Parents/guardians should be in control of their child(ren)'s education, not the state.

Guess what!? I'm not going to argue religious freedom. You've probably heard that argument tons of times already and if you haven't bought it by now I probably can't change your mind over the Internet. Instead I argue that the status quo includes persecution, that non-state regulated education systems output independent young adults, and lastly that societal interests should not be decided by a single entity. Before I get into my three main arguments, it is necessary to be very clear what this resolution means. I have been misunderstood before with this resolution. "Control their child(ren)'s education" does NOT mean all parents/guardians would be mandated to design or even implement a curriculum. In this context, "control" means 'in charge of deciding where their children go to school, including the options of alternative education and home schooling'. In fact, in the United States of America, parents and guardians ARE in control of their child(ren)'s education. Not all countries give parents the right to decide their child's education. PRO is arguing that countries that restrict a parent's control of their child's education should cease. A common gut reaction against this argument might be: 'but parents don't own their children'. True! And neither does the state. I. Status Quo Includes Persecution [1] The Romeike family has been in the news as of late through a variety of mediums: television, video hosting, news bulletins, etc. I chose to use the Home School Legal Defense Association's website [1] to fact check. Germany does not permit home schooling. All children, ages 5-18 must attend a standardized school, [1] exceptions do exist but they are infrequent. The Romeike family tried to teach their children at home, only to have the state enter their home and physically remove their children to take them to school. The Romeike family claimed refugee status in the United States of America due to persecution in Germany and are currently home schooling their children in Tennessee. While the US currently permits home schooling, many states hamper or even find ways of prohibiting it. In my next section I'll show the benefit US children have received from home schooling. II. Quality of Education [2] Why do families home school? Believe it or not, less than half (of a web poll of 989 home school parents) gave 'religious conviction' as the reason they home school. Top reasons for home schooling are 'positive social environment', 'academic excellence', and 'specific needs of child'. [1] Contrary to stereotypes, home schooled teenagers are often more socialized and more independent than their standard education counterparts. College Students that were home schooled receive better grades and make the transition to college life more smoothly. [2] III. Societal Interests should not be decided by one party It is clear that home schooling is most often a high quality experience " so why does the Home School Legal Defense Association need to fight so hard to protect it? That is because the state views the purpose of education as creating productive members of society. Is it right that a single entity, a state, should hold the power to shape the values and critical thinking skills of the future workers and decision makers? What happened to the value of individualism? What happened to the freedom of thought? It is vital that a variety of thinkers contribute to the values and innovations of the future, not a cookie cutter workforce, each of which was dragged through a standardized system of education. If cookie cutter job fillers are what makes a productive society, perhaps we should rethink our values, or at the very least, all the people to decide our values " not the state. "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" SOURCES 1. http://www.hslda.org... 2. http://www.usnews.com...