FrankGol says, "Many Christian schools teach kids to bully, cheat, lie and to feel morally superior (even when they aren't). Hypocrisy and greed are other prominent values."

I answer, Way to blame Christianity and the Private School system for the distasteful expression of low end human nature that can be found in every corner of society.

FrankGol then chooses evasion. Jumps in on every other word except for those directed specifically to FrankGol. Then again since you've responded so readily FrankGol they may indeed identify you. Who am I to say. I'm sure your well aware of your personal motivators. Being a hypocrite seems to be the one your always trying to hide.

When I was a youngster walking to school I had to pass a public school and endure the name calling, the spitting and the dirt and stone throwing. Until your post I hadn't thought that those children where taught to behave like that by their teachers. I had always assumed it was my nice clean pressed uniform that had a few morons frothing to get dirt on it. Punk jealousy FrankGol. Just immature kids trying to look cool in front of their friends FrankGol. Not one of your conspiracies.

The saving grace for us all is the Public School System, ....... non-sectarian, non-racist, inclusive, where all the kids, get to be Aussies first, mixing, learning, expanding, enjoying the backgrounds and cultures from all over the world, and healing divisions. There are simply wonderful achievements to be found in the public system and plenty of choice e.g. single gender, comprehensive, selective, agricultural, performing arts, special needs, special talents, distance, senior, junior, etc schools. with a proper factual curriculum, where the scientific truth prevails, and logical arguments are pursued, and realistic philosophies are studied.

However it didn't take long for someone like this loose-with-the-truth howard to poison all the waterholes, to give us an apartheid by stealth with incubators promoting paltry values of snobbery, religious division, fundamentalism, race, wealth and school tie coterie privileges, with no friends across their divides, problems with basic social cohesion and the deformity of the educational wealth of this country. This of course sows these very seeds of disruption, contempt and breeds intolerance with silly headed superstitions inculcated into baby's heads for decades to come. It always has.

graham says:- "A friend of mine claims that State Governments are using private schools to limit the cost to their budgets of education. "

I would tend to agree. The State and c'weath would not cope if all the private schools just stopped.
As it is, governments spend so little on our kid's future especially at TAF< preschool and UNI level.

Disadvantaged schools are still disadvantaged as principals spend what little extra monety there is on security, not books or computers.

If you want to see what a rich school look like look at Bush's alma mater. We have nothing to compare. We also have nothing to compare with unis like Stanforsd in the USA Our Uni standards are now a joke and set by who pays the bill. Soon Asians will realise it is as easy and quicker to get an Internet "Mail Order" Degree.

Why should an Ozzie kid start out life with a $50,000 education bill because his government wanted to put their money into a "Future Fund" for their own pensions instead of education?
We are being overtaxed and the tax is being used for the wrong things.

Young people are going to have to spend most of their working life to put a roof over their heads as it is!

Education IS our future and it is about time both Federal , State and Local governments realised this.

There is a broad range of private education in Australia, from coaching colleges through to the so-called church schools. The Left lose credibility through singling out 'Christian' schools for attack and not (say) Islamic schools, or the various independent schools.

True Shorbe, Christianity isn't a big focus at many 'christian' schools, but i wonder is that any consolation. Jesus Christ had some pretty good ideas, problem is they are antithetical to consumerism and the prosperity gospel so central to most of the newer and many of the older churches. Weren't swathes of priests in central & s.america in 60s-80s excommunicated for following too closely to JC's ideas - they turned communist, at least according to the US School of the America's trained death squads that hunted them.

What kids in christian schools are taught is, "heres this list of impossible things that you must learn and publicly support, even if only at xmas mass". Being forced into that deceit, to accept the impossible due to the social rank of those pushing it, i think has an enduring effect on peoples engagement in the world and trust in own senses. i.e. make a christian, make a broken mind that is accustomed to lying or believing impossibilities, AND is willing to defer all expectation of justice until after death (very handy is you're the local Lord). Not for nothing did they call christianity 'the slaves religion'.

As one who left school early in October 1934 to drive a wagon team carting wheat, is shocked these days to find ones' grandkids and great-grandkids with very little interest in history.

Possibly it is something to do with our long-serving Prime Minister's remark about Aborigines, that the so-called cruelties we inflicted on them, must be regarded simply as part of human progress, and thus we owe them few apologies over it.

Unfortunately, it just now seems the way of the world, look ahead not back behind.

Probably why we never hear the term insight used these days, or even the so wonderful words wisdom and understanding, now regarded by our younger Onliners as Old Pap.

The use of Blogs also sounds so much like the old Morse Code, lacking personality and the lyrical sweetness that can give the finishing touches to sound reasoning and commonsense.

George C - WA