [Comment]
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Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
"Anymouse, March 20, 2008
Weaver, do you have any idea what the implications are of what you have said?
'All in all, more harm may well be done by 'home schooling' than in a more impersonal environment that doesn't have the judgemental aspect inferred by the parental gods.'"
Yes, I said that, and stand by it!
Perhaps it would pay to do a little research before replying to posts?
It is more than well established that a babys emulative behaviour is born in survival requirement.
Think of yourself, lying in a cot/cradle looking up at what must appear to be gods, on whose approval your very existence depends.
It seems to have been assumed that my statements have been applied to 'all' home schooling situations.
All I can say is that I find that perception interesting.
More than a little defensive.
Very much like saying that all school environments, outside the home, are destructive.
Much has been made here of 'statistics' and the 'average' findings, but I have a small objection to this outlook when applied to the individual scenario.
Let's look at individual cases, - all of them.
All products of home schooling have been dazzling successes have they?
As well rounded individuals?
Or it was merely an academic point you were making, was it?
"If you honestly believe this, I doubt any rational discussion is possible, but if parents have nothing but selfish interest in the raising of children, how much less altruistic interest does the supposedly impartial community have which has neither love nor affection nor instinct to mitigate its reactions to a child?"
Please point me to the resource where I have stated that 'ALL' "parents have nothing but selfish interest in the raising of children."
"nor affection nor instinct"
Many teachers I know have a great affection and understanding of their charges.
Many seem to be unaware that teachers, in the vast majority of national environments, are placed in the legal position of 'loco parentis', - 'in place of the parent', and take that responsibility very seriously.
I feel very sorry for anybody who has no experience of instinct.
Everybody, to at least some degree, experiences herd instinct, and this is established within even the most alienating conventional schooling environment, to at least some level.
In others, it's even too strong.
Even the most clinical definition of 'psychopath' experiences self-preservation.
I think you might come across a little better if you were a little less biased in your assessments.
"And your connection of homeschooling to isolation just further points to the fact that you have not gone beyond your own stereotypes of what it means to be a homeschooler...or even a parent...to see what people are actually doing and why."
And I think that praising home schooling as the be all and end all, when the definition of 'home' in many cases, isn't one simply isn't responsible.
Many children go to school relieved to get away from 'home' with the further knowledge that school is the only place they'll get a meal that day.
Again, I think you do protest too much.
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Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
http://sunniemom.wordpress.com/, March 20, 2008
"For clarification- the first part of my comment is directed AT 'Weaver', and the last statement is FOR Stephen. Sorry for any confusion".
None here. [Comment]
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Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
Laura,
The problem with home schooling when engaged in by parents who are capable of doing it well is that it withdraws some of the best potential overseers and supporters(and students)from engagement with the public system. It's not so bad that some may be getting a better education than others, but it is a shame, and to some extent often shameful, that the talent of parent and child is being hoarded rather than shared. I say just 'often' rather than always, because of course there are cases where, for physical, social, or academic reasons, a child may be severely disadvantaged by not having a customized educational experience - but in my opinion only severe disadvantage justifies abandoning the public system, and to do so just for the opportunity of a slightly improved education for one's own child is selfish and irresponsible.
-Alan [Comment]
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Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
How funny that you have written right here "My own criticism of homeschooling has always been in line with the ruling by the court:" directly before the word "it" and then later claim that "it" does not mean home schoolers (http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=43862). I'd like to see an example of that logic you mentioned, so far you haven't shown any. [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]
Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
As a parent who has been improperly classified at one point by a state.. I must tell you Stephen that your posting is extremely scary.
Overall, states and their agents will harm kids more than parents will. They will also publish many stats suggesting there are problems. Thats how you get budget increases. I have seen in NB how the stats get changed because reporting state abuse cases would be admittance of state guilt in some court cases.
The Internet and NRC funding has given you more power than most people have. You have a loud voice. You can do a lot of harm to a lot of people with your comments.
GB
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Re: Alan's Comment on Equity
Alan,
Thanks for your thoughtful reply. I agree that it is a shame when homeschooling families have something to offer the community and public schools but do not or cannot share it because they educate at home. I think it is an admirable thing when homeschoolers do take time to tutor neighborhood children, teach an afterschool class for a local public school, or visit and contribute to classroom learning at local schools.
(As an aside, it is my -- unresearched -- impression that many public schools would reject the kinds of things that homeschoolers would try to share. This may be part of the reason why you don't see much of that kind of exchange. I would be happy to be wrong on this.)
