Part of the series Mostly Honest… Isn’t True
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2014-03-24.
Some of our parents have expressed a desire to better be able to identify the tricks being used to convince them to believe things that may not actually be true. This series will provide applicable examples of such.
We often refrain from being honest because we do not wish to offend those who need to hear the truth. Opinions expressed in this blog are intended to offend those who would advance anything, other than the truth, in order to benefit themselves.
Bible Reference: 1 John 4:18
Continuing with our exposure of questionable practices and offerings, let us focus on what is the biggest motivator for parents while, at the same time, the most effective tool of abusers, fear. We all fear what we don’t understand, especially when we engage in a new venture and most certainly when it comes to our children’s future. Anybody knowing how manipulation works will know the power of preying on fears. A lot of advertisers and marketers use fear as their primary instrument.
As previously mentioned, most parents are trying to train their children at home after having been trained at school. It should be obvious that most parents will want to do the best job possible in training their children but have mostly secular experiences from which to draw. Good marketing demands the perpetuation of fears, so rather than take the chance at losing a potential customer, providers offer parents what they want rather than what they need. Beware of manipulators!
The biggest fear parents have regarding their children’s training is that they may be disqualified from some post-secondary options. This can be a real money maker! Besides the questionable tactics used by one provider as outlined in the last blog, preying on this fear not only assures registration, but the potential of the elevation of grants received. Rather than tell people the truth about the overwhelming success of post-secondary bound home educated students, they actually handicap them by trying to deliver a program intended for school at home which comes with the unfortunate consequence of reducing marks and subsequently the chances of being accepted in college. Furthermore, a lot of this blended programming fails to meet with clearly mandated procedures, making parents complicit in the potential fraudulent billing of programming not delivered as prescribed. This is so lucrative that a “Christian” online provider from out of province has set up shop in Alberta to take advantage of the ill-informed and fearful, not to mention, the funding. Beware of blended programs as they ultimately benefit the providers more than the students.
If parents have only been exposed to government programming, it is normal for them to think that only the government can possibly know what your child needs to know at any given age. This belief works well for providers who take advantage of this fear by offering school-like replacement programming to alleviate the fears while offering no solutions. Programs designed to fix broken children are secular. Christianized secular programs remain secular even if they appease the fears of parents. God created each child individually so we should be wary of whatever or whoever makes any statement about where any child should be at any time. Beware of those who would assimilate your child to conformity rather than celebrate the diversity God has created.