There's a clean and clear line between expressing yourself, and deciding that you want a mohawk and 40 facial piercings because all the other kids are doing it. If my children have something to say, I want to hear it, but when it comes to tattoos and body piercings that I don't feel are conducive to a good upbringing, they can get that when they pay their own rent. Until then...no dice. Believe it or not, kids don't always know what's best for them.

Not only are they able to ask students to leave for failing marks, but they are also allowed to ask troubled students to leave. Troubled students meaning those who cause chaos in the classroom. In my city, the public school teachers get absolutely no respect from some of the students. Don't get me wrong, just because you go to a public school doesn't mean you're a bad egg, I'm just saying that for those kids that feel that they are above the teacher, in a private school setting they would be asked to either shape up and get some respect, or leave. Such a shame, public school teachers are bowing down to their rowdy students because they don't want to be let go for "not being understanding enough to the children."

A lot of these things have no footings in the reality of private school.

Cost: Most private schools offer scholarship programs or reduced tuition based on family income.

Teaching degrees: I don't know what private schools are in your area, but in mine there are absolutely NO teachers in a private school without a degree in their course of instruction.

Less diverse choices: I'll agree with you here. Most private schools won't offer vocational classes such as wood shop. They offer mostly classes that will benefit through a college education.

Special education classes: This is not true. I've attended 3 different private schools and all of them had special education classes available. Because these schools are private, the availability of special education courses really depends on the available funding.

Entrance exam: FALSE. Only SOME private schools require a passing score on an entrance exam. A lot of private schools only require an entrance exam in order to help form the best curriculum for the student.

Religion based: This is purely a subjective matter.

This question is really kind of loaded. It all depends on how you wanna live your life. I don't feel like one is better than the other fundamentally, but I think you really need to choose a side that suits your beliefs and your morals better. For me that would be the republican side. I belief in tough love and working hard for what you want--picking yourself up out of the dirt when you get bucked off your horse. This is why this side gets my vote.

eating too much+laziness+lack of exercise+bad coping mechanisms=obesity.

Illegals ruin it for people to get here legally. It took my aunt 10 years from being sponsored to actually being given permission from immigration (along with a visa and what not) to move here to the U.S. Let's look at it from the other side of things though. Americans sort of have a "oh I'm so above that" mentality when it comes to finding work. So what happens? Illegals are employed to come here and pick our apples, clean our homes, etc. Perhaps if they were removed, we could actually see some work ethic come back to America. You have to give the illegals this, they work for their money...and they work hard since they are probably going to be paid under the table. As such they're probably not going to complain to anyone if they're getting paid below minimum wage for fear of being reported and then deported. So to cut it short: remove em, and hopefully we can get some work ethic back into this fine country. You have to work to live here. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for immigration. We are all the descendants of immigrants. You are more than welcome into this country if you do it the legal way...that also means though that immigration is going to have to dissolve their current process of reviewing immigration apps. Why is it that it takes 10 years for a person from Southeast Asia to come here legally, but less than half that amount of time for someone from say, England, to get here?

You can only help those who want it. Her song Rehab clearly stated that she didn't think there was a problem.

Actually there are different levels of sin. There are venial sins which are considered the less serious of sins. Then there are mortal sins which are considered very serious. You cannot be "prayed" into Heaven just as your sins cannot be simply "erased" by doing community service. All sins may be forgiven if you ASK for forgiveness. The belief is that you have to be truly sorry for them. Part of the process is going to confession and using the priest as the middle man of sorts. Even a murderer can be forgiven if he is truly sorry in his heart for his actions and he attends confession willingly to admit to his wrongdoings. The basis for being forgiven for your sins is feeling the guilt. You can go confess to a priest all you want, but if you're not sorry for it, then you won't be forgiven. You make a lot of false assumptions in your post that really have no footings in the Catholic Church. People laugh all the time at the Catholic Church about a lot of things because they don't really understand what's behind it.

I think that Islam in its purest form is meant to help guide people into living the best life they can, just like Christianity or Taoism. I'm Catholic and I don't hate Muslims because NOT ALL MUSLIMS ARE BAD. In fact, most of them are probably just normal people like you and me, trying to make a living and being the best person they can be. This is a little known fact, but "God" and "Allah" are actually the same being. There is no difference. The difference begins at Jesus and Mohammed and then extends to small differences here and there. The only problem I have with Islam is radical Islam. Then again, even some of us Catholics are guilty of being radicals at one point in time. What can I say? Different groups from different religions all have their faults here and there. That's life.

My elementary and middle schools both required uniforms. You may not want to accept this, but it really leveled the playing field for us kids. Especially in middle school. There was no worry about brands, cost, etc. Sure you could buy a $30 white polo, but it wouldn't matter because someone paid $5 for the same thing and they were identical. The public school system in my area was considering requiring uniforms because they saw the difference in how private school uniformed kids were acting in school while having to wear the white polo and navy blue slacks. I also feel that the uniform is a form of structure. Kids will never admit this, but they WANT structure. They NEED it and they know they need it. Let's be honest, there's less violence in private schools, and I feel that the uniform really contributes to that.