Homeschooling and A Failed School System

An article published in THE GUARDIAN maintained that weak teachers lacking the proper grasp of their lessons and consequently their uninspiring or confused lessons, are the reasons why students are not equipped enough to make the best out of their lives(click here for the article). If the supposed brilliant students are not getting the best out of the system, what then are we to say about the ever increasing number of the dull and atypical children. In most educational institutes, administrators often blame teachers with regards to the inefficiency of students, but they rarely cast a glance at the school system. The secular school system has failed in achieving its main goal of education which is improving the mind and the increasing number of dull and inefficient students attests to this fact . What we see today in schools is just some “bookish learning” , whereby students memorize notes and textbooks only to pass exams – that is if they are so good as not to cheat!

What hope does a child, typical or atypical, have in such a system? The Associate Professor of Psychology, Catholic University of America, Thomas Edward Shield Ph.D. sadly wrote:

It should be observed at the outset that the educational failure of our present school system is not confined to dull and atypical children. Recent evidence, such as that furnished by the boards and committees appointed to investigate public education in various parts of the country, points to the fact that there is something fundamentally wrong with the school system, since it is grinding out dullards in ever increasing numbers and failing to bring even the brighter children up to a reasonable efficiency in those matters which constitute the staple of the curriculum. (The Making and the Unmaking of a Dullard)

In developing the mind so as to become efficient, the school system must take into consideration, the development of the mental and the moral life of the student. While the secular school system may have no great difficulty in developing the intellect, that of morals requires great assistance from the educative forces at home together with the guidance of a positive religion, customs and traditions which determines the conduct of the student. This questions the capability of the secular school system to impart true education especially with its secularization policy, which has subsequently created an education environment riddled with conflicting creeds and customs. The teachings of a positive religion, national customs and family traditions shapes the moral life of the student; it instills a positive will and a proper reverence to authority. The child clings to the religious principles as he approaches maturity and without these factors which determines his conduct as a child, his education is incomplete and neither is he going to attain proper efficiency in his chosen field of study. Efficiency is not just about the intellect, there must be the will. Hard work, discipline, studiousness etc are qualities that can’t be left out in the development of the intellect and the attainment of efficiency but these cannot be acquired and channeled into proper use without a good moral life.

In the past, there was a perfect blend between the educative forces of the school and home. While the teachers played their role, the father and other older members of the family ensured the child possessed the right conduct so as to make any form of learning meaningful. The child enjoyed their companionship and protection, and grew with well balanced maturity of both mind and character. Unfortunately the social and economic changes of the past few decades have completely transformed the environment of the child. The old educative forces has been destroyed and nothing equivalent has been found to replace them. The Father is compelled to seek employment outside the home, and the “modern woman”, despising the role of the house wife, now opts for full-time jobs the condition couldn’t be any worse. The desired goals can never be complete when there is some form of neglect either in the moral or mental life of the child. Herein lies the reason why education is most suitably handled by a religious establishment – namely the Catholic Church. History attests to this fact!

The widespread secularization has created an environment which destroys all reverence for authority, breaks the force of creeds and national customs and family traditions which have played so large a part in bringing to balanced maturity the minds and characters of our forefathers. The conflict of creeds in public schools, which is inevitable where children of many religious denominations mingle freely, results in robbing these poor disinherited children of the support which their fathers found in the teachings and in the practice of their religion.

The undermining of the positive teaching of religion and other values due to the neglect of the moral life of the child, will only aggravate the problem of the inefficiency of the modern child in school. Weak teachers and uninspiring lessons is just a little portion of the problem, the public education system is simply not capable of undertaking the huge task of developing minds that would build a better society. In these dark times one cannot be too careful in view of the fact that most Catholic schools are just Catholic in name only; institutes that have inhaled the odious smoke of secularization and as a result neglecting the true Catholic education. However, the Catholic Homeschooling is best option in training of the Catholic child – typical or atypical. It offers the advantages of having a perfectly balanced mental and moral life; which includes the homely “old-fashioned” guidance and companionship which helped the education process of the child in the past centuries.

It’s necessity for the child and the Catholic Faith at large was clearly expressed in the words of Fr. John A Hardon: Catholic Home Schooling in the United States is the necessary result of a culture in which the Catholic Church is being opposed on every level of her existence. Given the widespread secularization in our country, home schooling is not only valuable and useful, home schooling is absolutely necessary for the survival of the Catholic Church in America.

Kyrie Eleison