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Today's "Ask Dr. Ruwart"

What if private schools refused to offer sports?

Question: Do you believe that all schools should be privatized, or just that there should more competition for the public schools? I believe the problem with private schools is that they concentrate too much on just academic results and exam scores. They would only want to get the best students, and the way to do this would be to cut down on sports and other social events and get students to concentrate solely on their test and exam scores. Students would leave school not having experienced such things as football and other sports and activities that help people learn to work in a team and to communicate with others.

My Short Answer:

In a libertarian society, some schools might indeed emphasize academics. Others, however, would have strong sports orientation because many people, like yourself, value an education with such a team-building component.

Of course, some schools might choose to teach cooperation and communication by other means (e.g., helping students create and run their own businesses). Children, especially those from poor backgrounds, are enthralled by learning how to earn money. Indeed, one libertarian who teaches in an inner-city school has become a big hit with his students by showing them how to become entrepreneurs.

Some private schools might indeed charge high tuition. However, studies show that today most private school attendees come from the lower classes, not the upper ones. Public schools today are fine in well-to-do communities, but treacherous in the ghettos. Private schools often cater to the poor who want more for their children than an inner-city government school education. In a libertarian society, with lower educational costs and better-paying jobs for parents, quality schooling for the poor would be more common, not less.

Dr. Mary Ruwart is a leading expert in libertarian communication and author of the international bestseller Healing Our World. She is also author of Short Answers to Tough Questions, in which you will find a collection of her answers.

Read more of Dr. Ruwart's Short Answers to Tough Libertarian Questions.

Dr. Ruwart's answers graciously provided by The Advocates for Self-Government.