Public schools are institutions funded by government through taxpayers’ money, and that is why is owns most of the schools. The heads of schools are accountable to the government because they bear responsibility for running public schools. Government supervises many institutions, from elementary level school to Universities. Even though there is an opinion that there is little supervision on the heads of schools, the government has created a special department which follows schools heads’ performance.
Schools have become the place for embezzlement of funds. Corruption can interfere learning in many ways. The heads of school siphon millions of dollars annually through crooked reason leaving children with outdated and discarded books, which eventually lead to their unintentional failure (Segal 102).
Frauds by the heads of schools always hinder development in such schools. This forces some children to learn in unfinished classrooms, without chairs, etc. This deprives the innocent children of their right for healthy and supportive environment.
Joel Turtel writes that our public schools have become an educational menace to our children. He shows statistics for 2002 in the New York State Department of Education on public schools where 65% of elementary students, 90% of intermediate student and 84% of high school students failed to meet the New York Standards (86). This failure should be partially attributed to the administration fraud and partially to the students’ irresponsible attitude to studying.
Teachers are often overworked due to their little number in comparison with many children. Teachers do not give children attention they need and children may go home with some lessons missed which may lead to class failure at the end of the term. A public school can also turn to be a dangerous place because of violence (Segal 46). Teenagers often lack judgment and cannot control their emotion.
With the class, having teenagers of different ages, bullying of younger children by their elders is something inevitable. With no teachers around, children have more time to interact with each other eventually budding peer pressure. Peer pressure makes the class a natural breeding place for drug abuse. Children’s right of protection from substance abuse is therefore suspended. With substance abuse, parents do not expect their children to deliver something substantial from school.
Adolescents always have raging hormones and arousing sexuality. Therefore with the critical issue of socialization in public schools, younger girls will end up dropping out of school because of unwanted pregnancies. I believe that bullying, peer pressure, and sexual tension create an environment which is non-blissful and violent.
Mandatory attendance law also contributes to violation of children rights. The law forces children to sit in boring classes from six up to eight hours consequently. This kills desire for learning. Those teenagers who are forced to be at school will take their aggression on other students.
The compulsory attendance law helps government own children for 12 years and at the same time assuming the parental responsibility. With all the 12 years, parents have little to say on matters regarding their children. The school authorities nowadays threaten parent with arrest if they choose not to comply with the compulsory attendance law, but many scholars believe this is wrong (Alexander and Alexander 257).
Disabled children also face discrimination in public schools. It becomes hectic for the socially impaired children to interact with other kids. They always have motives that other children will subject them to insults. This adds another potential layer of violence. Violence can often kill a child morally.
One of the parental responsibilities is protecting their children from adverse sex behaviors. Yet many public schools still force potentially harmful sex education into the brains of the innocent students. Most of the time parents have no control over the content of the classes and hence their children may end up spoiled by the bad values taught.
I mean that the failure to incorporate appropriate sexual education, failure of a teacher to create a contact between him/herself and students may lead to controversial effect. Therefore, the lack of attention of a teacher to his/her students and the inability to implement appropriate sexual education may lead to increase of the violence, but not the understanding of the protected healthy sexual relations.
Some public schools tend to turn their students against their parents. They tell them stories about child abuse, which make children become suspicious. Some school authorities inquire teachers to ask children how their parents behave at home.
Many public schools now teach children anti-Christianity and try to mold children’s mind in a way that they embrace different religions (Turtel 52). Showing children that all religions are good and should be respected, teachers fail to stress on Christianity as native religion and many children are confused. Believing that children are at good hands, parents do not pay much attention to their children and harm them greatly.
People lose their rights mainly because of mismanagement characterizing public schools which is the part of public school property. This gives the implication that the federal government should put more effort in ensuring that these rights are maintained. This can only be achieved by ensuring that the publics are enlightened on the statutes that govern the country. Therefore, public school property depends on many factors and the failure to meet some specific laws, norms of behavior and teaching may result in loss of rights.
Work Cited
Alexander, Kern and M. David Alexander. American public school law. Cengage Learning, 2005. Print.
Segal, Lydia G, et al. Battling Corruption in America’s Public Schools. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2005. Print.
Turtel, J. Public Schools, Public Menace: How Public Schools Lie to Parents and Betray Our Children. New York: Liberty Books, 2005. Print.