Take Back Your Education

[Magda Hassan]

If I never do anything else good in my life, I will go to my grave satisfied that when I was a young father I did the right thing by my daughter, my wife and my world.

I don't think you can do anything better than that Bruce. If you ruin your kids life it doesn't matter what else you achieve in life does it? It will all mean nothing. To raise a happy, healthy child and one that can think for themselves is just the greatest thing you can do.

You don't need government's help to raise a fine person!

Or the church.

We did the 'homeskool' thing too and I know the sort of pressures that some people would put on you for that. Including the state. The local schools in our case , which are considered 'good schools' were all just bloody dreadful despite some individual teachers being lovely. It was all about wearing the right uniform, saluting the flag, tests at all ages, conformity and obedience, religious instruction against our wishes (in a so called secular state school), corporate intrusions into the classroom, poor problem solving strategies etc. We had so many problems with the school and us all not conforming to their accepted ways of fitting in they were so glad to see the end of us. We found a great group of other home-schoolers in the area who were doing it for similar reasons and not wanting to outsource the raising of their children to others, church, state or corporate. They were a great source for ideas (someone usually had already invented a wheel to borrow), doing group activites, and play. There was another group who were religiously motivated to H.S. but they just seemed as much into another kind of indoctrination as the education system itself so we had little to do with that group but we had what I call small 'c' Christians (and Jews and Muslims) in our group who were great as well as all the usual lapsed and free thinker types. If people knew what bloody great fun it all is to do this too I think there would be more giving it a try (and questioning the alternative). But besides the time constraints of a two income family a lot of parents lack the confidence or belief that they can actually do this for their children or feel compelled to do 'school at home' thing instead of education everywhere. It is true that home schooling is not for everyone but many more could benefit from it. In many respects most schools are a very un-natural environment. Teachers don't know all the answers either and have their teacher manuals to fall back on. Now there is the internet but always there was the library and mentors. And school is not the only place where learning happens. It can, and does, happen anywhere.