Flabby Families OR Family Choice in Education
Families should be able to find the best fit of education for their children — yet that is a far off dream. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) recognized the significance of this principle: “Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.” Parents who are not involved in choice questions regarding their children become “flabby”. See how this conclusion arises:
In a 2002 interview Berkeley Law professor emeritus John E. Coons, a pioneer advocate for school choice, said:
“There are a lot of benign effects of school choice but, for me, choice is family policy. It is one of the most important things we could possibly do as therapy for the institution of the family, for which we have no substitute. The relationship between the parent and child is very damaged if the parent loses all authority over the child for six hours a day, five days a week, and over the content that is put into the child’s mind.”
“What must it be like for people who have raised their children until they’re five years old, and suddenly, in this most important decision about their education, they have no say at all? They’re stripped of their sovereignty over their child.”
“And what must it be like for the child who finds that his parents don’t have any power to help him out if he doesn’t like the school? We are always complaining about the lack of responsibility in low-income families. But, the truth is, we have taken the authority away from them in this most important aspect of their child’s life….”
“It’s a shame that there are no social science studies on the effect of choicelessness on the family. If you are stripped of power—kept out of the decision-making loop—you are likely to experience degeneration of your own capacity to be effective, because you have nothing to do. If you don’t have any responsibilities, you get flabby. And what we have are flabby families at the bottom end of the income scale.”
Dr. Coons was talking in the context of poverty and families. But, we can see that his remarks also apply to all families who can become flabby when unconnected from decisions about their children’s education.
[to FB, ECC]