quote:Originally posted by 3FingeredGlove:Rhetorical questions:quote:The arrogance of that small college in NY is stunning. I guess there are lots of parents that want a school to do their job for them.
Is it arrogant of the US service academies to instill a particular set of ethical values on the students, regardless of the parents' values? Do kids need to go to these academies because the parents didn't do their job?
The point is that there is nothing wrong or arrogant about a college having a philoshophy of education, even if it isn't popular. Everybody is free to take it or leave it.
Context is everything. In RJM's example, the college was intending to strip away learned values to supposedly allow the students to find their own moral compass. This is creating an almost anarchtic freedom at face value. But reality dictates that this never truly happens, as the same people that wish to strip away, also have an idea of what the "proper" new mold should resemble. There is no such thing as total lack of ideology.
On the other hand, SA's (Service Academies), use a well accepted set of values, and strictly enforce them. For example, the cadet code at West Point: A Cadet will not Lie, Cheat or Steal, or tolerate others that do. And then there's the famous credo, Duty, Honor, Country. With the exception of a minor debate on the toleration prose, these are widely consider virtuous attributes and encouraged by society at large. They do not either diminish or wish to purge familial teachings, nor do they inhibit freedom of thought, growth as an individual, or expressiveness.