One reason public schools get away with educational failure, year after year, is because they are run by school officials who passionately believe in what they are doing. As the great English writer C. S. Lewis wrote, "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. Those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
Public-school true believers often fall into this category - for over a hundred years, education "experts" have been tormenting our children with public schools, allegedly for the children's benefit. Like all true believers, these people believe that they know what is best for our children and society, and seek to enforce their beliefs on parents.
From the 1850s to the 1920s, public-school activists such as Horace Mann and John Dewey worked to create a public-school system like the one they admired in Prussia (Germany). Mann and Dewey considered public education a religion, with a holy mission to mold children and society. Simply teaching children to read, write, and do math was too commonplace a goal for them. Mann and Dewey wanted the schools to have total control over children's lives. This meant removing parents' influence over their children. Mann put it this way: "We who are engaged in the sacred cause of education are entitled to look upon all parents as having given hostages to our cause."
Dewey also had a utopian vision for America and he wanted the common schools to achieve his vision. To create a socialist America, public schools had to mold generations of children into the habit of obedience. In his Pedagogic Creed of 1897, Dewey wrote, "Every teacher should realize he is a social servant set apart for the maintenance of the proper social order and the securing of the right social growth. . ."
Public Schools Expand Their Control Over Our Children By the early twentieth century, public schools had expanded their functions into areas undreamed of in the 1850s. Schools took on the role of social agencies, with nurses, social centers, playgrounds, school showers, kindergartens, and "Americanization" programs for immigrants. Public schools became a major agency for social control.
Unfortunately, today's public schools are fulfilling Mann's and Dewey's socialist vision with a vengeance. There is hardly any area of children's lives that school authorities don't push to control or manipulate. Politicians and public-school apologists in many states are now pushing programs that would make kindergarten compulsory. Public schools also now spend billions of dollars for psychological counseling, school-lunch programs, parent welfare-outreach programs, special-education classes, bilingual classes, early-childhood programs, drug and sex education classes, as well as programs for millions of "at-risk" or "special-needs" children.
This government-knows-best philosophy is the deepest reason why public schools get away with educational murder and can never be fixed. Many public-school apologists believe that your children's education must be dictated by local governments and school authorities. By implication, they believe that parents are an annoyance at best, and at worst a danger to their children's proper education. That is why public-school true believers will never voluntarily give up control over our children. They see themselves as noble idealists who know what is best for our children. That is why these "idealists" have contempt for parent's rights.
Joel Turtel is an education policy analyst, and author of "Public Schools, Public Menace: How Public Schools Lie To Parents and Betray Our Children." Contact Information:
Website: http://www.mykidsdeservebetter.com,
Email: http://www.mykidsdeservebetter.com,
Phone: 718-447-7348.
Article Copyrighted ? 2005 by Joel Turtel.
NOTE: You may post this Article on another website only if you set up a hyperlink to Joel Turtel's email address and website URL, http://www.mykidsdeservebetter.com
Some public schools try to turn children against their parents... Read More
Information is gold when you are adopted. Every tiny piece... Read More
Get into their world. The world that teens are growing... Read More
At first I thought of titling this article "The Lazy... Read More
Look around: Your kids are counting sleeps until the last... Read More
Angie was brought up by rigid, authoritarian parents who kept... Read More
For many adults, reading a book or newspaper seems effortless.... Read More
Public education in the United States has never been equal... Read More
My son, Dakota is now 7 yrs old. He is... Read More
Why Me?"We should certainly count our blessings, but we should... Read More
Children are moral and make moral determinations... at least until... Read More
Winnie the Pooh is the classic picture of Inattentive ADHD.... Read More
Recess has begun disappearing in states all around the country.... Read More
The Internet is one of the greatest inventions of all... Read More
There's a new trend for party entertainment. It seems as... Read More
Travel is a common theme in my life -- probably... Read More
Children think money grows on trees. Maybe not literally, but... Read More
Throughout the year, many days of celebration are tucked capriciously... Read More
What parent hasn't gone into a son's or daughter's room... Read More
In June, elementary school children across North America cheered as... Read More
Many public schools not only fail to educate our children,... Read More
I am writing this from the beautiful mountains of Western... Read More
If your child has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder then at... Read More
Graphology for Child development.:- Graphology is the science of understanding... Read More
If your child or teen has been diagnosed with Attention... Read More
cleaning help near Bannockburn ..A parent writes in, ``We are having a hard time... Read More
Vacations are fun ! Weekends with the family are nice.... Read More
Early childhood educators have called play "children's work". Many parents... Read More
Unfortunately each year many young children drown in swimming pools,... Read More
"Get down from the table top right now! What are... Read More
Many parents struggle to know which foods are healthy for... Read More
Voices!So many voices crying out for adherence and so many... Read More
Today's dads are more hands-on than ever before and their... Read More
Incest is sexual activity, ranging from fondling to intercourse, between... Read More
Home, home on the range, Where never is heard A... Read More
Under the "No Child Left Behind Act," public schools whose... Read More
Mother's Day is important for children.This Mother's Day take note... Read More
There is little doubt that reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic are... Read More
Dan Rather made a significant and tactical error and got... Read More
Ah, there is nothing like being an expectant mom. Along... Read More
Think back to your own childhood. Chances are, some of... Read More
All babies cry, but if yours cries a lot, isn't... Read More
Everyone needs friends, and, as parents, you and I both... Read More
I thought I was the only one in the world... Read More
When was the last time you and your kids rolled... Read More
John was a 43 year-old sales manager at a large... Read More
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Results of the Spanking Poll on Rexanne.com: Voters - 233Percentage... Read More
Often I have heard that leaders are born, not made.... Read More
It is hard to believe that summer is coming to... Read More
As a parent there are lots of things that you... Read More
Parenting |