|
The
Great Escape
by Geoffrey Botkin
(Excerpted from his book by the same title)
(Click
HERE to purchase the book)
Isn't it against the law to take
children out of the public school system?
No. Not at all. But it is a curious thing that this question comes up
so much. What has the public school system been teaching us that makes
us think it is such a sacred institution? What makes us think that it
can, without any challenge from anyone, control our lives, decide our
futures and fill our minds? Why is it so hard for us to admit that we
really do not want or need an institution that does us more harm than
good?
Part of the reason lies in what we are taught by the government schools
about the government. The message we come away with is that we are
required to do what the government wishes or we will be punished in
some way. Thus intimidated, we have allowed the government to make
numerous rules and regulations about what we are permitted or not
permitted to do by the government. Many original American freedoms are
gone, but we often don't realize this because we never learned about
real freedom in school.
Americans still enjoy the freedom to educate their children in private
schools, home schools, or other alternative arrangements, but it must
be pointed out that this freedom is now regulated. This means it is not
true freedom. Real freedom comes with responsibilities, but not with
regulations.
It is not illegal in any state to remove one's children from the
government system. But it is only legal to do it if certain formalities
are observed. (You will find a summary of those formalities in Appendix
I.)
Today hundreds of thousands of families are getting out. The Washington
Post reports that this is not longer a trend but a revolution.
Thousands of families are reading this book (The Great Escape),
learning that it is quite legal to say goodbye to the impersonal
institution called the public school. Every day more families join an
exodus that will prove to be helpful not only to the children who are
removed, but to those who remain confined.
Will the exodus from the public
schools hurt the country in any way?
On the contrary, the exodus may be the only thing that keeps our
country from falling into an irreversible system of strict government
control called "School To Work." This workforce system tightly
controls the career and the education of individual Americans,
beginning in childhood, and controls the American economy and American
businesses even more tightly. (See Appendix V for more information on
this dangerous idea.)
Reversing the Trend
Parents who depend on the public education system will continue to be
deceived, defrauded, and taken advantage of. Their children will suffer
all that and worse.
Fortunately, the law does not yet force any of us to be enslaved to
this system. It is true that we must financially support it, but we do
not have to participate in it.
Removing one's children from public school and bringing them home may
seem like a very drastic, un-American solution to today's problems. It
is not. It is forced government schooling that deviates from the
American model. Sending kids away from the home, institutionalizing
them... that is what is uncommonly un-American.
I wish that
every parent could understand that if what is desired is academic
education, unlimited learning opportunities, broad career horizons,
then public school can no longer be an option for any family in America.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I
(Barb) urge you to read this entire book:
The
Great Escape by Geoffrey Botkin as he has much more
to
say on this topic as well as "the whole picture." We
sell this book
in the "Resources
for Parents With Children of
All Ages" section.
|
By
inclusion of this article here at my website, I
do not wish to give the impression that I am entirely "anti-school."
I have many good friends who are teachers in the
school system, and are wonderful people who are doing a
good job. But, with all due respect to them, I no longer believe that "school" is the
best place
to get a (true) education. It is the best place to become "well-schooled,"
but true and complete education is far deeper and more encompassing than
this. Many of the articles in my
Article Chart will tell you why and what I believe
about "true education." And
my suggestion for a "Season
of Re-education and Renewing of the Mind" will take you through your
own
season of "renewing your mind" in this area. (And
The Great Escape
is one of the books in it!)
|
I
got the blue checked wallpaper at:
...and
the darling schoolhouse at:
Back
to Article Chart / Back to Main
Lobby
|