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awfulcopter · 03-07-12, 11:02 AM

About 3% of students in the US are homeschooled, and approximately 72% of parents stated in 2007 that the motivation behind their decision to homeschool their children was "a desire to provide religious and moral instruction."

Now I ask, what is your opinion on homeschooling and more specifically, should it be legal, illegal, subject to more or less restrictions, etc.? Personally I think it should be heavily restricted except in a small handful of cases, for the following reasons:

Anyone that wants to become a teacher, professor or any other type of educational instructor at a school or university must of course possess the proper education and qualifications, for obvious reasons. As a school you wouldn't want to just hire any random Joe Blow off the street to educate your students, and there obviously has to be standards in place so that the quality of the education doesn't suffer.

But this is exactly what happens in the case of homeschooling: a number of poorly educated or mis-educated parents have taken to homeschooling their children to provide them with what is not so much an education as indoctrination, and it is heavily defended on the basis of "educational freedom." The 72% figure is quite telling: it paints a picture of a parent who sees Evolution (science) as an attack on or an affront to their religious beliefs and considers secular curricula as a collection of lies that the "liberals" want to poison their children's minds with. They substitute a proper education with an "education" of their own that consists of religious curricula written by scientifically ignorant individuals with an agenda against science. The result is a generation of heavily indoctrinated and sheltered children who grow up essentially ideological clones of their parents.

If you're homeschooled or have been homeschooled in the past, and find this offensive, consider the following: I was homeschooled myself by my mother for a number of years, and subject to the exact type of indoctrination that I described above. I was given a number of Creationist books that were filled with misconceptions and outright misinformation about evolution and natural selection, but told that it was all true. Even worse, although I was able to resist and avoid this, I can confidently say that all of the homeschooled children that I associated with have suffered this exact fate. They are indoctrinated beyond hope, sheltered, naive and socially stunted. Their "opinions" are just those of their parents, nothing more.

I will totally concede that the state of public education in the US is far from perfect and in drastic need of reform, but I also believe strongly that with public education reform, there should likewise be a ban on homeschooling. Over a million children in the US are being taught fairy tales passed off as facts and robbed of the opportunity for a proper education, and it's time something was done about it.

Cougar88 · 03-07-12, 11:53 AM

Of the homeschoolers I have met, they have a MUCH higher level of education than the kids I know at the public and private schools around here. Granted I am sure there are kids homeschooled in the Ozarks (no offense) that get a TERRIBLE education, but like I said the ones I know are articulate, driven, intelligent, curious, etc. Many school districts acutally have home school systems where they help with lesson plans and even get the parents to help each other and get the students to meet up occasionally for classwork (so maybe if your mom didn't know much about history you could have "billy's" mom teach you history and your mom could teach Billy math.

Vertigo · 03-07-12, 12:01 PM

I strongly disagree with the concept of homeschooling as you describe, and agree that this is a lackluster form of education. However, if they act under certain guidelines set by the state or federal government, homeschooling should be fine. If they learn similar curriculum as do children in public school, I'm all for it. However, I believe that there should be certain limitations, and should have to act within certain boundaries.

What concerns me about children who are homeschooled is that to some level, it's harder for them to adapt later in life. For example, I have a friend who came to our school after being homeschooled, and he found it difficult to adapt to the change. I am all for children going to a normal public or private school. I don't think homeschooling would have benefited me, and I certainly don't plan on homeschooling my children, especially with religious indoctrination. While I may practice religion, I believe that separation of Church and State should apply to the schooling system.

Vampenstine · 03-07-12, 12:59 PM

I was homeschooled until late last year when I started college, and I am relived to say that my parents never tried to limit or control my learning, and never really gave me a religous upbringing. I don't believe that home education should be illegal, not every homeschooled child will end up being mis-informed or weak in essential subjects. There are plenty of schools which are more than happy to provide help and support with home education if their help is wanted and/or needed.
As far as social skills and adaption go, I must admit that I was a little naive and had a hard time when I first started interacting with people my own age, but not every home educated child will have these problems as it all depends on how much interaction they get from the very start.
I, personally, am very glad I didn't go to school as I believe I would be a totally different person to who I am now, and I also wouldn't have had the chance to have the same experiences I have had as a result of being home educated.

Charlotte. · 03-07-12, 01:10 PM

I went to school for 9 years and then i was home schooled the last couple of years. It was pretty stupid really cos i only had 2 years left and i might as well of just stayed on. I think home schooling can be good but it didn't really work for me and i feel like one of the reasons i'm so anti social and don't know how to be around people anymore is because when i was taken out of school i wasn't around people and i forgot how to be around people.
I probably wouldn't be in the mess that i'm in right now if i'd just stayed at school.

awfulcopter · 03-07-12, 01:20 PM

I felt the need to stress here again that I'm not trying to be a dick and imply that all homeschooled kids are retards, because we all know that's not the case, heh. And yes, there are other non-religious reasons for homeschooling such as a perceived lack of quality in the public school system and/or inability to afford private school tuition. I'm mainly attacking the use of homeschooling as a vehicle of religious indoctrination compounded with parental paranoia.

It might just be a Midwestern/Southern US thing, but a common homeschooling family you're likely to encounter typically have 6 or more children and are of course deeply religious, often fanatically so. The homeschooling "club" my family was a part of consisted entirely of very large families with no fewer than 6 children each and in one case, 10. There is simply not enough time in the day for one parent to properly educate 10 children even if the times are staggered. Dad is never around to help because he's working 93409234 jobs so he can feed his huge family. My mother was never able to spend more than an hour with me per day, and 9 times out of 10 if I was confused about something and needed to ask a question, she'd be busy with one of my siblings.

