Catholic education Part I: a sensitive topic to those who dislike them.

In the United States there is a debate whether or not private/Christian/Catholic schools, on the elementary and high school level, educate their students better than public schools. Early studies say yes, some are mixed, while the most recent study says no. Whatever the consensus the articles I've read and ventured into the comment box have been telling, though only slightly.

The comment box attracts a lot of people. Me being one of them. In the articles in favor of private/Christian/Catholic education there seems to be three groups of people who dismiss such an environment. The first being the Catholic who says they were taught at a Catholic school but due the mean nuns left. The second are the people who sent their kids to Catholic school but took them out due the supposed arrogance, hypocrisy and elitism extolled by other parents. The third are atheists. These atheists aren't particularly sophisticated in their rebuttals, just saying that Christian schools indoctrinate their students and that public schools do not.

The main reason I write this post is because I've grown tired of these complaints. A wise poster did apologize for whatever rude attitude that was presented, saying that no school is perfect and, like public schools, Catholic schools vary. Your mileage may vary, basically. But that wasn't enough. The same anonymous poster insisted how hypocritical those who send their kids to Catholic kids are - not just in the past but present and future.

The bitterness by the people who were met by mean, cruel nuns is more understanding, but then again I was met with a very impatient, poorly talented math teacher when I was in 4th and 5th grade who made me fear math. I still get nervous when I know I have to a math course or test. I do not say math is a horrible subject or that all math teachers and the institutions that employ them are despicable. In some I've gotten over those horrid two years and I'm now self-teaching the topics I did so poorly on - with fervor and enthusiasm. I do not "hate" math - I'm just simply not that good at it. Within this group of bitter people some confessed to burning their school uniform (sure ya did).

The atheists are atheists. They're the modern types aka Gnus. I don't expect much out of them.They will say the usual talking points dismissing Catholic schools (indoctrination). I actually met one parent who said that the measurement of a good school is how many scientists they produce since, after all, science is the basis of our world. There were too many lawyers in his mind. He then proudly went to say his daughter is a product of public schools, has a masters in environmental geology, and is now a chief geologist. All with the Catholic upbringing. I then said I had two friends who were raised Catholic, attended parochial schools, where one went on to become a medical radiologist at Johns Hopkins; the other a child physician at a Level 1 hospital near his hometown. Both are millennials. But I only brought them up for context, not so much to brag.