Linda Dobson

From: Linda Dobson <ldobson@...>

FYI. Preliminary comments are not mine - but could have been...

Linda

>-----------------------
>Thought you all might be interested in checking out an editorial by Jeff
>Berry in the recent Creative Loafing (you can find it at their website:
>http://www.clnetwork.net/ - scroll down the page to "Columns" then click
>on Jeff Berry).
>
>If you have high blood pressure, take care! Mr. Berry feels
>homeschooling should not be legal - and his view of homeschoolers is
>unfortunately as limited and uninformed as that of many of our
>legislators. We need better - and more accurate publicity!
>
>A suggestion to anyone interested in responding to Jeff Berry: flaming
>him back will not accomplish much - educating him might. As with any
>lobbying attempts or letters to legislators, thoughtful, polite and
>reasonable communications accomplish far more in the long run. Now take
>a deep breath, calm yourself - and check out the article.
>Miranda (Paymer)
>-----------------------
>
>Stop home schooling
>By Jeff Berry
>Special class: Ignorance & paranoia 101
>
> Many of you may not know that in addition to being a fabulously
>talented writer, I am also a lawyer, brain surgeon and architect.
> I did not go to college to obtain my lofty degrees. I didn't have to.
>Using the logic of a burgeoning conservative movement in this country, I
>home-schooled myself in these disciplines and awarded myself the
>diplomas. I was an excellent student, with a perfect 4.0 grade-point
>average. I graduated at the top of my class.
> And by schooling myself at home instead of at some pointy-headed
>"university, " I was kept safe from the twin evils of liberal elitism and
>godless secular humanism.
> Throughout America, it has become rather fashionable among the
>conservative kook set to withhold children from public and private
>educational institutions in order to "school" them at home. To hear them
>tell it, they have all had great success with their youngsters, who are
>insulated in a loving home far away from gangs, violence and people of
>other races.
> Yes indeed, conservative stay-at-home moms with high school educations
>all over the nation are instructing their children in such advanced
>academic pursuits as laundry folding, soap-opera watching and house
>cleaning -- the skills every child needs to succeed.
> Oh sure, Mom occasionally refers the kids to some printed material
>written by a TV evangelist that is supposed to serve as the child's
>home-school "curriculum," but that's usually only a momentary distraction
>from the day's home-school schedule. The core of their academic day --
>consisting mainly of shopping, telephone calls, and television -- is
>rarely interrupted with an attempt at actual "instruction."
> These parents believe that every school is a hopeless drug-infested
>wasteland. In their minds, they are simply exercising the essence of
>freedom -- which is to "school" their children at home, far from the
>corrupting influences of teachers with college "degrees" and people whose
>religion, race or political ideology may be different from their own.
> But to my mind, they are guilty of aggravated child abuse.
> Removing a child from school is to reject the very basis of human
>intelligence in an enlightened society. It prevents children from
>acquiring passable social skills, it deprives them of the opportunity to
>forge lasting personal relationships, and it causes ignorance and
>outright stupidity on a grand scale. Home schooling creates an atmosphere
>of insular paranoia that breeds intolerance and suspicion of people who
>are different.
> But hey, if our culture is willing to allow children to obtain a high
>school equivalency certificate even though they have never set foot in a
>schoolhouse, why can't I home-school myself in the advanced sciences,
>such as medicine or law? What liberal tyrant would deprive me of that
>God-given right?
> Conservatives often use 1950s America as an example of the cultural
>morality to which all Americans should adhere. But in the 1950s, refusing
>to send your child to school would have gotten a parent tossed in jail,
>and the child charged with truancy.
> An Internet search on the subject of home schooling clearly reveals
>that the phenomenon is being perpetuated by a host of societal misfits,
>fringe political activists and fundamentalist religious zealots. Such
>people are extremely hostile to any assault upon what they believe to be
>their Constitutional right to deprive their children of an education. As
>one home "schooling" parent asked me, "Why are you so concerned about how
>other people elect to educate their kids, Mr. Berry?"
> "It's Doctor Berry," I replied. "And home schooling is nothing but
>parentally sanctioned truancy. It should be outlawed."
>
>




------------------------------------------------------------------------
Got an opinion?
http://www.onelist.com
Make it count! Sign up for the ONElist Weekly Survey now.