From: snow <snow@smoke.suba.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Sep 1996 10:19:49 +0800
To: frissell@panix.com (Duncan Frissell)
Subject: Re: Public Schools
In-Reply-To: <3.0b19.32.19960923103721.00a13340@panix.com>
Message-ID: <199609262259.RAA00119@smoke.suba.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text


> 
> On Sun, 22 Sep 1996, snow wrote:
> >I would agree that parents can do as good or better at _most_ 
> >subjects thru about the 3rd or 4th grade, and I do agree that 
> >most of todays schools are shit, however there is one area--
> >social skills--that homeschooling simply can't compete. 
> 
> >From John Holt's "Teach Your Own"
> 
> "If there were no other reason to homeschool your children, protecting them
> from the 'valuable social atmosphere' of the schools would be sufficient."  
> John was a commie liberal BTW.  He felt that the schools had a very nasty
> and artificial social environment with rigid age segregation that bore no
> resemblance to real life where there are people of wider age ranges.
> Certainly, most people suffer worse mistreatment from their "peers" at
> school than they do later in life.     
> As a libertarian, I would add that the social atmosphere of a Stalinist
> "brain factory" is not exactly the socialization I would choose for my
> children.  I would choose a more market oriented model.

     As I indicated (or at least tried to) I am not satisfied with the
way that schools are run. I _don't_ think that this seperation into classes
by age is a good idea, I don't believe that self esteem is more important
than learning. 

     However I DO believe that socialization is necessary. I do believe that
the torture we all endured (and I as much or more than most) from our 
fellow students helps us later in life. If nothing else it teaches us that
our fellow "humans" are not "humane". 

     I think a more more market oriented model would be a good idea, assuming
that you mean a model designed to produce a product--well educated young 
adults--and not simply "worker factories". 

Petro, Christopher C.
petro@suba.com <prefered for any non-list stuff>
snow@smoke.suba.com