May 12, 2005
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I blogged about the terrible consequences
of bullying April 24, 2005 and said that’s one more
reason to homeschool. A comment by Chris asked, “...isn't opting to homeschool
to avoid bullies a form of escapism which the child will have to face sooner or
later in this rugged world? My disappointment with the government education
system cannot be overstressed but is homeschool really the answer?”I don’t think parents choose to homeschool
merely to escape violence and bullying alone (although deadly shootings in Columbine
and more recently in Santana
have made homeschool extremely attractive). We’re in it for the
whole idea of life-long learning, building character, deepening family relationships, and equipping our
children to
be productive and useful adults, serving God and neighbour. A
one-on-one situation
in the home surely does a better job here than schools can ever hope to
do. One happy consequence is the child is neither bully or bullied when
homeschooling does its job."To think that schools are no longer safe places for children and young people is really a frightening reality."
Bishop Mary Anne Swenson
David Guterson in his book Family Matters
has some wise words for folks who think the rough and tumble of conventional
schools better equip our kids for the ‘real’ world:
"Proponents of the school-of-hard-knocks
approach will reply that this process of reluctant adaptation is a fine and
necessary part of education and teaches young people about adult life...The sad
part is that in the process schools have also been exceedingly good at snuffing
out the desire of many young people to understand their world. Schools have
taught them to associate learning with this painful misunderstanding and with a
frustrated boredom that ought to be the exception in their educational
experience, not the rule. To acclimate students to misery under the rubric that
so doing prepares them for life is a cynical notion – and a horrifying one...
...I am often told that at school we learn to
get along with everybody or that at school we learn how to function among
strangers, but those who would make much of schools as the breeding ground of
social understanding should think again about the adult world that schools have
helped create. Shall we give schools credit for holding the line while the
fabric of society unravels around us, or shall we name schools as a
contributor?"My previous review of this most excellent book is found here.
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