[smacklan]

While your argument for your position is painted very pretty Wayne, you are advocating that parents turn over their responsibilities in this area to the state as the state is better at teaching kids than parents. Typical liberal response and dead wrong, imho. I would also argue with your stats to support your position as being skewed...let's look at this issue from a milestone that gives the proper perspective:

Since the Supreme Court banned school prayer in 1963:

• the murder rate tripled;
• Violent crime went up 544%;
• Prior to 1963, divorce had been declining for 15 consecutive years. After 1963, the divorce rate more than doubled;
• unwed birth rates 10-14 years of age shot up 553% by 1983;
• Sexually transmitted disease rates (15-19 years of age range) shot up 226% by 1975;
• the percent of children living in fatherless households increased from 6% to 40%.

Succumbing to "the easy way out, ie; the government knows what's best" is the laziest and most detrimental thing anyone could ever do regardless of what subject we are talking about.