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In my experience, public school kids are repulsive to a significant number of homeschooling families (The fundamentalist, crazy ones). I used to go to a fundamentalist church full of homeschooling families, and it was amazing the myths I had to dispel to homeschool parents about what it's like teaching in a public school. It was also deeply irritating hearing people diss my students while self righteously building up their own kids--and themselves-- as being so wonderful because they homeschool.
I fully support the right to homeschool, and some homeschoolers turn out all right, but that experience has always left homeschooling with a bad taste in my mouth.
While I can understand your irritation with people who don't understand what really goes on in public schools, and who comment as if they know. I do understand what goes on in public schools, and I can't really say that it is a good thing. If we discuss a couple topics, such as drugs and sex. Kids are absolutely overwhelmed these days, at a very early age. Some schools are far worse than others, and some schools are far better.
But most of the "good schools", are mostly only good because they are in wealthy districts that basically keep out the poor kids and the minorities. If you ever actually look at high-rated schools, they are totally lacking diversity. So the idea that public schools are good, because they enable people to be around diverse people. The truth is, almost no one who sends their kids to school actually care about diversity. The reality is that they send their kids to public schools, almost entirely because its free and they need someone to watch their kids while they work(or so they can have some time away from them). And people who are paying good money to send their kids to private schools, really don't care about diversity. Nor do they pay money because they want their kids to be socially adept. They send their kids to private school, because generally, they make good money, and their time is more valuable than the money they spend for private school. So instead of homeschooling, they basically pay someone else to sort of school them in a manner conducive to their own beliefs.
With that said. I would agree that people who homeschool tend to appear on the outside to be "crazy". But I don't know if its because they are actually crazy, or just seem that way. The reason why is, what we might call crazy, would be anyone who falls outside of what we seem as normal. We consider people to be normal, if they roughly share our general beliefs. Basically, normal would be people who share mainstream beliefs. But if we think about it rationally, a person who so strongly opposes sending their kids to public schools, obviously disagrees with mainstream beliefs, otherwise they would just send their kids to public school.
Anyway, other than my general loathing of the immorality that is quite common these days in public schools(I know, its the real world right?). I would say that, I don't really trust public schools, because there is a conflict of interest in public schools. The problem is that, public schools exist because of the government. And the people who work in public schools have jobs because of the government. So they have an interest in promoting the government, and promoting public education, because they would be unemployed without it. Which is why there is a bias in public education that tends to promote a positive view of the government. And it is sort of endemic to the system. It really can't be removed or fixed.
For instance. A friend of mine tried to kill himself about five years ago. He was poor, and to get counseling and medication, he had to go to this state-run psychiatric hospital. I drove him up there a couple times for them to write him a prescription. Anyway, I asked his psychiatrist basically if being a psychologist changed the way he felt about the government. I figured that his occupation would make him more empathetic. That he would be more supportive of an expanded role of government in helping people... He actually said that, being a psychologist made him basically feel less sorry for people. Most people's problems are basically self-inflicted. But that, he always votes for democrats(as well as his co-workers), because thats where the money is.
Anyway, the point is, public schools are always going to be biased. And that bias always ends up being a subtle form of indoctrination. It is unavoidable. I don't think anyone even wants to argue that point, and many people don't even see it as a bad thing. As long as what they want taught in schools is being taught at least. Its only the people who disagree with what is going on, who argue about it. The problem is that, the state has effectively created a sort of monopoly in education, and the teachers lobby, and other lobbies, have too much to lose by losing their grip on the public education system. Theres just too much money in it.
I read before that Washington D.C. spends nearly $30,000 a year per student. The national average is something like $11,000 a year. And the Washington D.C. number wasn't based on what they released as their real spending per pupil. Because they didn't include pensions or other retirement benefits as part of spending per pupil. I don't think they included certain kinds of infrastructure, such as the school board itself, as costs either. They only included direct costs, such as teachers, electricity, school buses, etc. So that $11,000 a year is probably more like $20,000 a year. I mean, its unlikely they include the expanding police presence on school campuses either. Many schools have police they patrol regularly, but are most likely just paid by the city, not by the schools.
