Do you think homeschooling parents are liars and nasty, stuck-up people?

Question

After being floored by this comment made by douglas z in another question, I can't help but laugh now:

" I suspect... RELATIVELY no social life with others their age.

H/S parents claim the opposite. "

I mean, really. Are we homeschooling parents really seen as conniving, devious, sinister people who are trying to make things seem better than they are? Do we hate our children so much that we would lie to the world about what they are doing and purposefully ruin their lives?

"Perhaps you can tell us. I put the question on here two weeks ago, and I got a lot of defensive, nasty, stuck-up people who home school their kids telling how stupid I was."

Haha, that is too funny given the comments douglas z makes about homeschooling every chance he gets. Besides, I just checked out the question he mentioned. Most of the answers were completely honest and non-judgmental towards him.

So are most homeschooling parents liars and stuck-up? Or are they seen that way in general by people who don't agree with homeschooling? I seem to see a lot of homeschooling parents saying that it's a choice and a lot of people saying that it depends on the family and the kids. Is it selective 'reading' going on? They unconsciously ignore the very good comments because they are so convinced they are right and have to put other choices down (which would be stuck up, wouldn't it?)

Sorry about the lack of editing.

Douglas z said all the things within the quotes. The rest is what I wrote.

The essential question is: are homeschooling parents seen as liars and nasty stuck-up people by those who don't homeschool?

Answer 1

I am a homeschool mom and I get a wide variety of reactions from people. I have had a few people give me a hard time, tell me that I was depriving my kids and accuse me of all manner of evil towards my children. Most of these people, when I really talk to them, I find they have little knowledge and understanding about homeschooling and have formed a biased opinion on a lack of information. I have however run across the occasional few that have started with this attitude and distrust of me and my motives, but once they got to know me and my children wound up having a completely different opinion and ended up being some of my biggest supporters. I think that people's negative opinions come from a lack of information. I find that not resorting to name calling and letting the facts speak for themselves is the best response. I don't judge anyone that does not homeschool- it is not for everyone , but I really think that those that don't agree with homeschooling or don't know much about it should research the facts and not be so quick to make accusatory judgements about those that do.

Answer 2

No. I would have to say that most people that do not homeschool their children probably view homeschooling the same way most homeschoolers view public education: it is a choice and we are blessed to live in a country where we have choices.
BUT, then you have people like Douglas Z that are blatant in their agenda against homeschoolers. Where does it come from?
Who knows. I would say the people that continually bash HS families (and in all fairness it is not just him) probably have issues that really have nothing to do with homeschooling at all. Most of the bashers do not know the first thing about HS and continually spout false information as if it were gospel.
Maybe, as I've said before it is a fear of change. Maybe it's a "mad at the world" mentality. Maybe they've believed the bad press and urban legends surrounding HS. Maybe they are miserable and they want others to be miserable too. Unfortunately sometimes it seems as if they believe their bashing us will make us change, like we're misinformed, or we don't realize what the world is really like, or we didn't think it through, or whatever else.
All I know is it gets really tough to keep your cool.
I have been known to blow my stack a time or two. I always regret it, but, well, hmmmm, time to take a break again!
thanks for the question.

Answer 3

For the most part I find homeschooling parents VERY active in the lives of their children. Very nurturing, caring, active and attentive. Stuck up??? ummm NO. If the child has a learning block, who's more apt to know about it, a teacher who has a multitude of children to care for, or a parent who knows the child better than anyone else? a parent who's got a vested interest in the success or failure of the child? hmmm? how does that make them sinister or devious?

for what it's worth, I have a four year old that I have been very interactive with since his birth. I've considered homeschooling with my greatest fear being me failing him. As a single parent I can be a bit spread thin at times. Presently he attends preschool two days a week and we continue to learn together at home, in a sense "supplementing" what he's already being taught.

I'm still considering it.

Answer 4

okay, I don't know who is saying what in the above statement. but to answer the question that I think is being asked...I see nothing wrong with parents who choose to homeschool.

At times, I think that I might want to homeschool my kids because of the lack of attention given to students in public schools. I don't blame the teachers, I blame the government and the amount of students that they allow in the classrooms these days (making it very impossibel for the teacher to pay enough attention to every student).

I don't see parents who home-school their kids as bad people at ALL. I see them as people who want something MORE for their kids. that's all I would want

Answer 5

Homeschoolers are concerned people.
Whatever they are concerned about is their problem, but they are concerned all the same.
They also tend to be confident people.
So I think concerned and confident people should not be put in prison, like they are inGermany.
In Germany you Have To register your child in a government approved school.
I think, given the history of this aggressive country, the regulation is very dubious.
The German Government has an unhappy history.

Answer 6

Well, that certainly is a different approach to home schooling. My opinion is that the people who home school their children are just as varied as the people who send their children to public school, or those who send their children to private schools. Whether that makes any of them devious, liars or stuck up is impossible to say. To the best of my knowledge, there have been no studies on the attitudes of parents of public schooled students toward the parents of home schooled children.
Nor should there be. This question is a total waste of time.

Answer 7

My wife homeschools my children but your question is so long that I do not know where to begin.
I think most homeschool parents are just proud of what they do. There are pros and cons with homeschooling as there are with public or private schooling.

Answer 8

I don't think home schoolers are stuck up or liars at all. I don't agree with homeschooling myself as I don't think it prepares children for the real world. I totally understand the desire to shelter children, I too find the stuff that goes on at school some times very difficult for my daughter to deal with. But ultimately that is how children learn to deal. When people say homeschooling is how their children get a better education I don't buy it. If you wanted to instill more knowledge into your children, you do it on a daily basis, at the dinner table, on vacations, showing them the world, going for walks looking at nature. Just my opinion of course.

Answer 9

No and I have no problem with parents homeschooling their kids, either. More power to them.

Answer 10

no, they want to be closer to children i think. and they have a lot of time on their hands.