
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, June 6, 1993                   TAG: 9306070122
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: F2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

MANY GREAT AMERICANS SKIPPED SCHOOL

AS PLEASED as I was to see the May 24 Associated Press story ("More parents teaching kids in the home"), I was ultimately dismayed by the caricature of home-schooling families as sexually repressed Christian fundamentalists. It is insulting to these families to be ridiculed for their commitment to the most important responsibilities of parenting - their children's spiritual and educational development.

However, contrary to the one-note picture presented in the article, people who choose to educate their children at home are a highly diverse and highly opinionated lot. Families who choose to "unschool" (and it is a choice available to almost all) are Christian, Muslim, Pagan, urban, rural, single parents, grandparents - people from all ethnic backgrounds, etc. Nevertheless, the singular notes of opinion rise from one theme - parents have the right and responsibility to guide their children in what they do and do not learn. Parental rights are guaranteed by the Constitution.

Many outstanding figures in American history - Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Margaret Mead and John Philip Sousa, to name a few - never went to school. They were pioneers, as home-schoolers are today. Choosing to be with your children as they learn and grow is a truly American alternative. ROBYNNE CROCKETT BLACKSBURG

by CNB