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In a message dated 2/10/2004 10:35:15 AM Eastern Standard Time,
jrossedd@... writes:
That's why I think it's amazing, and well worth participating in, that
this list and other unschooling resources and conversations clearly can and
do help some people to break free of their own indoctrination, and to realize
that the default tendency of schooling (and parenting) is to control and
limit, not to empower and enrich. JJ



Controlling, a simple word for so much that it encompasses huh? I've been
struggling with this word all week and wondering WHY parents allow something
like a school system to control them and ultimately control their child?

This is a very REAL question that I wish I had an answer to. Why would
parents do something they KNOW is detrimental to their precious child just because
a school system told them to? Are they that willing to give over the "power"
of parenting? Are they afraid if the kid turns out "wrong" they'll have no
one but themselves to blame if they DON'T do what the school tells them? I
don't know, but it seems crazy to me that so many just without questioning do
exactly what someone inside a building (that WE as taxpayers pay for) tells them
to do regarding their children and many of them are unwavering, EVEN if they
feel it's wrong, they go ahead and do it. WHY?

I don't understand it. I can't even slightly grasp why someone feels people,
just people have some extra keen perception regarding THEIR children that
they cannot posses so therefore they must do what these people tell them. Maybe
because they've been to school to LEARN about children? Lord have mercy,
don't you learn about your own children every moment of every day?

Maybe I just don't understand control on any level. I've lived it for sure,
when I was a child/young adult. But I just don't see the need for it and why
others so willing turn it over, especially regarding their very own children.

If I'm not going to "control" what my child see/does/is then why should I
allow someone else to do it?

I think school need to be somehow reduced to what they actually are. I think
too many people think of them as this mysterious or wondrous building were if
you and your child do everything they tell you spit out great and wondrous
human beings. What about those that come out that they say aren't so great and
wondrous? Hmmm... guess they had problems school couldn't FIX?

School seems so very wrong to me, especially this week. I do recognize that
some kids are better off in school, I was one of them. But there are so many
bright and wonderful spirits being crushed inside those buildings and the
people in those buildings are blaming those bright and wonderful spirits and the
parents believe it is the children's fault...

So, why would parents hand over complete control of their children to a
government agency for that many hours per day? I'm not just saying for education,
they are in COMPLETE control.

glena


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

pam sorooshian

Glena,

You only took your teenage daughter out of school a year or two ago,
right? And all your other kids went all the way through school.

Shouldn't you be able to answer your own question better than most of
the rest of us?

-pam

On Feb 10, 2004, at 7:54 AM, rubyprincesstsg@... wrote:

> This is a very REAL question that I wish I had an answer to. Why would
> parents do something they KNOW is detrimental to their precious child
> just because
> a school system told them to?
National Home Education Network
<www.NHEN.org>
Serving the entire homeschooling community since 1999
through information, networking and public relations.

Fetteroll

on 2/10/04 10:54 AM, rubyprincesstsg@... at rubyprincesstsg@...
wrote:

> I've been
> struggling with this word all week and wondering WHY parents allow something
> like a school system to control them and ultimately control their child?

We all choose to put up with negatives if we feel the outcome will be worth
it.

Even if some parents think schools offer too many negatives for the
positives they return, the alternatives to school seem far worse.

If parents believe that school methods done properly are what will provide
success for their children and the alternative is doing a poor reproduction
of school methods on their own at home, school will seem worth it.

It's about parents giving what they're certain is the best to their kids
despite the trials and tribulations (to themselves and their kids) needed to
get it.

> Hmmm... guess they had problems school couldn't FIX?

Yes.

Or the kids didn't apply themselves.

Or the school failed to apply it's process properly to the child.

> So, why would parents hand over complete control of their children to a
> government agency for that many hours per day?

I think you need to ask yourself that to figure out why you did it for so
long.

Joyce

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<< > So, why would parents hand over complete control of their children to a
> government agency for that many hours per day?

<<I think you need to ask yourself that to figure out why you did it for so
long. >>

And you don't need to tell the rest of us here, because we'll do better to
talk about unschooling.

Sandra