Guest Author - Terrie Lynn Bittner

California's failed attempt to create a universal preschool program for parents who wanted it has sparked a nation-wide debate on the subject. Both those in favor and those in opposition have strong feelings about how this movement will affect the future of the family.

Opponents fear that voluntary government preschool will follow the path of voluntary education and soon become mandatory. They further fear the government will decide that if school is good for three year olds, couldn't it also be good for two year olds—and one year olds, and maybe children fresh from the womb? They worry that parents will soon lose the right to raise their own children, that the government will decide parents really aren't capable of teaching their child anything at all, and need the government to take over all education and parenting. The increasingly young ages at which we send children to be educated by the government sends a clear message to parents that there is some mystical, magical thing about teaching that ordinary people can't master.

This has a negative effect on families, as parents are trained to doubt their parenting skills. All parents are teachers. The extraordinary amount of money required to start a questionable preschool program would be better spent training parents who want training to work with their own children at home. All parents are teachers. If we make them believe in themselves, children will progress academically. The homeschooling movement has demonstrated that parents are better teachers than the government, because learning is best done in a small class with self-paced education and involved parents.

Children need families. They must not be shuttled off to be raised by strangers too soon. The government is not good at parenting children, which is why we no longer have orphanages—children need a family to grow up healthy and well-adjusted. By strengthening the family and teaching parents how to spend quality time with their children, we strengthen our nation family by family.

This is a battle every woman should be fighting. Most preschoolers who have a stay-at-home parent have a mom at home during the day. If the government wins the cradle to adulthood control battle, it is women who will lose the right to raise their own children. We gave them life—don't let anyone take them away from us if we're capable of raising them ourselves.