Christine Smith’s Blog

Whose children are they?

 Parents across the country are understandably disturbed about having their children subjected, in school, to listening to Obama’s address next week and whatever class activities are planned around it.

I’ve heard some say they are writing notes asking that their child be “excused” from it and put into study hall instead.  Still others say they’ll keep their children home that day.  Many express wonder at what type of classroom discussion will actually occur after? 

But Obama’s taking advantage of such a captive audience is to be expected.  Obama is the height of representation of what public schools are about: big government control, power, and planning. 

Why are they called “public” schools, when they should be called for what they are: government schools.  Maybe if that term became the norm, people wouldn’t be acting so surprised at Obama and the Department of Education.

The bigger issue, however, which seems sorely missed even amongst those who are upset by next week’s Obama-in-the-Classroom, is why do parents, for decades, accept that they must “ask” that their child be “excused” from this or any other day missed from school?  It points to the utter mass acceptance and obedience to the government when parents (who more than anyone should feel outrage that anyone else presume to dictate what their child will do) passively accept such blatant intrusion into their lives.

The fundamental problem isn’t with Obama (who in my opinion whose policies will and are destroying the last vestiges of the principles this nation was built upon) in this situation, but with the American people who try to appease the school personnel who lord over them with compulsory school attendance and all its problems.  A perfect illustration of government failure is the entire “public” education system, and while many say this is an area for ‘reform,” it is yet another area I believe the government should be eliminated from entirely. 

As it is, even school choice/vouchers (far from elimination of government control, but nevertheless providing an alternative, though I feel a temporary one, to forcing children to attend public schools) are hotly contested with its opponents bemoaning it might erode the public school infrastructure or might not be available to all - neither a rational objection. 

I go a step beyond vouchers, as I think a free market, free from any government subsidies and involvement is what is needed as well as a society free from compulsory education.  Vouchers are like a small  bandage on a huge festering wound; I prefer looking to stop the cause of the infection rather than trying to merely slow its increase.  Vouchers, in themselves, validate the government being involved in education.  Others, however, are convinced that a society requires education be provided by coercion (taxation) of its citizens, but still see such taxpayer funded schools as not necessitating the government control we now see. I, on the other hand, choose to focus on getting government out of the business of education and ending taxation support of schools.

The very nature of government schooling is anti-freedom.  Little or no respect for parents, their children, and their personal lives exist (not to mention the enormous issue of taxpayer funding for agendas impressed upon children with which parents disagree whether from historical, religious, moral, or ethical grounds). 

Take this latest controversy:  Rather than using it as a springboard to challenge compulsory education and the outrageousness of penalizing children and their parents unless a “reasonable” excuse is provided for their absence, many parents are merely challenging the speech from Obama and grumbling that their child might have to miss a day of their “education” because of it, or hoping that an alternative will be offered. 

But the big picture is missed: you as a parent shouldn’t be put into a situation where you must make any such decision….because it’s your child - not property of the public school.

Across the nation, when attendance incentives for students don’t succeed (or partially), there’s always the “get tough” policy government excels at.  How crazy can it get when in addition to lower grades, non promotion to following grade, and exclusion from other activities, we now have a society that jails and/or fines parents in some cases for their children’s “truancy”?  Whose children are they anyway?

In a quick search online I found numerous examples of government school regulations which I considered heavy handed to say the least, if not  egregiously unjust and anti-liberty of the children and their parents, with some indicating that when a child is absent a “reasonable” excuse must be provided by note, others indicating grades and promotion are contingent upon attendance regardless of actual academic performance, and others listing what excuses are considered “lawful” and which will be accepted by the schools. 

As long as the American people accept compulsory public education and its affront on a most precious aspect of raising children there will always be controversies about curriculum even to the point of the national discussion on Obama’s upcoming speech to school children.  The controversies will come and go…until the real problem, government provided education, is widely exposed, challenged and abolished.

This nation and its youth do not need Obama in the classroom giving some national broadcast of a speech as if it will inspire or motivate the youth of this nation.  Effective inspiration and motivation doesn’t come from a demagogue as Obama or from oppressive regulations or attendance rewards, but from a loving and nurturing wholesome family.  And it’s there, in the family, that educational choices should be made as well. 

We need educational freedom.

An excellent article (transcript) I recommend is “On the Role of Government in Education” from Douglas Dewey  from December 11, 1996.  Dewey makes some excellent suggestions and points on this topic for those who value liberty.