While most of us parents liked the idea of uniforms at Freedom Academy, what we didn’t sign up for was the disruptive nitpicking enforcement which destroys the benefit of original intent. Like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day who perverted the law, Freedom Academy’s uniform policy has become over reaching, over zealous, and perverse.
While this dynamic exists, it does not necessarily insinuate that the intent of the original law was bad. It is usually elitism that creeps in and destroys original intent. This is indeed the case at Freedom Academy. I have heard the school’s Director on several occasions say, “Our uniform policies make us better than other schools--a cut above the rest.” This is the attitude that makes it all go awry.
Whether it be self-righteous sanctimony, social pecking orders, or the establishment of status, class, and caste, these malignancies cause individuals, institutions, and societies to serve law more than life. Herein the idea of perceived school status trumps caring for our children. We begin to see what they wear, rather than who they are. Herein teachers, administrators, board members, and PTO’s become entangled in a grotesque apathy of group think. They protect their man-made standards, rather than the feelings, emotions, hearts, and psyches of young students. They begin to mold and imprint this ugliness on the minds of children and infect the next generation. Herein a culture becomes corrupt, fractured, and inequitable. All of this is produced by the subtle leaven of elitism.
by: A Soap Box in the Wilderness
by: A Soap Box in the Wilderness
Ironic that there are copious errors scattered throughout this blog. You would think that if someone were to put enough energy into creating a blog about a school run by 'dummies', you would at least strive to keep your own work as far away as 'dumb' as you could get.
ReplyDelete"The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious to the rose."
Kahlil Gibran