If you care about making everyone else happy and conforming to society’s expectations, you should not homeschool. Here are six reasons not to homeschool.
One
You will make people nervous about their decision to have their children attend public schools. Actually, what they’re nervous about is the fact that your decision to homeschool means that they have to acknowledge that they too have a decision regarding their children’s education.
And let’s face it, it’s so much easier to complain about something if you don’t have the ability to do anything about it. Most parents are content complaining about their children’s education, too much homework, not enough homework, teacher favorites, bullying, etc, and chalking it up to “that’s just the way things are” and hope things get better next year because that’s all they can do. When you homeschool, you will be undermining the self-esteem of many relatives and acquaintances. Don’t they have enough stress in their lives as it is?
Two
You will be a quitter since you will be rejecting the cultural myths surrounding education, particularly high school. Basically, this comes down to the socialization argument and by homeschooling you’re saying society’s cultural norms aren’t good enough for you. People who don’t fit in aren’t supposed to quit, they’re supposed to try harder to gain acceptance by the majority.
Don’t believe me? Think about how many movies and tv shows are about an outcast who is ultimately accepted by the group because he or she does something of value to the group? You will have left the game before it has ended and that’s not acceptable, no matter how bad, demeaning, dangerous, or useless the game becomes.
Three
You will be forcing your children to spend unnatural amounts of time with their siblings. Everybody knows that kids in school don’t want anyone to know that their siblings even exist, much less treat them as fellow human beings. But don’t worry too much about this one–total strangers will console your children about their inability to make friends with children their own age.
Four
You will be rejecting professional opinions of teachers, counselors, and administrators. If they tell you that the conflict between the teacher and your child is your child’s fault, who are you to disagree? If a professional tells you that your child’s learning disability means they can’t do grade level, much less, above grade level work, shouldn’t you defer to them? And just for future reference, when you prove them wrong, it’s just plain tacky to let them know about it.
Five
You will be threatening the jobs of thousands of employees in the education establishment whose purpose is to create and measure various standards necessary for education reform. As colleges increasingly accept homeschoolers without the stamp of approval of mastering public education standards, it calls into question the values of such standards to begin with. If people decide that standards aren’t going to save the school system, what will these people do for jobs?
Six
You will be undermining public education. Many states provide funding to schools based on attendance and if your kid isn’t there, they won’t get the associated public funds. Never mind the fact that they also don’t need those funds since they aren’t educating your child.
It’s like insurance, you need everyone paying even if they don’t need it so that the company can payout the claims for those who do. And so what if your car insurance lets you decide what car to buy and with health insurance, you are allowed to choose your own doctor. That doesn’t mean that parents are qualified to make similar decisions for their children regarding where they go to school or who teaches them.
