October 13, 2023

Several years ago, my father, my brother, and I were camped along a small stream in the middle of Utah, near to the town of Moab.  Not far from us, another family was camped.  The family was a mother, a father, and a pre-teen boy.

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One evening, about dusk, the boy must have done something dreadful, and all of a sudden, the mother broke out in a tirade of swearing the likes of which I had never heard from a woman (and have not heard since).  I wondered at the time how this boy was going to grow up having a healthy respect for his parents when they treated him so badly.

Most people truly love their kids — and yet, for some reason I am unable to explain, parents continue to place their children in circumstances that are tailor-made to turn them against what is good and wholesome.

There are public-school teachers who love America and American traditions and who fight for the good that is in America.  However, most colleges, and especially most teacher’s colleges, are staffed by Marxist professors.  It was that way even when I attended college many years ago.

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Because of that, many teachers graduate with a Marxist, collectivist idea that the government is the answer to every problem, and they pass that viewpoint along to the children they teach.  They may not even be aware they are doing so.

Parents who truly love their kids leave them in these government schools year after year and are then puzzled when, at graduation, those wonderful kids turn against them.  It is the tragedy of our present age and is pretty general throughout the country.  This philosophy is aided by the Marxist teachers’ unions and the textbook publishers.

Some parents have seen the problem but appear helpless to do anything about it.  They know they ought to remove their kids from these schools but are helpless to do so.  It is simple: both mother and father have to work just to balance the home budget.  Neither of them can quit to home-teach their own children.

The question comes down to this: what is more important to you?  Is it your job, your fancy home, your new furniture, and your wonderful car, or is it your children?  Parents who understand the nature of the present battle, and who truly love their kids, have moved into an older home, drive an older car, own used furniture, and spend their days loving and teaching their kids.  It is interesting how all their arguments fade away after just a few months of this.  They are amazed at how much quieter and kinder their kids are and how rewarding it is to teach them.

One of the few benefits of the COVID lockdowns is that parents had to teach their kids or have them go uneducated.  Once they saw what they were actually being taught in the various public schools, many parents determined never to send their precious kids there again.  Not only that, but after they had basically taught their kids for two years, it helped overcome their fear of teaching.  They realized that if they could teach their kids how to tie their shoes, they could teach them other subjects as well.  Going online, they found a rich literature offering guidance for anyone looking to get started in homeschooling. 

(You can also write to me if you have a particular question about schooling.  If I do not have an answer, I will find one.)