Letter: The Parallel Universe of Public Schools

It is amazing how many people equate an age-segregated institution like the public school with the real world. I’m not sure what world Mark Egan, Director of Federal Affairs for the National School Board Association lives in, but in the actual world, age segregation does not exist. The negative peer pressure and the influence of pop culture are not in the business world and neighborhoods of adults except in the parallel universes of Manhattan, LA, Beverly Hills, etc. The nature of social structures in the public schools is completely contrary to what would be socially acceptable to the general adult population. Public school is second only to the prison system when it comes to being the worst place to socialize a human being.

The suggestion that public-school learning is preparation for life beyond the nest is silliness. Have we not heard from employers and college professors lamenting the continual decline in quality graduates? How much remedial training must they invest to make up for the public schools?

The parents of the publicly institutionalized seem to think their little brats who don’t respect authority, treat their siblings with respect, and value the elderly have something positive to contribute to my kids. Please. At least these liberal types are depopulating themselves. Yeah, children are so valued by these people. Why do they only have 2 or less?

The idea that homeschooled children are generally isolated is a joke. I live in Maricopa county, Arizona and there are 15,000 homeschooled children here. Some parents are just lazy. If they can’t get their children to a few social activities a month and make friends with the neighbor kids—that’s their problem. Don’t lump them in with us who do. We are the majority which Egan would know if he actually familiarized himself with a wider range of them.