Freedom and Democracy Absolutely Fail Children in the US

Children are human beings, not property owned by adults who gave birth to them. We need a movement that acknowledges and enforces the Constitutional rights of Amish and other children, such as Ultra-Orthodox Jewish, fundamentalist Christian, Jehovah’s Witness, and Native/Indigenous.

Democracy

The prevailing secular political force that continues to influence the educational system of the United States is democracy, the form of government upon which the U.S. Constitution was founded. During the post-war or cold war era, democractic ideals such as freedom and equality, and a concurrent goal to advance global citizenship, have conflicted with ideologies influenced by communism and fascism around globalization and education (Reimers, 2017). For example, one of the effects of the rise of populism, seen especially during the Trump era, is a move away from preparing students for a globally-minded citizenry due to the idea that one “is defined by citizenship, not by membership in humanity” (Reimers, 2017).

Perhaps the greatest example of how democracy has, and continues to, influence the U.S. educational system is seen in John Dewey’s work. To Dewey, a democractic education was “the right kind of education” (Mintz, n.d.). This meant, among other things, an educational system that embodied the ideals of…