WMDs for Education
I would venture to say that most parents home educate out of a deep conviction that they are providing their children with the education the Lord prescribes. However, it is normal to feel overwhelmed occasionally or have doubts that you are equal the task. In times like these, every parent should read John Taylor Gatto’s newest book, Weapons of Mass Instruction (New Society Publishers, 2009). This book details the hidden agenda behind government schooling in ways that will make the reader righteously indignant.
This book is not about homeschooling. It does not even specifically address Christians. Weapons of Mass Instruction is about the damage done to children in government schools by a system that is not primarily concerned with education as much as indoctrination and social engineering. Interspersed throughout the book are anecdotal examples of young people who dropped out of school to pursue real-life learning, which Gatto refers to as open-source learning. I did not always approve of the examples Gatto used to support his premise; for instance, one of his “success” stories is Diablo Cody, a girl who dropped out of high school to follow the path of the “strange woman” of Proverbs 5, and who, in her mid-twenties, wrote the screenplay for the movie Juno.
Nevertheless, in spite of a few similar examples, I do believe that the book is essential reading for anyone who is tempted to turn toward government school.
©2009 Homeschooling Today magazine, Nehemiah Four, LLC