The public school system in America has become a dismal failure. But education in many other times and cultures has been quite successful. The ancient Greeks, whose civilization was at its height around 500 B.C., founded Western civilization as we know it. The Athenian Greeks invented or perfected logic, drama, science, philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, literature, and much more. Yet ancient Greece had no compulsory schools.
Other than requiring two years of military training for young men that began at age eighteen, Athens let parents educate their children as they saw fit. Parents either taught their children at home or sent them to voluntary schools where teachers and philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle gave lectures to all who wanted to learn. These great teacher-philosophers did not need a license to teach, nor did they have tenure.
The ancient Athenians had a free-market education system. The thought of compulsory, state-run schools and compulsory licensing would have been repulsive to them. The Athenians respected a parents' natural right to direct the education of their children.
In contrast, Sparta, Athens's mortal enemy, created the first truly state-run, compulsory education system on record. Individual Spartans lived and died for the state, and had to serve the state from birth until sixty years of age. Their society was a brutal military dictatorship in which male children literally belonged to the city, not to their parents.
The Spartan military government took boys from their homes and parents at the age of seven and forced them to live in military-style barracks for the rest of their lives. Spartan men were life-long soldiers whose highest duty was to obey the commands of their leaders.
It is no coincidence that Sparta had compulsory, state-run education. If a society believes that children belong not to parents, but to the state, then the state must control children's education by compulsion.
Are our public schools any different than the brutal Spartan society in the way they treat parents and children? Today, school compulsory-attendance laws force parents to hand over their children to government employees called teachers for eight to twelve years.
In effect, our local and state governments claim that they, like the Spartans, own our children's minds and bodies for twelve years. Parents who refuse to hand over their children to the public schools can be and have been locked in jail for disobeying the compulsory-attendance laws.
In this respect, our public schools today are just as brutal as the Spartans. The difference is only in degree. Where the Spartans stole children from their parents to serve a lifetime in their military, our local governments create laws that let them, in effect, legally kidnap our children to serve twelve years in their education boot camps called public schools. The brutality of the principal is the same. Like the Spartans, our public-school officials think they own our children, and have contempt for parents' 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 an Ezine, newsletter, or other website only if you include Joel Turtel's complete contact information, and set up a hyperlink to Joel Turtel's email address and website URL, http://www.mykidsdeservebetter.com
express cleaning service Arlington Heights ..Did you know that many people retire broke?It's true. After... Read More
When my oldest daughter was born, I walked the floor... Read More
Information is gold when you are adopted. Every tiny piece... Read More
I never dreamed that I would be in a position... Read More
Reading is the most important skill that a child must... Read More
More and more kids these days are diagnosed ADD, ADHD,... Read More
Here is an easy, inexpensive and fun kid experiment for... Read More
Angie was brought up by rigid, authoritarian parents who kept... Read More
College is one of the largest expenses through the course... Read More
What should the goals for counseling be when the patient... Read More
"If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think... Read More
It's a familiar scene: Kids screaming at each other, complaining... Read More
In stepfamilies, big holiday expectations can lead to big disappointment--and... Read More
For most children, it is easy to learn to read... Read More
Q. We just got our daughter's progress report, and it... Read More
Encouragement comes when you focus on your child's assets and... Read More
Public-school teaching is structured in such a way that it... Read More
The great thing about children is they absorb knowledge like... Read More
Coping with a child's bad behavior, perhaps more than any... Read More
A sure way to double the joys of parenthood is... Read More
How bad is the illegal drug problem here in the... Read More
All too often, children with learning disabilities are seen through... Read More
Who lives in your house? Are they driving you "crazy?"... Read More
the woes of being a parent of an ADHD child.....Like... Read More
For the first year or two of life outside the... Read More
tidy up service Arlington Heights ..Today the little red school house is not what it... Read More
In our last issue we posted some of our suggested... Read More
One of the implications of the current trend toward smaller... Read More
There is a front line and a back end to... Read More
Self esteem in an important quality for all children to... Read More
"The greatest gift I ever had Came from God, and... Read More
One of the most powerful tools that parents have for... Read More
"The best blush to use is laughter: It put roses... Read More
Q. My teenage son is turning 16 early next year... Read More
What parent hasn't gone into a son's or daughter's room... Read More
Do you remember how you first learned the alphabet? I... Read More
It's that time of year when mom and dad look... Read More
We are all so very happy to see that the... Read More
Plus size children and overweight children need patterns and clothing... Read More
Being in a competitive world, the lowest qualification to secure... Read More
Are you a parent concerned about passing values on to... Read More
You need to smart to be able influence adolescents. You... Read More
The learning and development of Australian kids is under threat... Read More
Child support is defined as that part of your income... Read More
Many parents struggle to know which foods are healthy for... Read More
Life is full of competition -- even in childhood. Kids... Read More
Does the homework battle so typical with your hyperactive or... Read More
"There is nothing new under the sun," states Ecclesiastes 1:9.... Read More
Not too long ago my teenage daughter approached me with... Read More
When my firstborn arrived into this serene and peaceful household,... Read More
Parenting |