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NEVER TO LATE TO LEARN THE THREATS SCHOOLS POSE TO PROPERTY RIGHTS
Frederick Meekins
Nov. 7, 2005
With all the coverage of grandiose tragedies as of late caused by the
hurricanes, less attention has been paid this year to the regular back to
school festivities. However, it is at such times of mass distraction that
the abridgements of liberty pose the greatest threat and this is especially
true of the mundane bureaucracies that govern much of every day life but are
not very exciting in and of themselves such as the public schools.
One annual ritual that connects one generation with the next is subdued
sense of joy that comes each year when parents and children go to acquire
the supplies needed for the pending academic term. A less enjoyable
accretion to this rite of passage is the additional practice of various
schools staking a claim to this educational paraphernalia in the name of the
community.
As there are as many ways to commemorate special occasions as there are
families, despite the desire of radical educators to turn out students of a
uniform communitarian mindset, each school goes about the homogenization of
property ironically in its own individual manner.
Some such as Jennie Reed Elementary School in Tacoma, Washington are rather
open about their intentions to pilfer school supplies from their students.
In doing research for this annual column, I came across the school’s
2004/2005 list on the Internet with the following proviso tacked on in the
bottom left corner of the page: “Also, all supplies are considered communal
supplies and considered a donation to your child’s classroom.”
Thing is, such a bellicose proclamation can only be implemented is students
are willing to abide by it. Thus, skilled parents could possibly get around
the decree by instilling in the minds of their children that while they must
be respectful towards their teachers that respect only extends so far and
that their ultimate loyalty must always be towards the parents who insist
that under no circumstances should little Billy or Sally turn their crayons
over to school personnel.
However, some blackboard Bolsheviks have themselves found a way around the
need for students to assent to having their supplies confiscated in the name
of the classroom. After all, why bother asking when you can just take what
you want for the alleged good of the group?
According to one blog I came across, one mother writes that her son came
home the first day of second grade and told her that the teacher had
rummaged through the students’ knapsacks during recess and pillaged the
contents. Educrats can make all the arguments they want about the need to
ransack student satchels in pursuit of drugs, weapons, or whatever other
excuse they wish to invoke in the name of homeland security in order to
squelch opposition to such abridgements of civil liberties, but school
authorities have no right whatsoever to take items from the students
possession that are in no way illegal and are necessary to fulfill normal
school activities.
In the eyes of the law, which the slayers of Terri Schiavo insist must be
upheld at all costs to the letter regardless of what we think about it,
isn’t the taking of property without permission or awareness of the owner
theft? And if students were caught taking things out of the teacher’s purse
or desk, wouldn’t they be banished from the schoolhouse, remanded to the
local constabulary, or both?
Why shouldn’t the same befall these pedagogues schooled in the art of five
finger discount? And if those in authority are not going to be kept in line
when it comes to the little things like school supplies, where will the
voracious appetite of the state end? In light of the Kelo ruling, these
Bolsheviks already think it’s within their purview to seize your home.
The American people had better wake up since there is little else left to
take. Too bad some student didn’t have a mouse trap waiting to smack the
fingers of those unable to keep their fingers from doing the walking. That
would have been an interesting story on the evening news.
Reflecting upon the innate response children exhibit to having their
possessions wrenched from their tiny hands, one teacher snottily remarked in
the Winchester Star that “...little children often get upset when they
learn that the crayons and washable markers they so carefully picked out
will be shared by the whole class.” How would this old marm like to show up
to work and learn from here on out all of the automobiles owned by the
teachers would be placed in a common motor pool since not everyone can
afford the same quality of transportation.
“Ridiculous!”, the preconditioned liberal will snap. “Car and pencil boxes
are totally different.” And though the only thing the two objects have in
common will be their size (if the likes of Al Gore has his way) in the mind
of the adult, is not the pencil box in the mind of the child as important in
teaching the lessons and pride that derive from that nearly sacred four
letter word “mine”?
It takes a lot of brainwashing at the hands of educators to keep a smile on
your face while your stuff is being snatched from you so everybody but you
gets to use it. That is why the communalists find it imperative to begin
their conspiracy of mass redistribution so early in the life of the proper
member of the community.
Copyright 2005 by Frederick Meekins
Frederick B. Meekins - Washington, DC - Frederick Meekins is an Internet columnist. He holds a BS from the University of Maryland in Political Science/History and a MA in Apologetics & Christian Philosophy from Trinity Theological Seminary. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Practical Theology through the Master's Graduate School Of Divinity in Evansville, Indiana.
In the future, Frederick plans to continue publishing his commentaries and hopefully compile them into a self-published book. Frederick's research interests include Worldview Applicaiton, Christian Apologetics, The Implications of Aberrant Theologies & Ideologies, Futurology, Eschatology, Science Fiction, Terrorism Studies, Environmentalism, Education Policy and America's Judeo-Christian Foundations.
Frederick is also an ordained Non-Denominational Minister and listed in "Who's Who In America".
Media inquiries can be directed to: americanworldview@hotmail.com
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