“And they believe rightly; for I have sworn upon the altar of god, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”

- Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush.

This is just too important not to speak up about. It is time for those of us who want to continue living in a free country to stand up and be counted. And it begins with children, as all things do. The children of this country are in prison, essentially. They are being held as prisoners, treated as prisoners are treated, and eventually exit their prisons only to enter the prisons of their own supposedly free lives. Shackled as they are, is it any wonder our children are growing up unable to read, to learn, to write, to create great works of art?

Why do I call the public school prisons? Well, they are literally designed exactly the same way as prisons, for one. Many architects who design prisons also design schools. The ethic of Samuel Bentham as applied by his brother Jeremy is what informs the designs. This ethic is called the Panopticon, as in:

“A building circular…The prisoners in their cells, occupying the circumference- The officers in the centre. By blinds and other contrivances, the Inspectors concealed... from the observation of the prisoners: hence the sentiment of a sort of omnipresence- The whole circuit reviewable with little, or... without any, change of place. One station in the inspection part affording the most perfect view of every cell.”

- Samuel Bentham, The Panopticon Papers

Jeremy Bentham's contribution to his brother's project was to make the Panopticon applicable, "without exception, to all establishments whatsoever, in which... a number of persons are meant to be kept under inspection.”  Schools included.

A tightly timed schedule keeps the school/prison ticking like a clock. Students are constantly under supervision. There is no liberty here. And now, in the wake of the Columbine shootings, even a student’s thoughts can get him in trouble.

Who controls these schools? Ultimately the schools are created by educators who themselves have a vested interest not in teaching children, but in creating better prisons. These educators are churned out by the same system that they now reside over. Is it required to be proficient in any subject matter that is being taught? No. Is it required that a teacher have a Masters Degree in Science if they teach Science? No. They typically have a Masters or Bachelors in Education, which simply means they have learned how to play the game in exquisite detail. They have become fine prison guards and wardens, taught by the same edifice that they themselves now create.

Why were these schools created in the first place? They were created because the Industrial Revolution needed workers. They were created because business needed a mass of people who were reasonably well trained for assembly line work. Not to have a rich, fulfilled life. Not to discover cures for cancer or how to make cheap, cold fusion. But rather, to be a good little cog in the wheel of business and industry.

What kind of person does this system create?

“The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies. They are the standing army, and the militia, jailers, constables, posse comitatus, etc. In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgement or of the moral sense; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well. Such command no more respect than men of straw or a lump of dirt. They have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs.”

- Henry David Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience”

I speak thusly because I am a product of the Public Education System, and have had to take a long, slow road to recovery as a result of my poor treatment by it. And I was one of the lucky ones.

There, in the midst of the process, I ran into many of the people who are in the system not because they wish to participate in it, but because they have a calling to teach that transcends the perceived duty of education as a whole.

Admittedly, these Golden Teachers are still there, fighting the good fight in the trenches. They are canny rebels, but even they must choose their fights wisely. Some things they can affect, some they can’t, within the confines of the system. But the system is not designed to educate children, and thus they are constantly fighting an uphill battle that, tragically, they will never win.

There is a need for a massive education reform in the United States as a whole, but I do not think it will happen in the schools. I think that, ultimately, the reform will be at home. I believe that the power of the Internet and the homeschooling movement will eventually bring to us the changes that need to take place.

I would like to say that my own children are not part of this prison experience, but it is not true. If I were the sole decision maker in my children’s lives, they would surely be at home, being taught daily, free of the tyranny of the bell and the soul-shredding of Bentham’s Panopticon.

One day soon, I hope to convince their mother (who shares custody with the children) that they will be better served outside of the public school system. This summer, I helped homeschool my children and my partner’s child, Katie. For the first time, we saw a true joy of learning start to blossom in the kids’ eyes as they realized that all the fun things we were doing were in fact educational as well.

I stood with them in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, and they were there, learning. They went to the Fernback Museum of National History and they were learning. They sat down to play Dungeons and Dragons with me and they were learning.  They read their favorite books and they were learning. They wrote fun, creative stories and they were learning. No bells, and if they wanted to spend time alone, they could.

And I didn’t have to stay home from work to educate them. They got to sleep late in the sleepy Summer mornings, and stayed up later at night when I was at home to be with them. They listened to an NPR broadcast of an anthropologist talking about early hunter-gatherer societies.

They learned about Egyptian culture and history. They created a paper mache volcano and watched it erupt. They had a blast. And I got to spend time with them and get to know them better.

At the end of the summer, I asked the kids (who both wanted to be home schooled) to ask their mom for permission when they had some time to spend with her face-to-face (she lives out-of-state). Unfortunately, that did not go well - essentially the kids told their mom they’d be home schooled without giving her the opportunity to say yes or no. She apparently thought it was some kind of dictum handed down from me without discussion. Needless to say, it wasn’t her favorite idea, and she got upset about the idea of her children not being in public school, and the rest is history.

So it was back to prison this Fall for them. Luckily, I believe my daughter has one of those Golden Teachers, much to her great luck, so I’m not as worried about her(here is a woman who goes beyond the Academic Knowledge and Skills requirements - who won’t just stop with what’s on the standardized tests! Yes! But still - she is confined by the System. And there is only one of her, and there are many more who do not agree with her).

Still, they must stop learning when the bell goes off, and go to the next “class.” They must turn their minds off. They must stop talking. They must stop thinking. They must walk in straight lines, left-right, left-right all the way to the cafeteria - and no thinking during lunch! No socializing! God forbid that conversation take place - it might lead to more learning - unsupervised learning. And in the Panopticon, you can’t be unsupervised.

Now, when I get home at night, it’s about an hour and a half until my children’s bedtime. My son’s school schedule is such that he can’t participate in many extra-curricular activities outside of school because he’s home so incredibly late in the day - by the time the kids get home, do their homework, do their chores, eat supper, and take their showers, it’s just about time for them to go to bed. I spend all the time I can with them on the weekend, but it isn’t much in the overall scheme of things - and the more I learn about the tyranny of the public schools over their minds, the more I want to spend time with them, inoculating them against the indoctrination they are receiving daily.

My fears for my children extend long past this present day into the future, and they strike at the heart of what it means to be a parent. My own father once told me that he thought the job of a parent was to give their children a better life than you yourself had.

I see the opportunity of parenting as being the chance of a lifetime to help another person grow into being a person who can truly become what is the greatest good for them, for their family, for their community, for the world as a whole. That is my job as a parent. I will continue to give them my support, my time, my energy, and my focus to help make this happen…and hopefully soon, give them a “Get Out of Jail Free” card to spring them from the prison of education they’re in.