Finland

Reading an article by Claudio Sanchez What The U.S. Can Learn From Finland about education and the Facebook poster that suggests that Finland is great because they have free child care and education and score high on selective tests.

Public child care and education are manifesting serious behavioral problems in young people that may not fix itself easily.

In 2005 over 200 Finnish academics warned about that important knowledge had been sacrificed in the Finish approach.

Finland scores well on PISA tests which is not designed to test curriculum-based knowledge in mathematically intensive subjects, such as engineering, computer science, and economics. Finnish eighth-graders perform lower than seventh-graders did in 1999, lagging behind the top-scoring nations by a considerable margin.

On the other hand homeschooling which is being outlawed in many of these countries scores 30% higher even when accounting for educational back ground of the parents.

There is an element in Finland that opposes competition. Samuli Paronen: "Real winners do not compete."

But competition does exist because admissions to academic upper schools are based on GPA, and in some cases academic tests and interviews. Competition and striving to get a better education is an education in itself. The continuation of so called free public education will likely continue trends that are being seen in Finish economy.

Aging of the population is an issue. When the workforce goes from 50% to 30% of their population they will need 67% growth per capita just to compensate. Finland's GDP growth has stagnated and is now teetering on the edge of slipping into its third recession in six years. Finland has heavily depended upon its vast land, eighth largest country in Europe, and forest resources with only 5.5 million people.

The harsh climate and rural economy bred a hardy and independent people with a strong work ethic. This is competition against the difficulties in life but not competition between each other. The Finish community competed with the difficulties of their natural environment, not each other. This promoted cooperation within the community. That has carried over and is the actual secret of their success.

Teachers have a wide range of latitude to teach and produce good students. They can even pick their own text books and design tests and curriculum. That independence and responsibility challenges each teacher which is a form of competition and that spirit of responsibility is passed onto the students.

there is no more powerful stimulation than the arrival of your own children. Public Education and social welfare undermines both the family and the community. It takes time for a strong people to degenerate but we are seeing it in Finland and many other socialist nations.

Socialism and "free" benefits including "free" education is a completely different environment and should be expected to alter the nature of their society.

The socialist approach according to Jukka Huusko, a Finnish journalist writing in the Independent, says "that violence, both domestic and in the streets, is common in Finland. Partly it is a function of excessive drinking, says Huusko, but it is also related to family breakdown, isolation and loneliness. Roger Boyes who writes in the Times stated, "The Finns are letting down their younger generation, allowing them to slip into a kind of psychological isolation. In small-town Finland, traditional friendship is being replaced by social networking sites."

On the other hand homeschoolers are statistically far better adjusted to society manifesting few of these problems. From the early days of returning to home education the question has constantly been raised, "What about socialization?"

This has sparked numerous studies that show excellent results for young people educated at home. Dr. Raymond Moore, author of over 60 books and articles on human development states in his book, The Hurried Child, "The idea that children need to be around many other youngsters in order to be 'socialized,' is perhaps the most dangerous and extravagant myth in education and child rearing today."

"After analyzing over 8,000 early childhood studies, Dr. Moore concluded that, contrary to popular belief, children are best socialized by parents – not other children." Homeschooled children "demonstrated fewer behavioral problems." Dr. Patricia Lines of the Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based think-tank, "describes several controlled studies comparing the social skills of homeschoolers and nonhomeschoolers." "There is no basis to question the social development of homeschooled children."

So with homeschooling showing 30% higher scores in academics, higher levels of moral and social adaptability and fewer behavioral problems, manifesting more independence and self motivation in later life we should ask why are you sending your children to public schools?

Public schools are not free. In fact the price you may pay may far greater than will show up on public expense ledgers. Free education like the free Bread and circuses of Rome include the socialist idea that you can force your neighbor to pay for your child's education through governments that exercise authority over your neighbor. All public education is a product of the ideals and philosophy of socialism.

“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” Winston Churchill

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