Reply #169: that being your opinion [View All]

You are of course entitled to it:

"But it is the right of parents, in my opinion, to educate their children with NO ONE interfering unless they are in serious danger"

It just doesn't happen to be FACT.

"As a society we have chosen certain fundamental privacy rights. Among them is the right to educate your children as you see fit."

Nor would that be.

The fundamental problem with your formulation of reality is that children are not furniture or pets or cattle; they are people, and -- hold onto your hat -- they have rights too.

That idea was novel a century or so ago. It's pretty generally accepted these days, at least among the literati. You know: the ones who went to school.

No one has any "right" to do "as they see fit" to any other human being, "with no one else interfering". And that applies to children, no matter whose they are. Sorry to burst your nineteenth century bubble, bub.

In modern, developed societies, the right to an education is rather generally regarded as fundamental. Ever read the Convention on the Rights of the Child? Yeah, yeah, I know. The US and Somalia have never ratified it. Bearing that in mind, it looks like a pretty good statement of what the civilized world in general thinks about the matter:

Article 19

1. States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child.

Article 28

1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to education, and with a view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity, they shall, in particular:

(a) Make primary education compulsory and available free to all;

(b) Encourage the development of different forms of secondary education, including general and vocational education, make them available and accessible to every child, and take appropriate measures such as the introduction of free education and offering financial assistance in case of need;

(c) Make higher education accessible to all on the basis of capacity by every appropriate means;

(d) Make educational and vocational information and guidance available and accessible to all children;

(e) Take measures to encourage regular attendance at schools and the reduction of drop-out rates.

2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that school discipline is administered in a manner consistent with the child's human dignity and in conformity with the present Convention.

3. States Parties shall promote and encourage international cooperation in matters relating to education, in particular with a view to contributing to the elimination of ignorance and illiteracy throughout the world and facilitating access to scientific and technical knowledge and modern teaching methods. In this regard, particular account shall be taken of the needs of developing countries.

In what bizarro universe is it not in the best interests of a child to be given an education that will enable him/her to exercise choices, and his/her own rights and freedoms, as an adult??

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