The Purpose(s) of Education, Public & Private

[Sandy Levinson]

> Date:          Wed, 13 Aug 1997 09:31:03 -0500
Mark Yudof's quote is in fact very fine, but surely we should all
realize that children almost never have "freedom of thought," least
of all in a home school setting, where, by definition, they are least
likely to be exposed to a variety of ideas that might come from a
more heterogeneous setting.  The defense of Pierce, homeschooling,
etc., may be based on many things, but protection of a child's
"freedom of thought" is certainly not one of them.

Sandy Levinson

> "In some ways, public schools are a communication theorist's dream:
> the audience is  *captive* and immature...the messages are labeled as
> educational (and not as advertising)...and a system of rewards and
> punishments is available to reinforce the messages."
>
> Hmmm. I'm sure Mark meant to refer to a "comandeered" audience rather
> than a "captive" one. :)
>
> If this is freedom of thought and belief, I'll join that nudist church
> we have been reading about!
> --
>                    ----------
>              Rick Duncan (rduncan at unlinfo.unl.edu)
>
> "There's no pleasure on earth that's worth sacrificing for the sake of
> an extra five years in the geriatric ward of the Sunset Old People's
> Home, Weston-Super-Mare." Horace Rumpole
>