by Mary Deanovic

Created on: February 04, 2009   Last Updated: February 06, 2009

Government-funded pre-kindergarten programs should not be instituted for all American kids. First of all I'd like to clear something up. The government is not paying for the education of pre-k children, the taxpayer is! Have you ever taken a look at your property taxes that you pay out every year if you own your home? Well, take a look! Nearly half if not more goes into the one size-fits-all educational system. The government wanting your kids earlier and earlier should throw up a red flag to any parent. The earlier they can get your children in there the sooner they get more money.

Public schooling is a very lucrative business. It rakes in millions if not billions of dollars of taxpayer's money each year. Each child that is in that school makes money for that school. It is a huge day-care center for school-aged kids. I realize that sending your child off to the government school saves you having to pay for a babysitter for your child, but it is not good for them. Since when has it ever been a good idea to have someone else raising your children? These are the years that you get to be there for your child. Don't hand them off to a stranger and trust that they will take care of them because they won't.

Every Monday through Friday from September through May, parents arise in the morning and get their children ready to go off to school. We wake them out of a beautiful sleep and hurry them out the door after rushing them to eat something to start their day. We send them out the door and we feel good about them being part of this world of education. But is this the way we should feel about sending them off? Should we be proud of the decision to have our children taught by the government? Why do we feel so pressured as parents to do this? Is it the governments responsibility to educate them or does that responsibility lie solely on the parents?

I can tell you right now unequivocally that it is your responsibility to give your child the best that you can give them. It is not the duty or the right of the government to raise your kids. The government has two duties; to provide infrastructure and to protect the innocent. How are they doing on those two things? Ask any survivor of Katrina how the government did with the levies? Ask any victim of a crime (including the crime of theft on Wall Street) how the government did in keeping them safe. If the government would get their fingers out of everything else and focus on their duty and parents stopped looking to them to educate and babysit their children we would all be in a better place.

Keep your kids at home. Read to them. Sing to them and with them. Draw pictures with them. Teach them their shapes and colors. Take them on a walk to the park, the zoo or through the neighborhood. Guide them to be aware of their surroundings. Nurture them. Love them. It is then and only then that the child is getting what he/she needs.

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