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People are making a choice for their kids, whether they want the after effects of religious or public school 'brainwashing'. For many, its a clear cut choice, o

by _blz2 3y ago

People are making a choice for their kids, whether they want the after effects of religious or public school 'brainwashing'. For many, its a clear cut choice, one way or the other.

mikeyouse 3y ago
It's weird to strip the kids of any agency or consideration, but you've phrased it well. People are making a choice for their kids -- parents don't own their kids, they have something akin to justified paternalism over them. Society should care whether parents are providing a base level of education and opportunity to these kids. It's pretty apparent from the discussion here who grew up around e.g. fundamentalist Mormons or Baptists where homeschool kids were often abused as a matter of 'doctrine' and those whose experience with homeschool kids is more like the Bay Area version of precocious children learning in nature.
- pdonis 3y ago
  > Society should care whether parents are providing a base level of education and opportunity to these kids. And society should also care whether government-run public schools are doing this--not to mention whether they are indoctrinating children with values that many parents disagree with.
  - mikeyouse 3y ago
    Society does care about that, hence why the public school standards are all public, school boards are elected, and there's broad democratic oversight.
    - pdonis 3y ago
      The standards are public, yes, but that does not mean they are standards that a majority of the public agrees with. They are set by unelected bureaucrats. School boards are elected, but I don't think "broad democractic oversight" is a fair description. In any case, none of the things you mention prevented the US public school system from being explicitly set up to indoctrinate children, as explicitly described by the people who set it up. So to the extent that society in the US cares about educating children, it cares about educating them according to a particular political agenda that many people do not agree with. That is a major reason why homeschooling continues to increase in popularity.

by _blz2 3y ago

People are making a choice for their kids, whether they want the after effects of religious or public school 'brainwashing'. For many, its a clear cut choice, one way or the other.

mikeyouse 3y ago

It's weird to strip the kids of any agency or consideration, but you've phrased it well. People are making a choice for their kids -- parents don't own their kids, they have something akin to justified paternalism over them. Society should care whether parents are providing a base level of education and opportunity to these kids. It's pretty apparent from the discussion here who grew up around e.g. fundamentalist Mormons or Baptists where homeschool kids were often abused as a matter of 'doctrine' and those whose experience with homeschool kids is more like the Bay Area version of precocious children learning in nature.

pdonis 3y ago
> Society should care whether parents are providing a base level of education and opportunity to these kids. And society should also care whether government-run public schools are doing this--not to mention whether they are indoctrinating children with values that many parents disagree with.
- mikeyouse 3y ago
  Society does care about that, hence why the public school standards are all public, school boards are elected, and there's broad democratic oversight.
  - pdonis 3y ago
    The standards are public, yes, but that does not mean they are standards that a majority of the public agrees with. They are set by unelected bureaucrats. School boards are elected, but I don't think "broad democractic oversight" is a fair description. In any case, none of the things you mention prevented the US public school system from being explicitly set up to indoctrinate children, as explicitly described by the people who set it up. So to the extent that society in the US cares about educating children, it cares about educating them according to a particular political agenda that many people do not agree with. That is a major reason why homeschooling continues to increase in popularity.