At the same time, we live in a society where a man's personal rights are not denied simply because the community would be somewhat better off if he didn't have those rights. There are countless experts in industry who would be more valuable to the school system than your average homeschool parent, but our government does not compel any of them to change careers and become teachers. Requiring one 5th grader to sit full-time in every 4th grade class would provide a great deal of help to the 4th graders, but we recognize that the 5th grader's right to learn would be denied if the government required this.
The above are scenarios that would deny people freedoms they currently enjoy for a benefit that is probably greater than what one homeschool family could offer to a school system. But the benefit is not enough to justify it.
You stated that you think the benefit to the homeschooler is "slight," so the above analogy may seem a bit warped to you, because surely an industry expert losing his high-level income and 5th grader losing a year of education are pretty severe losses in comparison. I would like to ask you to consider the loss to a homeschooler as severe to them, even if to you it may seem marginal. (I can expand on why I believe this is so if you want, but I am leaving it out right now because this comment is already quite long.)
If you can accept that the loss to the homeschooler is great, then it is just as unreasonable to expect the homeschooled student to attend public school voluntarily as it is to expect the 5th grader to lose a year of school voluntarily. I don't think it's any more selfish for a family to homeschool than for the 5th grader to refuse to sit in on the 4th grade class. Sometimes it just doesn't make sense to sacrifice a lot for a little possible benefit to someone else.
-Laura [Comment]
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Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
As a homeschooling mother, I am also mystified by your bias against homeschooling. I guess if you believe that education consists of filling a child's head with facts they may never use, indoctrinating them with whatever the fashionable philosophies of the day may be, well, yes, it would be better to send them to a state institution for that.
However, I believe that education is not the filling of a bucket, it is the lighting of a fire. It is teaching a human being how to think independently for themselves, and to become a functional, creative, giving adult who can go out into society and succeed.
It's obvious that you do not personally know and have probably never met anyone who is homeschooled or who homeschools. My children, and most other homeschooled children, perform academically at several grade levels above their public schooled peers, and that has nothing to do with my "qualifications." If you knew anything about the teacher qualification process in this country, you would not be so impressed with it. :) [Comment]
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Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
The question here is who has more rights as to what is best for a child, the parents or the Government? I for one do not trust the government in any matter of consequence. I am of the opinion that the government does not have our best interest at heart, that it is bought and paid for to serve other interests and that they have complete disregard for our mental health, physical health and hapiness. We are production-units and consumers to be molded into executing a program and/or buying into a system.
It is my opinion that we no longer live in a democracy but a tyranny. We are born into a system, and immmediately our freedom is taken away from us as we are born into a system of debt. We get registered against that debt, we are pocked with needles and injected with government administered vaccines and then sent to schools who a government approved curriculum. What we are taught in school is either a lie or insignificant. We are not taught that we are free. We are not taught to think critically. We are not taught real history. We are not taught about how our money system works, we are not taught the truth about how our political system works and we are not taught about our freedoms and how to defend them using the Law. We are not taught about the miracle and mystery of life.
We are taught conformity. We are taught patriotism. We are taught revisionist history and faulty science. We are taught consumerism, TV and group think.
If you love your child and if knowledge is freedom why would you entrust the government with educating your child? They will educate (indocrinate) your child to serve their purposes and they will pollute your child's psyche. See what kind of pressure is applied if you chose not to vaccinate your child or not to send your child to public school. See the fear, threats and guilt that is heaped on you. You are going to have the entire system fight you every step of the way. Is someone without the means (or legal literacy to defend their position) free in this society?
The system we live in is one of misinformation, mind control and subservience. It is designed to limit your freedoms, not encourage them. And it all starts with the schooling your child will receive. The system WANTS a dumb population, a distracted population and a controlleable population. They want you to be naive. They want you to focus on what is being dangled in front of you rather than who is doing the dangling and why.
"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act". Do you think the public, government run schools are going to tell your child the truth?
We are all marching toward the precipice with a dumb smile on our face.
I don't have a child yet, but if and when I do, I will try to protect it the best I can. I will look at home schooling and better yet community schooling - if it exists - where involved parents pool their resources and talents.
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Re: Homeschoolers Vs. the State
I'm the guy with the rather loaded message above. I'm sorry, I forgot to sign it. I do not wish to be anonymous.
I am still young and making my way in the world. Any advice and counsel is appreciated as I don't purport to have the experience to see the whole picture. There is always someone out there who sees what I have missed.
Also, if anyone knows of any communities that have legally created their own schooling curriculum, please share. Not sure if this curriculum would not have to be government approved??? Is there a movement for community-based or home-based education out there? Is there a legally registered association out there?
Thanks.
Billy
Montreal, Canada [Comment]
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Copyright 2008 Stephen Downes
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