2006

I found this post on an old blog of mine from 2006 and wanted to post it here:

Today at church I was visiting with a neighbor of mine. She was talking about something and all of a sudden said, “It’s like homeschooling. I could never homeschool.” It was so out of context that I almost said, “And what does that have to do with homeschooling?” However, I said nothing at all. Then she started talking about this talent show at a junior highschool she had attended. She said that this large Black boy came onto the stage and played this beautiful piece on the piano. She remarked that she was moved to tears it was so good. When he was finished, she was dismayed to see kids laughing at him, and barely praising his talent (half-hearted clapping). She said that another girl stumbled across the stage, threw a phone book onto the piano bench, and played a ridiculous song. This girl was cheered and applauded. My neighbor was saying how it angered her that just because that girl was popular and cute, she was praised, even though her talent paled in comparison to the Black boy’s. I made a comment about how sad it was and that it was too bad. Then I said, “There are some not-so-great things about public school.” It was a comment I would have made whether my kids were in public school or not. In fact, when my kids were in public school, I made disparaging remarks about the public school system quite often. My neighbor instantly responded with, “Well! Those things are good for kids to experience. It’s necessary for when they are in the real world, so that they know how to deal with it. When you homeschool kids, and try to integrate them back into high school or into college, they need to know how the real world works.” I wanted to laugh, but instead I said, “From my experience, college is nothing like that.” She then said, “Well no, but high school is and kids need to know about the real world if they’re going to be in high school.” I replied, "If they go to high school.” I could tell I was speaking to someone with a homeschool prejudice. She stared at me and said, “Well, I just know a lot of homeschooled people, and I know that their kids have had to take high school courses in order to qualify.” I let that statement go, because I knew I would be wasting my time if I refuted it. Qualify for what exactly? College? You don’t have to have high school courses under your belt in order to qualify for college. (In fact, I know of a homeschooled family that had three of their kids get accepted into Harvard with nary a high school course). I also knew that I needed to stop discussing homeschool with her or I would get angry. I am really tired of everyone saying that my kids are lacking “real world” experience by being homeschooled. In the “real world” (which must mean after high school), if someone beats the crap out of you, you call the police. You don’t just take it, because it makes you a stronger person. The same goes for being made fun of or being harassed. As an adult in the “real world,” I know that I don’t have to take that kind of treatment. So why are our little children expected to deal with it? Why is it good for them to experience these types of things? Why do people think it's essential for children to experience such harshness? I really get tired of people acting like my children are so deprived because we homeschool them. They are not lacking in social unfairness (or rather, "real world" experience), believe you me. Even our homeschooling cannot keep them from being made fun of or excluded in church settings, or by neighborhood children. They get plenty "real world" experience, thank you very much.