Parent Choice
Nik B | 08.03.2005 13:15
Is "Parent Choice" really what's best for kids? Isn't it time the politicians and civil servants starting asking children themselves what THEY want from education?
The Tories are at it again:
http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=news.press.release.page&obj_id=120341
We're always hearing so much about "parent choice" in education - as if this is a surefire way to bring about what's best for children. What about "children's choice"? Why are we so sure that parents will always choose what's best for their kids? Plenty of parents THINK they know what's best for their kids. Plenty of other parents don't even give a damn.
Plenty of parents are hell-bent on ensuring that their children DON'T do well, or at least that their children don't outshine them. Parenting can often be as much about confirming and reinforcing one's own prejudices as it is about trying to produce a happy, well-rounded child. Plenty of parents want their kids to be denied sex education, to go to a strict religious school, to be forced to wear a uniform, to be "taught discipline" (ie. to have all individuality ground out of them), to be shoehorned into a safe, mainstream "sensible" job.
Parents are not infallible. There will always be a degree to which they balance their own personal interests and prejudices against whatever concerns (wise or misguided) that they have for their kids. Pandering to the "parent lobby" by denying a child the right to have any say about their own future is naive and dangerous. Is it any wonder that young people feel cynical and alienated? Isn't it time the politicians and civil servants starting asking children themselves what THEY want from education?
http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=news.press.release.page&obj_id=120341 We're always hearing so much about "parent choice" in education - as if this is a surefire way to bring about what's best for children. What about "children's choice"? Why are we so sure that parents will always choose what's best for their kids? Plenty of parents THINK they know what's best for their kids. Plenty of other parents don't even give a damn.
Plenty of parents are hell-bent on ensuring that their children DON'T do well, or at least that their children don't outshine them. Parenting can often be as much about confirming and reinforcing one's own prejudices as it is about trying to produce a happy, well-rounded child. Plenty of parents want their kids to be denied sex education, to go to a strict religious school, to be forced to wear a uniform, to be "taught discipline" (ie. to have all individuality ground out of them), to be shoehorned into a safe, mainstream "sensible" job.
Parents are not infallible. There will always be a degree to which they balance their own personal interests and prejudices against whatever concerns (wise or misguided) that they have for their kids. Pandering to the "parent lobby" by denying a child the right to have any say about their own future is naive and dangerous. Is it any wonder that young people feel cynical and alienated? Isn't it time the politicians and civil servants starting asking children themselves what THEY want from education?
Nik B
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