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In a home-schooling setting, students miss out on experiencing the diversity of teaching and learning styles they would normally encounter in a public school. Every teacher has something different to offer, and the exposure to varying points of view is a critical element in the development of tolerance. Knowledge is not a commodity to be traded between expert and novice. Rather, it is a construction of ideas negotiated by the learner in a social setting. ROSAMAR GARCIA Vancouver
--What separates childhood from adulthood? Many of you thought home schoolers weren't missing out on childhood if they ended up being more patient, less competitive and combative, and more likely to introduce themselves than public school students. "How do rudeness and fighting allow kids to be kids?" asked a confounded mom. A woman from Alabama asserted, "Being a child does not mean you have to be childish." "I prefer polite, respectful behavior over the taunting and bullying that pervade public schools," agreed a North Carolinian. A 16-year-old Minnesotan attested, "We home-schooled children have time for imaginative, unstructured play and the freedom to be innocent. I wonder, How does this make for less of a childhood?"
Fire over Indonesia
The coverage of Megawati Sukarnoputri's new role as Indonesia's President [WORLD, Aug. 6] barely hinted at one of the most pressing challenges she faces. Indonesia's forests, perhaps the most biologically rich in the world, are under assault as never before. Between 1985 and 1997, the country lost nearly 50 million acres of forest. In the 3 1/2 years since, an additional 12 million acres or more may have been lost. The biological, social and economic implications are incalculable. As one of her first actions, Megawati can show wisdom and vision by ending the onslaught on Indonesia's forests. KIRK TALBOTT, VICE PRESIDENT Asia Pacific Division Conservation International Washington
Rape Charges in Okinawa
I just finished reading your story on servicemen in Okinawa and the rape case involving a male African-American Air Force staff sergeant and a young Japanese woman [WORLD, Aug. 27]. Thank you for a balanced article. I am a former Marine, and was stationed on Okinawa in 1996-97. The shock and shame from the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old girl by three servicemen were still reverberating then. All the same, I am sick and tired of articles that portray our military men as violent and the Okinawan women as innocent schoolgirls. Ninety-nine percent of the servicemen are good kids trying to serve their country far from home. JENNY WATSON Stafford, Va.
I agree that there are biased public views on crimes by U.S. servicemen, especially among Okinawans. But what led you to conclude that if the defendant in this rape case were a Japanese man, he might never have been indicted? There are lots of factors that we may not know at this stage. It is an oversimplification to make that comment. CHIEKO INADA Kochi City, Japan