Children have had their childhood stolen from them by a society drunken on achievement and material success. Students are at school every week day all day long and then they bring enough homework assignments home to eat up all their play time in the evenings and weekends. There is a huge movement against public schooling. If you have ever had a child in the public schools recently, you won’t need to ask why.
The school bureaucracy has assumed the role of government parent leaving the actual parents with less and less control over the lives of their children. Taking your child out of school for a family day or a family vacation is not only frowned on, it could result in the student being given failing grades or worse, legal action against the parents.
Now, some are proposing to lengthen the school year. What’s next, government dormitories with weekend visits to the parents? I propose that the trend of obesity among students has little to do with diet and more to do with exercise. Heavy homework loads and expanding school demands on the free time of students is weakening the family unit and driving children indoors. Three month summer vacations are shrinking and disappearing.
Parents who view their kids as a burden on their freedom and time are applauding proposals for all year classes. It keeps the kids out of their hair. The government is all too happy to gain more control over the lives and minds of the young.
Children learn much from play. They learn how to be creative, how to act out adult roles in a safe setting, how to dream, visualize the future, and relieve stress. With increasing pressure on students in the public education system, a new phenomena has risen that is unique with our generation – school shootings.
Out of these trends of increasing demands on students and increased control by school professionals, a new industry of alternative education has been given birth. Private schools, religious schools, charter schools, and home schooling have been on the increase. Parents are concerned that the government is gaining too much control over their children and their family time.
Instead of lengthening the school year, why don’t we go on a crusade to lengthen the time that children have to play and be with their families and shorten the long arm of the government so that it doesn’t reach so far into the private lives of our families?
