May Contain Nuts

From CNET News.com:

During a speech in November, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales endorsed the idea [of expanding the DMCA] and said at the time that he would send Congress draft legislation. Such changes are necessary because new technology is “encouraging large-scale criminal enterprises to get involved in intellectual-property theft,” Gonzales said, adding that proceeds from the illicit businesses are used, “quite frankly, to fund terrorism activities.”

Didn’t you know that?

CNN.com - Death could await Christian convert in Afghanistan

Glad to see we’ve turned the place around…

I saw this article at CNN.com today and, while I think the concept is a decent enough one, I do have a couple reservations about letting the kids decide what they want to learn on their own, as such a situation would tend to play to their strengths while ignoring their weaknesses (unless they’ve got a really well-developed sense of willpower, which seems unlikely for children that young).

That said, if you as a parent think you can do a good enough job teaching your child what they need to know to live in the modern world and can also get them to pass the state and federal standardized tests, I see no problem in teaching your kid the way you want, especially if you have the time to actually go on all manner of educational trips to historic places and science centers and whatnot. Hands-on learning works a lot better for most kids than reading a book (at least as far as long-term retention goes). It’s something that my mom, as a teacher herself, tries to do as much as she can given that she’s a public school teacher with a curtailed budget and a fair number of kids to look after.

I also thought that the response from the school district was rather amusing…

But proponents of the public education system suggest these children may be missing a key part of the educational experience.

“There is nothing like the texture of kids having contact with each other, making friends and relating to different adults in a school setting,” said David Tokofsky, a longtime educator and member of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education.

Because every child should have the opportunity to grow up with the experience of getting stuffed into a trash can, beat up, and socially shunned at a young age. Really, school can be emotionally traumatizing for kids if they aren’t considered “normal” enough to be included in the cliques that arise (and they seem to form earlier and earlier), and say what you will about it being a necessary part of living in the world we do, kids shouldn’t have to deal with that at the age of 10.

There’s also plenty of opportunity for most kids to make friends outside of school, unless there just aren’t any other children in the general vicinity. I just don’t think the social repercussions of homeschooling kids are as severe as many of its opponents make out.