STATE SCHOOL PARENT ATTACKS THE AGE NEWSPAPER ON BIAS TOWARDS PRIVATE SCHOOLS AND INSECURE PARENTS

9AUGUST 2004

The following letter was written by a State School Parent to the Age on the internet "Issues" Forum on 9 August 2004. Needless to say, it was not published in the Letters Column:

"one of the main reasons our family chooses public education is the fact that public schools by their very nature exhibit superior values to private schools. This is because they are inclusive and value ALL children regardless of their parent's bank balance, religion or ethnic background. In Australia we are becoming an increasingly divided and fragmented society with a wider income differential between rich and poor. This is certainly partly AS A RESULT of the type of "middle class welfare" exhibited in the federal government's preferential funding of private education.

Our children's experience of public education (primary and secondary) has been pleasurable and we note the high academic standards and strong value framework that our children have received.

I suspect that the private education lobby has been very successful in pandering to middle class insecurity; and parents desire to "buy" their children a "head start" over other children. I personally believe faith in our children and ourselves as parents can overcome this type of insecurity.

I also wonder whether the Age's tendency to denigrate public education is linked to the large amount of advertising they receive from private schools in the education pages. The reporting seems to me to be very biased.

I think people need to wake up to the fact that public education is a fairly recent development in history and at the rate that the present federal government is heading it may eventually become a thing of the past.

For the sake of ALL children, show your support for public education and ensure that all Australian children may have any possible future that they may dream of. Only public education can offer this hope to all children.

AUGUST 10 2004

On August 10 the following  interesting article by Hugh MacKay who used to be a private school was published under the heading

"WHEN SCHOOL IS A PARENT SUBSTITUTE": He said:

What are we to make of the news, revealed on the front page of the Age yesterday, that parents who are leading the charge from government to private schools are primarily looking for 'discipline' and 'respect for traditional values' in the education of their children? Are those the real reasons someone would be prepared to shell out $12,000 in annual school fees?

These research findings tell a dramatic story of parental abdication. If you had to identify two of the most important responsibilities of a parent, my guess is that - apart from the need to offer children the support and encouragement implicit in being loved and accepted - you'd probably come up with something like 'discipline' and 'moral instruction'. In other words, the things we have traditionally expected of parents in the raising of their children are now being identified as the things they most want from their children's schools"...

Hugh Mackay, a psychologist and social researcher,  was educated at Sydney Grammar School, is a Trustee Sydney Grammar School 1993-2003, Chairman 2001-2003 (Whos Who 2004 p 1313)

If you want to read the full article go to:

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/09/1092022399305.html