Sometimes I just have to shake my head at these sorts of things. The Telegraph News reports of a shocking scandal in which a clique of teenage cheerleaders essentially had the run of the school, even in the classroom. They intimidated other students, pulled pranks, intimidated the teachers, skipped school, and committed other various acts of disrespect.
“These girls were at the top of the food chain, they were ‘uber-cool’, they had the looks – some of them had the money,” said Mr Jones. “I talked to a real good-looking football coach and he was obviously scared of them. He had taught inner-city school kids in San Francisco and he said gang members were nothing compared with these girls.”
As much as I hate to say it, this sort of social climate exists within most schools. The public school environment not only allows this sort of behavior, but fosters it. This particular situation got out of control enough that it got media attention, but I’m willing to bet that this situation is indicative of a majority of schools.
It’s a shame that it took a $40,000 investigation and several lost employees to bring this to light. Although the girls have been kicked off the cheerleading squad, it’s likely that they will continue to bully their peers.
In homeschooling, there are no bullies. There is no peer pressure. There is no social pecking order based on survival of the prettiest, richest, or coolest. Parents, in which environment would you rather see your child?
This month’s issue of the Heartland Institute’s School Reform News included an interesting article by Grove City College professor Michael Coulter regarding Bruce Shortt’s crusade against the public school system.
This particular piece takes note of an encouraging development in the movement.
The Rev. Steven Warhurst, associate pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Kingsport, Tennessee, has taken up a similar cause in his own denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). With more than 1,200 churches and 300,000 members, the PCA is the largest of the seven conservative Presbyterian denominations.
The two largest protestant church organizations now have factions pushing for a move away from government-run schools. At last year’s General Assembly, the Presbyterian equivalent to the Southern Baptist Convention, Warhurst and his supporters introduced the possibility of a church-wide push for homeschooling and Christian private schooling.
Advocates like Warhurst and Shortt have a long, hard road ahead. Because most Southern Baptists and Presbyterians still support the public school system, they are pressured by their “constituency” to maintain the status quo. By coming out against public schools, pastors will inevitably find themselves coming out against the members of their churches who work in the public schools. It shouldn’t be this way, but people have a tendency to take these conceptual arguments personally.
“We are not urging school reform, because public schools are unreformable,” Shortt explained. “You can’t do Christian education in a public school.”
Statements like this are sure to offend people. Then again, I’m sure that Paul offended some of the churches he visited in the New Testament!
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