I am obscenely gratified that my comments brought about such responses. I am sorry I was not here on a more regular basis to respond. Bob W. said: >>> [Public schools] don't teach any values. I interpreted the rest of Bob's message to indicate an opinion he may not hold: that schools should teach moral values. Therefore I responded: >> "Values" as in value system, i.e. morals? I wouldn't >> want any school to teach my son values. [snip] >> ....leave the values to us, as parents. Roger retorted: > Everything is values. I think the word "values" has been abused here. I asked if "values" in this context meant "morals" and if that is what was meant in Bob's message, then I am skeptical of the value in tasking state-run schools to teach them. (Morals, that is! So much of philosophy comes back to defining one's terms... sigh.) Drose said: > Indoctrinating values is preserving the social order. I would agree. But is it the proper responsibility of state-run schools? John B. pointed out the success of the values curriculum in Great Britain, and his comparison is valuable. With reservation, now I admit that perhaps such a curriculum could add value, provided it is (in his words) "structured to prevent the obvious potential for abuse." John, I would further agree that it is likely such an initiative would be abused in at least some parts of the U.S. John continued: > The suggestion that parents should have total control > over the values taught to their children seems to stem > from the dark past when children were [chattels]. I take exception to this; I did not state such an opinion. However, John's interpretation of my comment highlights my knee-jerk reaction to the idea of teaching moral values in schools. I suppose I have been so conditioned to expect the separation of church and state, that the idea of a values curriculum palls. Well, I'll try anything twice... My father, to whom I attribute a large part of my value system, never went to church in my memory. My mother coerced me to attend. Dad never spoke to me of God or the Bible. He spoke of basic right and wrong. He spoke of the values of work, responsibility and consistency. One of the most valuable lessons I learned from him was to exempt argument from emotion. If such lessons may be taught in schools, then I say do it! But can we keep religion out of it? -Scott MOQ Online Homepage - http://www.moq.org Mail Archive - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/ Unsubscribe - http://www.moq.org/md/index.html MD Queries - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