Ironically enough, one of their biggest criticisms about the public school system is overcrowded classrooms.

Antigone · 03-07-12, 03:02 PM

Parents should have the right to school their children however they see fit. If they don't agree with the other forms of education, for whatever reason, then of course they should be allowed to homeschool their children.

I was homeschooled from the last half of 10th grade and onward. Best time of my life. For me it was mostly for medical reasons, I had started some new medication for my Narcolepsy and couldn't adjust to it properly while attending school. But also, I just fucking hated public school, it was shit. But other than that homeschooling just agreed with me more, I couldn't function to my full capacity in a typical school setting (the general idea is the more people there are around me, the less likely I'm going to be to succeed). So basically I functioned better on my own, also I developed much better people skills while on my own.

That being said, no matter what the motivation, parents shouldn't have to accept only one form of education for their child - esp. if they do not agree with what's being taught in schools (and this could be for any number of reasons). They should be able to have their child in public, private, home, or charter schooling if they wish it because they are doing what they believe is best for their child and that shouldn't be infringed upon.

I don't think anything like that should be illegal, I just think institutions need to be at a certain standard of education. It can be religious, it can be non-religious, quite frankly I don't think it matters. Take private schools for example, that's all homeschooling really is, it's private schooling - but private schools have to meet certain standards, they can be religious if they want to be, but they don't have to be. Why? Because people are paying for it, you get what you pay for unlike with public school. Homeschooling is the same thing basically, you just get what you pay for - and the best part is, unlike with public school, you actually get to choose what kind of education you get (that's kind of the whole point).

For example I got one best suited for me, which involved working on my own all day. That's right, I had no teacher at all. My parents were working so I taught myself and behold I got all A's and B's. But I had highly informative learning booklets.

Okay so what it gets right down is this... a tree produces a few bad apples and so logic dictates the entire tree has to suffer for it? But what about the other apples? The others are fine. That's the funny thing about when people talk about homeschooling, most people already have preconceived notions about it and then fail to look at any positive stats regarding it (per usual, people focus on the negative).
Personally I prefer to look at how many good apples a tree produces in comparison to the bad before deciding on what should be done with the tree.

Meaning, of course, just because some people are nutty doesn't mean you should put stricter regulations on things or make something illegal altogether. You're gonna have nutty people anywhere. Also, difference of opinion shouldn't really dictate something like this. Something may be fanatic to you but it's just how some people live their lives, unless someone is getting seriously hurt from it and is miserable from it then it doesn't matter how they choose to live their lives - it's just a matter of opinion.
I mean that's like saying I should be punished for being introverted and solitary, because people disagree with how I live my life and refuse to accept that, no, I'm not miserable this way. Basically, it's not up for you to decide, or anyone else for that matter.

As it goes, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". I would consider making homeschooling illegal at all to be in violation of all three because it's taking away someones choice in how to raise their child how they want to. So long as the child is happy or content then how they are being raised is virtually meaningless.

In other words, people should raise their kids however they want. So long as the homeschooling program meets a certain standard and teaches the basics, and gives enough so the student can graduate with enough credits, then what they teach past that shouldn't matter to you unless you're the parent of the child being taught. Otherwise, stay out of other peoples business.

bored2010 · 04-07-12, 06:25 AM

i disagree with homeschooling. I think it's very important for children and teens to interact with people their own age AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. dealing with the real world when we become adults means dealing with people that are our age, older and younger than us. I mean, even when I see people my own age every single day, i still have troubles dealing with people in certain situations.

IDK.LOL · 04-07-12, 07:43 PM

To start off... I was home-schooled from Pre-K to High-school and just graduated in a class of 40+ people, all of whom I am friends with and have known over the years through classes etc... I have never found any of them to be "sheltered" or indoctrinated.

Homeschooling does not mean that you are at home all the time either. I and my 40+ friends took classes at a co-op (similar to a private school), we also took classes at col ledges, and private schools as well as taking online classes and having our parents teach us.

Homeschooling does not automatically make you a Creationist, or a die-hard Christian. I know many different kinds of home-schoolers, these include atheists, agnostics, deists, some are even gay(I know a few).

I find that us home-schoolers, except for a select few, are more exposed to the world than you or any-one else. We have more time to be in it, to learn about it, and to experience it.

As to being around people and interacting with people your age and younger/older than us... I have friends ranging from age 2 to 75 and they are not related to me. I also find that I tend to have longer and better relationships with my friends than some people I know that go to public or private school.

Quote:

Okay so what it gets right down is this... a tree produces a few bad apples and so logic dictates the entire tree has to suffer for it? But what about the other apples? The others are fine. That's the funny thing about when people talk about homeschooling, most people already have preconceived notions about it and then fail to look at any positive stats regarding it (per usual, people focus on the negative).
Personally I prefer to look at how many good apples a tree produces in comparison to the bad before deciding on what should be done with the tree.

I agree with this!

Parents have the right to decide what kind of schooling is best for their children. Making homeschooling illegal or putting even more restrictions on it would be wrong, besides that would be like me or someone else you don't know saying that you can't toast your pop-tart at breakfast just because I heard bad things about toasted pop-tarts and/or had a bad experience with a toasted pop-tart.

America is the land of the free. We have the right to religion and many other things. If you take away freedom of education and force people to only be in public school...they would have a riot on their hands and the masses would be angry.

And just to funny but completely honest at the same time,
IDK.LOL

awfulcopter · 05-07-12, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IDK.LOL

America is the land of the free.

Lmao, nope. Americans are enslaved and don't even realise it. But that's another debate for another thread.