On The Homeschooling Revolution today I read this quote:
"We who are engaged in the sacred cause of education are entitled to look upon all parents as having given hostages to our cause." - Horace Mann
Horace Mann led the effort to establish what later became public schools. Up until the 1840s, most children were taught by their parents, with a few being taught at private schools. Children did not start school until around eight to ten. The country had a very high literacy rate. Over the next hundred years governments at various levels first offered public schools as an option, and then tried to force parents to send their children to public schools.
I find it sad that many involved with public schools, as administrators or teachers, feel that because they have been "educated," they can do whatever they want to the students. They do not want to be accountable to the parents, or even allow parents to have a voice in the process. Public schools are often trying some new fad in the way various topics are taught, in reading, math, or so on. Often there is a new fad every year or two. If the new approach doesn’t work, or inflicts harm on the children, there is no accountability.
The people who suffer are not the teachers and administrators, but the students and family members. If a child gets a poor education, the teachers don't suffer. But for the rest of his life the child who has trouble with reading, writing, or some other topic suffers. The parents of the child may have to help out with money, or in other ways. A poor education affects the child later in life as he looks for a job. And a poor education is often passed on to the next generation. But the teachers have little consequence.
Horace Mann was not the first, and clearly not the last to claim that because they "care" and they are "trained" they have a higher moral ground. But they don't. The parents have the high moral ground. The parents have brought the child into this world. The parents have taught the child to walk and talk. The parents are the ones who sacrifice thousands of hours, and tens of thousands of dollars providing a good foundation for their child. By comparison teachers sacrifice very little, remember teachers get paid.
One of the problems with public schools is many at public schools think they are the master of the child. Public schools have continued to try and expand their influence over children for the last 150 years. The reality is parents are responsible for children. Public schools should be the servant of the parent. Unless this changes, more and more parents will recognize how morally bankrupted public schools are and homeschool their children.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, education, Horace Mann, teachers, public schools, responsibility, parents, parenting
3 comments:
My oldest went to public school. I knew something was amiss when I had to have a written documentation from the dentist to prove that when I signed her in 20 min later than the start of the school day, that I wasn't "lying". I refused saying, "My authority of this child overides your authority and your authority over her does not begin until I sign her in." Later that day she was called down to the vp of discipline and was grilled about where she REALLY was. They brought her to tears as she was confused by the big ta-doo. She chose to finish out her senior year. That sealed my decision to homeschool the balance of my children.
Great post!
However, I take one issue with what you said, the ultimate authority in a school, in my view, is the student. The parents act as proxy for the student, particularly the younger students, but as the child ages, their importance increases and should be considered as well.
That was a great post.
When my oldest son started second grade, I told the teacher on the first day that I wanted to know every problem she had with him because I like to follow through with discipline at home. He is the type of kids who, if he gets away with one thing, will get progressively more mischievous. (And the school’s idea of a consequence is a gentle reminder.) She said that was fine.
About a week into the school year, she told me that she had had a minor problem with him. Then she revealed that it was not the first time. The first incident was a day before and she felt that it was “not necessary to tell me” because she “wanted to handle it at school.” Then he got a little worse, so she thought it was time to tell me.
Imagine that, the mom knew her own kid better than some “professional educator” who just met him.
Needless to say, that was our last year in the public school system. We now homeschool.
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