I found this while browsing online this morning (thanks ladies at PH!)
http://slate.com/id/2097913
What in the world is this guy thinking??? Children are better off as only children or in sets of two? Quick, shove him in the closet and don't let him see my four, because I about think they would tackle him. He can, as an American, say whatever he pleases, however I think he is nuts!
Not a single one of my children get a lesser education. All four of my children do very well in school, and they are currently in the public school system. Maybe our tax burden on that very system is too heavy. Hmmmm....just one more reason to homeschool our children next year -- which is going to happen, anyway. Another fact is the tax breaks. Well, to be honest, there are thousands of large families out there who do so well that they do not even receive the tax credits that he is ranting about, due to the fact that they make too much money. Yes, they receive the per person deductions, but if he is so whiny about it, maybe he needs to have some more children so he can get his own deductions, the extra love might do him some good.
Children are a blessing from the Lord. They are given to us with a limited amount of time to have them and hold them and then we hope that they find someone else to love and hold. Just because you have children does not mean that you have to gift them with a higher education. I do not intend to pay for the college education of any of my four children. Not because that I do not want to spend the money, but I know through paying for my own education that I took more interest in it. I studied harder, paid more attention and worked harder in general because I knew that I was providing it for myself. Sometimes people lose sight of the fact that giving your child a college degree does not make you a good parent. There are TONS of bad parents who have too much money and not enough common sense, that they pay for thier child's every wish, even if that includes sending them to a school that they may or may not need.
I am not against higher education. I have a Bachelor degree myself. I fully encourage all of my children to get an education. I also, however, encourage them to figure out how to pay their own tuition, because the responsibility will, I feel, make them better people in the long run. Yes, I hope that every single one of my children will get a degree. I hope that each and every one of them do well enough academically that they all receive full-ride scholarships to an Ivy League college. Is that going to happen? Probably not. Not because they are not smart enough, but because the odds are against it. Can they live at home, get an AS at the local community college while living at home and then transfer to the local University? You bet. Is this finanaically smarter? Yes. Why pay premium price for basic? The associate degree program is the same, and they will save a good chunk on their education. If my children were all people that I thought might pledge a fraternity/sorority and gain all that life has to offer from a 4-year college for all 4 years, I might think differently. I just know that my children are all worker bees who will work a part time job, pay their tutition as they go and get an education, not a lifestyle.
His comments about agrerian society..No, we are now a service industry. However, somehow, he forgets that some people tend to serve the Lord, and in doing so receive and rejoice the blessings that God bestows upon them. No, children from large families may not be required to bring in the crops any more, but children from large families can harvest more love than a small family could ever fathom.
Somehow, in today's society, there is a common misperception that large families are "welfare mommies having 15 kids". However, the truth of the matter is that there are thousands upon thousands of families out there who do not rely on government funding to raise their families. My family is one of them. We do not receive any sort of gubment fundin, unless you count the income tax refund that we get once a year, which is due to the fact that my husband over pays and loans the same gubment his hard earned money for a length of time -- interest free!
In the long run, thankfully, since this is a free country, and although I appreciate his need to write down the thoughts he has roaming in his head, I also, thankfully, do not have to like it. I can disagree with it. But, I guess that it is my oldest-child syndrome talking.
Friday, September 21, 2007
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2 comments:
I've always found the education comments to be quite ridiculous. All four of my children are very smart and all four are getting the best education I can give them. We don't take any handouts, or government funding either. Just those tax breaks. And like your dh, mine pays a rather large chunk in for them to play with too. What would happen if the government no longer had that resource?
Interesting, many countries are pushing incentives to people to encourage them to bump up the falling birth rates. Russia is giving out cars to people who have babies on a given day next year. Italy & Japan have created incentives for working mothers to the tune of better benefits & on site child care.
America can't support itself on its current birthrate, the work force won't be large enough to support the geriatrics.
However, there's a country song that refers to "discount knowledge at the junior college" and I think that is SO true. A community college education is nothing like the first 2 years at Uni-and I teach at a community college! The students are for the most part moms going back to school & kids who can't do anything better. The expectation for the level of classes is very low, I've had to dumb down my curriculum over the last 4 years because I started out teaching at first year university level, and the students just couldn't follow it. It's more like a post-high school education, and it is cheaper, but it's not the same thing as going to a University.
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