I mean, public school districts probably spend about $620 billion for education. And that doesn't even include college. Just K-12 public schools alone are over 4% of the entire economy. I wouldn't be surprised that if you added college onto regular school, that number would double. And keep in mind, college is heavily subsidized by the government(think out of state tuition).
While I can understand your irritation with people who don't understand what really goes on in public schools, and who comment as if they know. I do understand what goes on in public schools, and I can't really say that it is a good thing.
“The real hopeless victims of mental illness are to be found among those who appear to be most normal. Many of them are normal because they are so well adjusted to our mode of existence, because their human voice has been silenced so early in their lives that they do not even struggle or suffer or develop symptoms as the neurotic does. They are normal not in what may be called the absolute sense of the word; they are normal only in relation to a profoundly abnormal society. Their perfect adjustment to that abnormal society is a measure of their mental sickness. These millions of abnormally normal people, living without fuss in a society to which, if they were fully human beings, they ought not to be adjusted.†– Aldous Huxley –
I don't believe you. Flat out. I think that as a former public school teacher, you've been conditioned to reject homeschooling out of hand, and to ostracize anybody even thinking about taking on the role that you've been told is reserved just for super-special little ol' you.
Let's for a moment imagine that someone new who knew nothing about homeschooling landed on this thread and read through it. Based solely on the misspellings (shudder) and absence of rationality displayed by the folks in here who are defending homeschooling, well, let's just say he would not think homeschooling is anything he/she would want.
The most irrational person in this thread is not one of the pro-homeschooling posters, Sarita. By far, the most irrational person in this thread also happens to be one of the most prolific posters, is very, very against the practice, and is far and away more virulent and hateful about it than any pro-homeschooling person has been, by far.
Do you need me to tell you who that person is, Sarita?
Homeschooling is silly. Public schools teach one how to interact with people in the real world.
You should learn about it before accepting the stereotype as fact.
And I would challenge that stereotype, anyway. Besides school, where/when in life is one forced to sit in a room with 20-30 people exactly the same age for 7 hours per day, where it's against the rules to communicate with them except for a few minutes at a time every 50 minutes or during two short breaks? Most homeschooled kids receive much more "real life" interaction with people of all ages than their public schooled peers, because they're actually out in the real world with their parents, interacting with people of all age groups.
That said, every homeschool situation is different. There are a few that fit that classic stereotype of religious shut-ins, but they are becoming increasingly rare. Homeschooling is the evolution of education, and some people just can't accept that fact - particularly those whose livelihood depends on every possible head being counted in the classroom, every day.
Here in Nevada, we have one of the worst public school systems in the country. Because of that, many parents who would have never considered homeschooling are looking at it, and a lot are doing it. If the parents can't or don't want to create their own syllabus, they can enroll their kids in fully accredited public charter schools that are completely online. There are also some that are mostly online, but the kids have to attend the physical classroom once per week or so.
There are a lot of options for homeschoolers these days, and it's becoming a popular option and gaining mainstream acceptance. Don't let certain people that do nothing but incessantly screech about how evil it is without backing up their claims sway you. If you're genuinely curious, research the movement on your own. You just might be surprised - and impressed - with what you find.
The world isn't some organized place, with good intentions
Sounds like you're describing the public school system...
You're right - the world isn't that. The world is... the world, which is what homeschooled kids are seeing and experiencing while their public school peers are locked in a classroom with 30 kids exactly their age, which is also something you never see in the real world.
If people are going to "home school" their children then the school board should test them at least twice a year and, if they are not up to at least average in the core subjects, revoke the right to home school and enroll the kid in public school.
And are they going to do the same to the public schools? When the kids aren't able to pass any of the core subjects, can we take all of the public schooled kids out and start homeschooling? I'ts been proven over and over and over again that homeschoolers do MUCH MUCH better in ALL subjects than public schooled children. So I think that we should start eliminating those schools who do such a poor job. Here in NV, we'd have almost no public schools then, which would probably be a good thing!
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