I was thinking the kids are ultimately responsible.

However they aren't going to learn if you just lock them in a closet. And unless they're homeschooled it isn't just the parents doing the teaching either. And good teachers can make a significant difference. Even if someone is focused on learning a good teacher can let you learn significantly more in less time.

However I don't think society can be discounted either, but I'd put its influence after the above in most cases. In some of our local schools where it's more of a question of how many kids are going to get shot/stabbed this year as opposed to if that's going to happen I imagine it's going to have a whole lot of impact.

Everyone needs to be focused on improving the quality of the education children receive--but it is ultimately up to the parents and, eventually, the children themselves to ensure that they receive it.

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Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under. – H.L. Mencken

I refuse to trade humanity for patriotism.

Public libraries and the internet are 100% essential. I've been home schooled for 7 years of my education and I've pretty much been left to myself to decide what I want to learn and whether or not I actually do it. I've also found that it is more efficient and faster to teach yourself most of the time. Teachers are helpful when you just can't understand something and need extra help, but that is really the only reason they are there. You are the only one who can actually teach yourself, your teachers just show you how to do it.

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"It is extremely difficult for our contemporaries to conceive of the conditions of free banking because they take government interference with banking for granted and as necessary"

-- Ludwig von Mises

No, parents can have reactionary and demented views, and can indoctrinate their children in that way. The best way is to have uniform public schools which teach universal values etc.

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“The goal of an Obama Presidency is to make sure we have bottom-up economic growth instead of just the old, tired, worn-out trickle-down ideologies that we have been seeing for so many years.”
Barack Obama

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The woman in my avatar is Cristina Scabbia and the woman in my profile picture is Tarja Turunen
Sun flames and moons glow, timeless the tides will flow, what will I face, what will be mine, fortune and fate the other side...

Post of the week:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inferno You just don't relate to my sense of humor. How about this. Gosh darn funny man living in a whale. doncha know that gawd could do that I betcha he could. wink wink.

I disagree. Who controls the public schools? Who decides what these universal values are?
Besides, who could run such a large, public school system? Only the government--and the vast, vast majority of government programs, even with the best intentions, become political chess pieces, improperly funded and inefficiently implemented wastes of tax dollars, and completely unconstitutional over-extensions of government power.

What you say about parents is valid, however--there should be universal education, perhaps through a voucher/free market system. Giving children the opportunity to learn how to learn is the real value of any school--so that they can decide for themselves about issues, and separate themselves from their parents' views, if they wish it.

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Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under. – H.L. Mencken

I refuse to trade humanity for patriotism.

Their is a no 'choice' in education, what, is a Christian school going to say 1+1= something else? If anything 'special' private schools are woefully inadequate and their hatred of science brings them to terribly neglect the education of their pupils. You need uniform education to instill a uniform image of a citizen and patriot in the child.

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“The goal of an Obama Presidency is to make sure we have bottom-up economic growth instead of just the old, tired, worn-out trickle-down ideologies that we have been seeing for so many years.”
Barack Obama

yeah,
and i think its up to the government to ensure that all children have access to adequate education.

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Other.
ULTIMATELY it's the student's responsibility.
Responsibility always ULTIMATELY falls on the individual who has the power to fix the situation and who can benefit.

Of course this is not helpful.
Students are made, not born.
Parents are the next obvious target... but what if they can't/won't?
Then what?

Then the ULTIMATE responsibility lies on all of us... as we are the ones who benefit from an educated population.
Whether it's done by parents, government, or what... who cares? It just has to get done. So whichever works. Most likely more than one of the above.

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"Man lives in the sunlit world of that which he believes to be reality. But unseen by most is an underworld, a place that is just as real... but not as brightly lit... A DARK SIDE!"
-opening from Tales From the Darkside

Ultimately it's the parent's job to initiate an interest in learning.