PARENTS HAVE A RIGHT AND RESPONSIBLITY TO CONTROL THEIR CHILD'S LEARNING

PARENTS HAVE A RIGHT AND RESPONSIBILITY TO CONTROL THEIR CHILD'S LEARNING

By Domenick J;. Maglio PhD. Traditional Realist

In tribal times the necessary skills were passed down from parent to child. The roles and expectations were clearly defined by the clan’s spoken history. Choices were simple and limited. People learned from adult role modeling. They also shared their knowledge in specific activities and chores.

In the Golden Age of Greece philosopher -teachers were sought after by the powerful. They wanted these self-educated men to shape the minds of their children through learning. They chose the educator, specified the areas of learning and intimately monitored the process.

As civilizations grew, knowledge and choices immensely increased. The most wise and even average parent realized that they did not have sufficient expertise, objectivity and time to teach their children all they needed to know to be successful in a complex society.

Fast-forward to the 21^st Century and our schools have become more centrally controlled where education has morphed into caretakers of our children forever increasing duration. Some cities throughout the United States have been designated as official public boarding schools to supposedly lessen the socioeconomic deficit of the children. Today’s schools are providing meals, healthcare and indoctrination to assist the social engineering of our society.  Most educated experts are advocates of a longer school day and year to influence the child’s development.

Modern parents are less willing and able to accurately evaluate their child’s academic success. They primarily accept the inflated grades the children are receiving as true indicators of their progress. It is easier than digging deeper into what is happening in our schools. Eventually they realize their child has become different from what they had wanted and expected. The innocent child has grown into a jaded, self-centered tweener that they realize is beyond their power to alter. Too often they do not understand or even like their own child.

Parents initially blamed the changes in their children on Hollywood and the media more than on the schools. They are presently becoming more aware that the propaganda from their child’s government school is posing as curriculum and is changing his attitudes towards them and their traditional values. Although they are realizing that the Federal Department of Education is dictating school policies through federal mandates and the Common Core Curriculum guidelines that are more in line with progressive atheist intellectuals than Judeo-Christian values.

The antidote to progressive, centrally controlled “education” is a return to small neighborhood schools. It is where teachers spent sufficient time with students to know them as individuals rather than just a number. Individual states have the responsibility under the constitution for the education of children. The local communities need to reassert their authority.

 Parents should and need to support efforts for local community control over their school and fight for education that conforms to their expectations of quality learning. Local neighborhood schools controlled by the average parental wishes rather than anonymous bureaucrats will make education relevant to students and families. Parents will be more able to influence what and how their children are taught. This will recreate a diversity of schools depending on the reality of the community. There will be a menu of alternative programs to pick from. 

When parents are on the same page as those in charge of their child’s education, the learning is more effective than when there is disagreement or blatant disregard for the rights of parents.

It is time for America to demand results from their school tax dollars. No longer can selective politically aspiring politicians be window dressing for the county board of education’s "phony educational process." School districts are often the largest employer with the largest budget in the county. School districts are a big industry controlled from the top for the benefit of the connected rather than the average student.

Parents need to assert themselves to demonstrate their right to approve their child’s education. They need to be making the decisions for more than half the child's waking hours, which take place in school.

Educators do not work for the county board of education, the state or the D.C. government. They should be working for the students and parents and the future of our children. It is time for parents to regain their right and responsibility over their child's education.

Domenick Maglio, PhD. is a columnist carried by various newspapers, an author of several books and owner/director of Wider Horizons School, a college prep program. You can visit Dr. Maglio at www.drmaglio.blogspot.com.