2005/06/06

Public Educational Goals: not with my children, you don't

Gene pointed out OverEducation's blog entries: "What are Schools For?" and "On Homeschooling and John Gatto." The latter links to DaveShearson's entry "Parents & Schooling."

Updated 9:54 AM based on OE's comments (I added two quotes):

It seems to me that OverEducation's Orwellian "training" has been complete and seems to desire total control over the children's mind, not just scholastically but morally as well, as implied in the quote:
the parent-child relationship has coercive or choice-inhibiting tendencies; that is, parents are unable to give their children access to a limitless range of choices, because they are limited by their own knowledge and means, and also because they demand more of their children than they would have a right to expect of them merely as fellow citizens. This creates a gap wherein parents lose the moral right to make all choices for their children and yet where these children do not have the full capacity to choose freely for themselves. Schools occupy this gap.
Unfortunately, correct scholastic results can be reached in variety of ways (just like in spelling, you can memorize each words or you can memorize rules and their exceptions or anyone into math knows that there is no one right method to reach a result) but morality is always monopolistic. The end results of the external behavior might be similar in many cases but the paths and the answers to all problems will show how different moral reasonings are.

For example, if on one hand cannibalistic morality requires you to kill your enemy and on the other, a Christian morality requires to "turn the other cheek" to ones' enemy, which is more right? I suppose OverEducation would say, killing is illegal so the latter is more correct? But such morality will be a utilitarian one: if it's illegal, as long as I'm not caught, it's OK.

Christian morality is based on salvation first, obedience afterwards. The Ten Commandments came after the Israelites were freed from Egyptian slavery. One obeys Jesus Christ for the gratitude of being freed from the slavery and bondage to our evil desires (hatred, material jealously, sexual lust, lying) and any resulting actions. No relativistic or utilitarian or even statist morality can offer such a positive one: the latter 3 can only maintain morality by force. No wonder the children in public schools are out of control!

Even OverEducation (OE) can only think of resorting to force to overcome moral monopoly of home educators or private school educators -- much like abused children are dealt with. To quote from the other entry:

One conclusion was that parents should not have a monopoly in determining the fates of their children. This is not news; the state already exercises the right to remove children from the custody of parents who are abusive or neglectful (incidentally, my brother works with such children). The point I felt worth contemplating is that parents should not have a mental or moral monopoly on children, either
In fact, OE essentially wants to add moral-mono-theism to the list of child abuse and continue to expand the power of the state -- all for children's educational "sake," of course -- not realizing that it would help secure OE's brother's job who deals with abused children. Talk about vested interest: I'll help you get more case loads while your labeling will secure my job by adding the children into the state sponsored brainwashing institutes (i.e., more pupils means more tax money for public schools).

What's funny is that current policy of public schools is such that if you're overtly religious (only Christianity, of course), then you can get kicked out of school for not obeying "statist neutrality." What will OE do? Will a new policy be made: we will now FORCE your children to no longer be overt about Christianity (using drugs, psychotherapy, etc.)? "1984" here we come 20 some years late....

Yup, I can't stress enough: get rid of public schools and all related taxation.