Attending school from home has changed the learning experience vastly for children but created a new awareness for parents of what their kids have been learning all along. We’ve been conditioned to turn the educating experience over to the professionals to prepare them for careers and the rest of their lives yet have never been cognizant of the content of the curriculum.
Recently, we’ve been seeing news clips of parents taking a stand at school board meetings and town halls to stand up against the indoctrination through critical race theory teachings. Their argument is that kids are being told they are racist without doing anything racist, being shamed to feel bad and apologize for their skin color, for which they have no responsibility or control. Parents from all races are speaking out against this practice in cities across the country.
With this realization comes the decision to find an alternative venue for education. Some parents choose to school from home, but it is not practical nor possible for many working parents. Some new options parents have been implementing for this coming fall semester include:
- Hiring a retired teacher to work with a small group of children.
- Sending children to private school
- Enrolling kids in foreign language immersion programs
- Enrolling kids in online education programs
Unfortunately, it’s been a very inconvenient realization for most parents. And the challenges don’t end with critical race theory. Schools across the nation are mandating masks again and many are requiring vaccination for admission. Because the vaccine is experimental and not approved by the FDA, many parents are hesitant and some vehemently opposed to forcing their children to take a vaccine that appears not to prevent the transmission of the virus nor offers any protection from the new variant.
The CDC is putting out mixed messaging about transmission, the effectiveness of mask wearing, the effectiveness of the vaccine and creating fear and confusion. While some parents remain fearful of virus transmission, others are concerned about the effects of social distancing and isolating children who have not been vaccinated. For one, separating these children from others will violate their HIPPA rights to privacy of health information, but even more detrimental is the impact of being labeled as an outsider.
Children face enough advertising fitting in with their peers – peers of varying races, backgrounds, and religions – without the addition of school and government-imposed separations of culture. None of these practices serve to unite children with their peers or community; in fact, they create further division, prejudices, and potential mental health crises.
These times will be remembered as difficult, but also transformative. These are times when parents stand up and fight for better education of their children and to say only, they have the right to teach their children about life lessons. School education should not impose a political agenda nor separate children into sparring groups. Hopefully, with this painful change a better method, a better future and unity lie ahead for these kids who will lead us into our future.