The Pied Piper and government schools

We've had a bit of a problem with rats in our garage the last couple months. While working in the garden today I got to thinking about The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

Hamelin, a town in Germany, was suffering from an infestation of rats. Nothing they tried got rid of the rats. Cats and Dogs were chased away and the rats continued to increase. A man came along and promises to get rid of the rats by means of music. The town hires the piper. After luring the rats into a river, the town reneges on paying the piper. In revenge, while the adults are in church, the piper lures the children away, never to be seen again.

At one level I have a little sympathy for the piper. He had contracted to perform a service, but after doing a great service, the town tries to stiff the man. But his revenge is way, way over the top. I cherish my wife and children more than anything I own. It might be overwhelming to lose them.

As I was rototilling my garden today I mused on the difference between public schools and the Pied Piper. Public schools take children from their parents and often transform them into new individuals that parents no longer recognize. This is the goal of many involved with government schools. Teachers and administrators, and many others, see public schools as the place to "fix" the ills of society.

Each evening parents get their children back, but over time the children change. Often into individuals the parents no longer understand or can connect with. Parents struggle and wonder where they went wrong. It is easy to blame the change on teenage years, or society in general, yet as Thomas Sowell writes in Inside American Education:

"Parents who send their children to school with instructions to respect and obey their teachers may be surprised to discover how often these children are sent back home conditioned to disrespect and disobey their parents."


As homeschoolers we are Pied Pipers in the opposite direction. We are encouraging parents to reconnect with their children, to rescue them from indoctrination camps called public schools, and to protect their children.


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