Many public schools not only fail to educate our children, they can also be dangerous places. These schools are a natural breeding ground for drugs and violence. Children are packed into classrooms with twenty or more other immature children or teenagers, all the same age. Here, peer pressure becomes socialization, pushing many children into using drugs and alcohol.
Put twenty teenagers in the same room, or hundreds of teenagers in the same school, and you have a breeding ground for violence. Young boys and girls have raging hormones and budding sexuality, and male teenage testosterone levels are high. Teenagers are in the half-child, half-adult stage of life and often lack judgment and are emotionally immature.
Pack these teenagers together into cramped little classrooms, six to eight hours a day, and you have a mixture that can lead to trouble. It's inevitable that violence will break out-it's built into the system.
Also, even the most conscientious teacher is usually too busy and overworked to give children the individual attention they need. Critics of home-schooling often say that home-schoolers don't get proper socialization. However, so-called socialization in public schools is often cruel and violent. Bullying, peer pressure, racial cliques, sexual tensions, and competition for the teacher's approval all create a stressful, sometimes violent environment.
Compulsory-attendance laws also contribute to violence in the schools. In most states, these laws force children to stay in school until they are sixteen years old or graduate high school. Teenagers who hate school, or are aggressive or potentially violent sociopaths, can't leave. As a result, they often take out their hatred and aggression on other students. Those children want to learn are forced to endure bullying and violence by these troubled teens.
Also, the law is on the side of violent or disruptive students who are classified as "disabled." In 1975, Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Based on this legislation, in 1988 the Supreme Court ruled that schools could not remove disruptive disabled children from classrooms without a parent's consent. If parents don't consent, teachers are out of luck. Those 'disabled' children who are socially impaired, can't get along with other kids, or sometimes turn violent, therefore fall under this category. Of course, this adds yet another layer of potentially violent children who teachers can't remove from class.
Violence in public schools can literally kill your child. In the 2000-2001 school year, students were victims of about 1.9 million nonfatal violent crimes such as rape, assault, and robbery. This figure equals about 9,000 violent incidents every school day throughout America, or about one every three seconds.
Public schools are also a drug pusher's heaven. Thousands of teenagers, pushed by intense peer-pressure, smoke, drink beer, and try marijuana or hard drugs. Schools put hundreds of children together in one big building or courtyard. Mix in overworked or indifferent teachers who have little time or desire to supervise extracurricular activities. That's why drug pushers circle schoolyards like vultures. Where else can they find groups of vulnerable victims all herded together for their convenience? Is it any wonder that drug and alcohol use is a major problem in public schools?
In the 2001-2002 school year, 34.9 percent of tenth-grade students surveyed said they had smoked cigarettes within the past year. Fifty-one and two tenths percent said they had drunk beer, and 33.4 percent said they got bombed on that beer. Also, 29.8 percent of the same tenth-grade students said they had smoked marijuana within the past year, and 78.7 percent of these marijuana users said they got "bombed or very high" on it.
When children are home-schooled, parents can advise and watch over their kids. At home, there is no peer pressure to try drugs, as there is in public schools. Drug pushers don't hover around private residences.
Parents should therefore ask themselves: Do my children belong in violent, drug-infested public schools? Are there other education options for my children? In "Public Schools, Public Menace," I discuss many quality, low-cost education options parents can use right now if they decide to take their children out of public school.
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
weekly home cleaning Highland Park ..Sitting by her Pinocchio lamp, she smiled at me as... Read More
While most fathers aspire to become the best Dads they... Read More
To the untrained eye, it might look like a piece... Read More
The internet is a dangerous place for your children. Don't... Read More
"Family Matters" was the headline that caught my attention in... Read More
On one of her quarterly visits to see her grandson,... Read More
Young people generally want to fit in to their various... Read More
Those of you that have children know what an excursion... Read More
Most of us recognize the continuing escalation of violence around... Read More
There are some grounds to assume that a cognitive dissonance... Read More
Travel is a common theme in my life -- probably... Read More
Single parents are not often thought of as good parents.I... Read More
Do you remember how you first learned the alphabet? I... Read More
Research has shown that the present generation of children worldwide... Read More
In the last 20 years we've all been introduced to... Read More
A friend phoned her neighbor, complaining about the wafts of... Read More
Is there a way to build a robot to help... Read More
Many research studies have shown the overall effectiveness of stimulant... Read More
Information is gold when you are adopted. Every tiny piece... Read More
1 "Law of Belonging": The greatest need of teenagers (after... Read More
For troubled teens who are struggling with drug abuse, depression... Read More
There are many reasons for treating your twins as individuals... Read More
"Now don't you go getting any ideas, Harold.""Don't you get... Read More
In a single dose of children's television, I was bombarded... Read More
Did you know that inconsistency on matters of discipline gives... Read More
whole house cleaning Park Ridge ..If you are a parent, then more than likely you... Read More
What do you mean average? Not good? Just doing good... Read More
Impulsivity is one of the hallmarks of people with Attention... Read More
Before going further into choosing computers for children, I believe... Read More
Just the other day my oldest son asked:"Daddy, am I... Read More
Many years ago, my children were raised on the various... Read More
A sure way to double the joys of parenthood is... Read More
Puberty can be a difficult time for children. Not quite... Read More
Since so many would rather avoid the use of stimulant... Read More
The biggest trick some child predators' are using these days... Read More
Dear Camille,As I thumb through the photographs that I carry... Read More
The First Reason: For one thing, child development experts are... Read More
Before my daughter was born my house was... Read More
When a couple steps forth with a baby in tow... Read More
One of the biggest milestones in our children's education is... Read More
Family meetings provide opportunities for feelings to be aired and... Read More
Often I have heard that leaders are born, not made.... Read More
Here are some tips that I have picked up from... Read More
Dining in a restaurant with kids can be very enervating... Read More
"It takes a village to raise a child" is more... Read More
"Family Matters" was the headline that caught my attention in... Read More
Each child carries a unique picture of the self, shaped... Read More
For any of you Moms out there that are doing... Read More
As a parent, are you at your wits end? Does... Read More
Q. I don't like my children spending so much time... Read More
Parenting |