To the Editor:
When child labor was part of our society, Horace Mann and others championed the idea of public schooling for everyone. Today, someone may need to come up with an idea that serves those parents and children who view school not as a place to be educated, but as somewhere for children to be taken care of daily.
This attitude of entitlement has become so ingrained in schools that we often have children and parents suggesting that they have the “right” to demand that their child’s needs be met at the expense of anyone and everyone else. Perhaps another type of community venue would best serve the needs of those who have little interest in academics—a sports-based enterprise, for instance, or an internship related to a future vocation.
Schools are trying to become too much, the staff is paid too little, and the love for learning cannot be shared when too many of the students are not in school to learn.
Mary Healey
Sarasota, Fla.