Summer School Enrollment Doubles!

I remember when going to summer school was a bad thing! If you HAD to go you were labeled one of the bad or stupid kids. My how times have changed… This year in Poplar Bluff,MO,USA they have 548 out of 999 students enrolled in their summer school program! That is up from 210 last summer. 55% of the students are going to school ALL YEAR LONG. Am I the only one that sees anything wrong with this?! Where are their parents? I know all you working parents now have your nose out of joint… While I understand the need to make a living we must keep our priorities straight. When you have a child you accepted a responsibility.

O.K. what does this have to do with Martial Arts/Karate training? Well one of the programs being offered is Tae kwon do. While I think it is great that the kids are getting exposed to the Martial Arts I fail to see the place of the school system in this equation. Many people will argue the school is providing a ‘valuable’ service. I would say that the government (via the school) is providing a service the private sector should provide. That means we are paying higher taxes (including the parents of the 45% who didn’t send their kids) to support this program. Meanwhile this program will surely reduce the profits and thereby the tax contribution of local summer camps, programs, etc. and again cause an increase in our taxes. Do you see the vicious cycle?

Now all is well and good, we should be happy that so many kids are learning the Martial Arts because after all many of them will decide to continue and join our classes and dojos! But how will you feel when the government (via the schools) decide to offer after school karate instruction as an alternative to going to your dojo? It will be great if you are running the program, otherwise you better start looking for new work.

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