tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309294921527431035.post6840893326559018350..comments2023-10-09T03:35:03.844-05:00Comments on Very Special Monkeys: Raising California: The rights of a parentNathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11889169796759342598noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309294921527431035.post-44868546754888340962008-03-16T09:42:00.000-05:002008-03-16T09:42:00.000-05:00Thanks for this thought-provoking and balanced pos...Thanks for this thought-provoking and balanced post. I will put a link to it in Parenting News You Can Use, a free weekly parenting e-Zine sent by the International Network for Children and Families (www.INCAF.com). <BR/><BR/>We all learn from making mistakes. Making mistakes and learning new ways to handle situations is growth. Parents can create the space for children to experience decision-making at home so that children can safely practice, and parents can provide encouragement when a child makes a mistake. <BR/><BR/>Regarding the quote from the parent who feared the influence of "the left," the most revealing word was "indoctrination." Education is not indoctrination. We teach our children how to think...not what to think.<BR/><BR/>Thanks again!<BR/>Maggie Macaulay, MS Ed<BR/>www.WholeHeartedParenting.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309294921527431035.post-76150160680652303562008-03-12T19:13:00.000-05:002008-03-12T19:13:00.000-05:00Very good post. I'm not against home-schooling, bu...Very good post. I'm not against home-schooling, but there has to be some way for society to ensure that its citizens are not being deprived of essential information and experiences. This is a complex issue that we'll likely have to wrestle with across the country for a good number of years to come.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309294921527431035.post-40925252599942340052008-03-12T15:17:00.000-05:002008-03-12T15:17:00.000-05:00I agree completely, Nathan. There is a balance be...I agree completely, Nathan. There is a balance between privacy, the rights of the parent's, and also the rights of the child.<BR/><BR/>As a child I wanted the best education I could get. I didn't get it. My parents thought they were doing the right thing, but the school I went to sheltered me and misled me in many basic concepts. I don't resent them for it because I know they were doing what they thought was best for me. But I felt exactly what you felt in your letter. I needed to make my own decisions and test the water on my own.<BR/><BR/>If parents teach their children about the world and right and wrong then their children will be OK. They may make mistakes, but they're not going to mess up their lives any more than they would being sheltered. If anything, the world is more of a shock when you get out there after you've been sheltered. I had no defenses and I was lucky that my naiveté and gullibility wasn't taken advantage of more.<BR/><BR/>And what about parents that don't care enough to try to give a quality eduction or don't value education? Should the child be at a disadvantage? Like you said, he or she isn't property and will have to live with those decisions the parent made.<BR/><BR/>It's a difficult issue, and I think California stepped over the line, but I think there has to be some sort of standard of education that children are entitled to.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09429263099197981481noreply@blogger.com