(About TV viewing)
THE OFF SWITCH
I saw a story on the news the other day about an eaglet that somehow
became separated from his mother.
A turkey farmer found him and brought him back to his farm to see if
the little bird could survive by bonding with the birds there.
The eagle had done quite well, growing to powerful, handsome maturity.
But there's a problem: the eagle has been living and acting and -- one can
only assume -- thinking like a turkey for so long that he seems to believe
that he IS one.
According to the news story, the turkey farmer has been trying to
teach the eagle to fly, but the majestic bird has been groveling for grain
with the turkeys for so long he can't seem to grasp the concept.
I've been thinking about that eagle lately -- a magnificent creature
that has the potential to soar with... well, with eagles. But he's
grounded just as surely as if his wings had been clipped because experience has taught him
to focus his attention on the ground rather than the heavens.
Of course, he's a bird. We humans would never allow ourselves to fall
in to such a trap. Would we?
A colleague was complaining about the explicit pictures that were
coming into her home while watching a highly publicized "reality-based"
program. "It's disgusting," she said. "Why do they have to go into
such
graphic detail?" "I thought this show was known for that sort of
thing," I said. "What did you expect?" "I expect
them to remember that there are children out there," she said. "I had to
send my kids to their rooms."
"Why don't you just turn the TV off," I wondered, "or change the
channel?"
"Are you kidding?" she replied. "This was the season finale! I
couldn't miss that!" So it's come to this: voyeurism as must-see TV, with
pseudo-documentaries and tawdry game shows parting closed curtains and inviting
curious gawkers to see and hear what they've never seen or heard before -- whether
or not it's any of their business.
In a way, television is like that eagle. It is an incredible medium,
capable of soaring to wondrous heights. That's why it's so frustrating
when it expends so much energy on turkey stuff. But television isn't
solely responsible for this trend toward indiscretion. My experience with
the medium (including six years as a newspaper's television critic) leads
me to believe that TV's decision-makers only give the public what they
think it wishes to see. Unfortunately, they rarely underestimate the moral
depths to which large numbers of television viewers are willing to sink.
How else do you explain Jerry Springer, Howard Stern and "Blind Date"?
Which, come to think of it, makes us a little like that eagle, too --
doesn't it?
The more we devour the studied mindlessness and exploitation
television feeds us, the less likely TV will be to invest the creative
energy required to produce programs that help our minds expand and our
souls soar. It's up to us to demand excellence from television through our
viewing habits or else the quality options will disappear entirely,
replaced by a steady diet of soap operas, leering talk shows and
sensationalized perspectives on reality.
Then it really will be turkey television. And maybe that will be
enough to finally make us reach for the "off" switch.
-- Joseph Walker
FUN 2000-2001 Resolutions
RU-4.0 Public Schooling
The Family Unschoolers Network believes that public schooling programs cannot provide the
student with a comprehensive education experience.
1. When public schooling occurs, students enrolled must meet all parental requirements.
2. Public schooling should be limited to the children of the immediate family who choose
to attend public school. As long as the expenses of public schooling are borne by the
taxpayers, those funds must also
be made available to parents/guardians for use in the educational program of their choice
whether that be public schools, charter schools, private schools, or homeschools.
Instruction should be by persons who
are approved by the appropriate parent or guardian, and a curriculum approved by the
parent or guardian should be used.
The Network also believes that public-schooled students should not participate in any
extracurricular activities that are not open to all students. Extracurricular programs
paid for by the taxpayers must be open to all residents.
The Network further believes that local homeschool parents should have the authority to
determine grade placement and/or credits earned toward graduation for students entering or
re-entering a homeschool setting from a public school setting.3 (1988, 2000)
================
1) Public school programs artificially segregate children by age and require seating at
desks set in rows. This does not permit a normal social interaction with other children or
adults such as may occur in
everyday life outside of a school setting. The low number of adults encountered in the
public school setting provides little opportunity for children to see the modeling of
appropriate social behaviors and
they are thus more likely to see only the behaviors of other children their own age
without an appropriate social context.
In addition, public schools cannot provide the customized, extensive and flexible
curriculum available to the homeschool. The public school setting artificially schedules
learning and segregates it into separate subjects with a limited amount of allocated time
per day. This limits activities to what can fit the allocated time slot and to what can
easily be classified as related to a particular subject. The predetermined schedule also
means that many children will either not have enough time to master the material before
moving on, or will have to waste time on material they have already mastered before moving
on.
2) Parents have a compelling interest in the education of their children and should
therefore be able to determine the requirements that must be met when their children are
educated in public school.
3) Test scores and evaluations from public schools may not be accurate indicators of
knowledge or proficiency and are often of little value in determining grade placement or
credits for a homeschool setting. The scores often reflect only the ability to memorize
material long enough to complete a test, and the skill set being evaluated is often
limited. Therefore, the Network recommends that the initial months of homeschooling a
former public school student be used primarily to explore the interests and abilities of
the student while allowing the family to adapt to the challenges of the independence and
integration of
the flexible and multi-disciplinary environment of homeschooling which can provide
hands-on, "real world" activities not available in public school settings.
Copyright © 2000, The Family Unschoolers Network www.unschooling.org
The above may be reprinted freely as long as it is used in its entirety and includes this
note.
