All over the world, but especially in America,we are hearing the same lamentation:”We need to open our schools.But how can we do that safely?!” Trump says the schools need to open.But the public health officials, including his own, say it’s not possible.

The reality is that we cannot open the schools as usual! They are designed as “concentration” camps”(yes,that’s exaggeration lol)for children.That is ,they are intended to house(baby-sit is the operative term)as many children as possible,as economically as possible for as long as possible-to allow their parents to work.That is not consistent with social distancing and spacing.Similarly,restaurants and bars cannot be profitable without crowding and intimacy.

We shouldn’t forget, as well,that schools,while they have a captive audience,use the time to ideologically program the children (brainwashing is probably a more apt term even though it would be more controversial).By the end of the program, the children leave with the official seal of Empiricism,Rationalism ,secularism and Humanism(the right-wingers are right on that one) called a graduation certificate.That way we produce the perfect workers and clients for our “democratic,industrial complex”!

The problem is that many parents are not really in agreement with this programming.They have other values-perhaps more religious,more conservative ,more creative.But by the time they realize their kids have been cloned,it is too late! Now they are stuck with ideological opponents-often for life!

Now,  some people think that the answer is religious schools.But the latter are only marginally different.Yes,they add an extra layer of morality and some teachings about obedience.But they don’t teach “seeing” and “hearing” and “feeling”. So the children don’t really understand the purpose of those rules and the purpose of obedience to them.Many of them end up rejecting the religious paradigm,others follow blindly or half-heartedly. Some even become fanatics.But very rare is the youngster who comes out a self-actualized,spiritually subtle or enlightened(“tanwir” as Ibn Ataillah calls it) being.At best they are religious clones.

So what are we proposing,then? This is the way it would operate,as I currently conceive of it.(For more ideas about the kind of teaching that would go on ,look at the two articles previously published on this blog called “Call to Action”. )The overall project could be described as “Collective Home-schooling”.It would be constituted by groups of 3-6 parents(the ideal number will have to be tested in practice).They would take on the teaching of all the children of these families in a cooperative effort for most of the teaching from elementary to Middle school.( Morally speaking, the years around puberty will probably be the most challenging.)When it comes to specialized,professional or even advanced academic education(God forbid lol) we will have to send them ,at least for now back to the Universities and colleges ,but by then they should be prepared to deal with it even if the process of transition may be painful.Personally I would prefer the professional and trade learning to be on a master/apprentice basis but that is a long way off-for now at least.

In the practical day-to-day teaching, the different parents who have skills in one subject in particular like those who excel in math and science and those who excel in literature and languages can take it upon themselves to teach those subjects.Many other more subtle subjects will be taught as well-as outlined in “The Call to Action”

This type of organization will allow working mothers and fathers to be able to continue much of their work with the help of the other parents.It will also prevent the traumatization of children being separated from their parents at day-cares and experiencing the anxiety and upsetness of entering a new school with large numbers of strangers at the beginning of elementary school or high school or after any other moves.The community of learners  should be relatively stable and seamless inshallah.The children will know the other parents and know most of the other children and be familiar with the community around them in most instances.

Sound good? Well, we need people with commitment and initiative who are willing to try this out-people who are willing to resist the social currents and disrupt their current lives to try something new.This will not occur automatically. People will have to move,as this cannot be done without physical proximity.We are talking “village” here. So lots of effort and optimism will be required. The alternative ,staying in the socially-determined track, is unhappy,miserable,stressed-out children with little sense of direction and lots of anxiety.That’s the norm! Is that what you want for your children?If not you can contact me on this blog or at jebrahim2@gmail.com. Ahlan(welcome). Sufi Ibrahim