I was told that I had 'earned' the right to my opinion, but even then I had to remind them that I had a right to an opinion already, that there was no need to earn it. :)

The difference in my opinion is that I've had 44 years to think about it, and instead of formulating it based on popularity, it is based on the actual results of the US public school system, both in the American student's academic results and in the predictable cultural ones. The USA ranks very low in educational scores around the globe, and very high in unwarranted military incursions around that same globe, and whether by design or not, those numbers are in.

I don't worry too much about wacko parents trying to instill ridiculous notions into their own children's heads, because I understand the rebellious nature of a being who's free will is being challenged in any way. Hardly any kids want to grow up to be like their parents, and now with information being the new gold in the world, there will be no way for those wacko parents to keep the truth from their children anyway.

There has been a popular interpretation of the idea of homeschooling that suggests that parents don't make good educators, and that an organized school system is a better choice, but whether true or not, things are changing now with new online programs for homeschooling which teach parents how to use the internet as a learning tool. Homeschooled children already tend to show better scores than Public Schools can boast, but the only 'homeschooler' stories we are likely to hear are the ones that have tragic, newsworthy headlines, and none of the positive results will be publicized.

It is definitely going to be communities that ultimately educate their young, and that will happen when we recover those same communities that I described in the article that are fractured by the local school districts. We have been divided for a purpose, but now the powers that have kept us divided are beginning to wane.

I certainly used the word 'banning' in my dialogue for shock value, and I don't truly expect school to be banned. I do see the system that I grew up in becoming obsolete, but even then I will always agree that it should be a parent's decision as to whether or not to enroll their children in anything. At some point the generation that birthed today's youth will find themselves making these choices, and there's no way that school will be cool for the newest generation- they are abandoning everything that the grown-ups have offered, and I'm cheering them on.