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Against the Grain

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by DNA Web Media

Posted: March 4, 2005

By Brad Dacus
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

At first, it was a matter of obvious academic incompetence that compelled so many parents in America to seek alternatives (e.g., private schooling, homeschooling). The growing motivation today for dumping public education is no longer just about academics. It is now about something much more fundamental: safety.

With public school educators occasionally pushing the latest waive of social engineering (e.g., promoting homosexuality), more and more parents have become alarmed. What once was an occasional leak in the dam has now become a gushing breach of parental trust.

For example, the pro-homosexual-transsexual movement has successfully pushed the "Day of Silence" on thousands of campuses across the nation. This day is, where in the name of "tolerance," students and many teachers are silent all day in school in order to show support for acceptance of these statistically dangerous yet "alternative" lifestyles.

In fact, during the last such Day of Silence, one Christian girl was caught speaking that day and received the evil eye of condemnation from her peers and teacher. She was so shaken up that she went to speak to her counselor. She, once again, received only the same condemning silent stare. While the Pacific Justice Institute is presently representing this family against the actions taken by the teacher and counselor, the frequency of these events have created major risks to the emotional safety of countless numbers of students from faith-based families.

This layer of school depravity has recently reached a whole new level with recent reports of public-school teachers having sexual relations with their 13-, 14- and 15-year-old students. The recent frequency of such reported incidents has taken the issue from being classified as merely a extreme fluke to becoming an outright national concern. With the institutions which trained these cradle robbers having yet to announce any major reforms, the future crop of teacher can only expect to have more bruised produce.

However, an even greater risk has recently erupted to the physical safety of public-school children. It seemed like only yesterday that our TV sets were reporting one mass school shooting after another. While attempts have clearly been made by many schools to address this sharp increase in violence on campus, a recent action by the U.S. Supreme Court is only guaranteed to fuel the fire.

This month in the case of Roper v. Simmons, the Court ruled 5-to-4 that it was unconstitutional for states to give the death penalty to individuals for murders they committed while under the age of 18. This new "get-out-of-death-free" card can be used by any 17-year-old wanting to murder the president, a police officer ... or a classroom of students.

In the past, students may not have known at what age their state approved of the death penalty. However, these same students knew what it would take to get the death penalty. Now that the Supreme Court has clarified any confusion they may have had, every high-schooler can now kill with confidence, knowing that they will never have to pay the ultimate price for their action.

Some parents maybe thinking to themselves, "Well that is most unfortunate, but my child isn't at risk because he-she gets along with everyone." Make no mistake, this flagrant act of judicial activism has dramatically increased the danger of murder to any student attending public schools.. While some students at Columbine were singled out because of their Christian faith, many were simply killed at random. Those students who were singled out were reportedly some of the most likable, "get along" students on campus.

So, thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court, not only are public-school students subject to greater harmful social engineering and harassment, they are now, more than ever, subject to an inevitable greater risk of death. Does this sound like a commercial for homeschooling? With the decisions like this from the Supreme Court, I sincerely doubt they will need to advertise.
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Brad Dacus is president of the Pacific Justice Institute, where you can get more information on parental rights and religious freedom.