Why do people have such a negative view on homeschooling?

Question

Now I'm probably just begging to get flamed and bashed by posting this, but here goes. The following is actually an answer I'd given before, but I just decided to put part of it here.

Right now I'm thirteen and I have been homeschooled all my life and I've had plenty of friends (over a hundred!) and yes, there are plenty of homeschoolers out there that may be lacking social activity and stay at home all day studying but I'm definitely not one of those. And btw, that whole thing about homeschoolers being unprepared for the "real world"? Total BS. We have better debating skills, and have the ability to figure out what to do, when we are in a situation where we know not what to do. ;] And for those who think that we're "more likely to become pregnant in the real world", do you honestly think we're THAT dim-witted and uninformed as to let ourselves be so vulnerable? I can't believe it.(Going to add more in the additional information section in a moment.)

And I also do believe that us homeschoolers are more likely to end up having even BETTER friends (it may be a fewer amount than the average public schooler, or maybe even more!) as we are able to differentiate the fakes from the REAL, life-long friends! Now of course keep in mind that I'm NOT defending the parents that only use "homeschooling" as a mask to hide the fact that they abuse/neglect their child(ren). I'm talking about the REAL homeschoolers, here. And just btw I'm certainly NOT saying everybody should be homeschooled, but here's the thing: public school is not for everybody either. And to those who believe that homeschoolers have absolutely no knowledge of pop culture or whatever? It's almost IMPOSSIBLE not to know any of that stuff nowadays! Most of us are very well-rounded and I am going to London/Paris/Scotland next week so, again, I must repeat, we don't stay trapped indoors 24/7!

So why are people so oblivious?

And just btw to the person who said that we may miss out on football games/dances/proms.. well, yes, some may. But not me. I did go to a few games and I did even play on a basketball team once ^^ (not school team, of course). And when the time for the prom comes around maybe a certain someone will take me to their school's dance. ;] And as for school dances/plays, well yeah, we'll miss out on the public school events, but that doesn't mean we can't have our own parties and maybe join a play. :> Of course I know you didn't mean it that way, but just clarifying. :D

Answer 1

Probably because of that lady in Texas that drowned her 5 kids.

Answer 2

Not sure why there is such a negative view on homeschooling. I wished I had of been homeschooled when I was a kid. There was the problem of 1 certain bully who picked on me from 1st through 8th grade. Then there was the "hormonal" period where all that was on my mind was boys and my friends. I could have cared less about school. I went from an A and B student to a C-D student. That was in Middle school. I had severe emotional problems. I think that if I had the opportunity to be homeschooled, then maybe these things wouldn't have happened. I am ok today at 28 y/o, but ya know, the scars are still there. I am planning on homeschooling my boys when the time comes for them to start public school. I do not want them going through the same things I did (& maybe even worse nowadays). I plan on letting them join whatever extracurricular activity that they become interested in to keep their socialization skills up. Plus we are very active in our church and they will have plenty of opportunities to socialize there with the other kids their age. Both my husband and I think that this is what will be best for our kids in the long run.

Answer 3

Honestly, and I am being totally, completely, 100% serious here, I've seen that many people have a negative view of homeschooling because they have negative impressions of homeschoolers. This includes what they perceive (sometimes accurately, sometimes not) to be a superiority complex held by homeschoolers.

I don't think homeschooling is a bad choice, but what I have experienced from the homeschooling community has been negative, more often than not. I used to teach homeschool kids in subjects that their parents opted for extra help in (like if mom or dad are a little rusty with physics, for instance), but my education was entirely in public schools. I got pretty tired of people being amazed that, given my background, I was able to read and write at an adult level, was as genreally nonviolent as any normal person, and knew how to handle algebra, much less apply it to things like physics (I usually didn't tell them I could do calculus). I'm serious. Most of these people thought that public schools were churning out illiterates who couldn't think for themselves (their words, not paraphrased).

I didn't have any real contact with homeschoolers until I was an adult; my parents didn't really have the means to homeschool me anyway. I imagine I might have been a little raw at people gushing over the benefits of a system I would or could not be a part of, and then telling me I that I was upset because I didn't know any better, or that I couldn't think outside of whatever box they thought I was in. That never happened when I was a kid, but I think I can understand it. As it is, I'm very grateful that this country has a public school system like it has.

Answer 4

I've been homeschooled twice (2nd and 7th-8th grade) and my second experience with being at home didn't turn out very well--I'm a little lazy and I didn't do much of anything, so I was sent back. But one of my best friends has been homeschooled all his life, and I've known a number of other homeschoolers, and I have to say that they are much nicer people and more interesting/well-rounded than most public school kids.

My mom has a very negative view on homeschooling now--she thinks kids are isolated and not ready for the 'real world' and I agree that's BS. Because they have more free time, they can have more experiences and meet more people!!! Also they can go at their own pace and explore things that are interesting to them. I think it's a MUCH more valuable way to get educated and who cares what other people think--they're misinformed.

Answer 5

Well, it sounds as though you are doing spectacular with your home schooling, and I'm very happy for you!

I do not, however, feel that the brunt of the children who are homeschooled do as well as you do.

First of all, I do not feel that a large number of the parents who homeschool are actually qualified to homeschool. Most of these parents do not have a degree in education, and often these parents don't even fully understand the material that they are trying teach. Plus, with the overall lack of parental control nowadays, I do not feel in most cases that these homeschooled children have a structured enough environment while being homeschooled. I've known many parents who have homeschooled, and allowed their children to sleep until 10:00, 11:00 a.m., or even 1:00 or 2:00 p.m. before waking the child to study. I see these same parents taking their children out shopping on school days. I've seen these kids text message and talk to friends for hours during supposedly school hours. It is too easy for a parent to give in to a child, even during homeschooling.

Most children (not all) need the routined structure that a school offers. They also need to develop their social skills that going to school and being with so many different kids and teachers help to develop. By going to school you see and get to know somewhat kids from all avenues of life, some poor, some rich, some middle class, some black, some Oriental, some white, some Mexican, etc.

Sometimes I have thought of homeschooling my own daughter, (she's 14 now), but after discussing it with her, both of us realized that even though she is not crazy about school, that school is the better place for her instead of being at home. She will learn more and grow from it. This is an education in itself, that homeschoolers usually cannot get by being homeschooled.

I think it is wonderful that your experience has been so great with your homeschooling! However, please do not bash others who feel that school is the best place for children. There are pros and cons for both. However, I personally feel that overall that children need to get up early every school day and go to school and learn to meet deadlines. I just think that for the most part the benefits of going to school outweigh the benefits of being homeschooled.

Again, every individual child and individual parent are different, and what is all comes down to is each individual unique situation. There is no right or wrong in these two circumstances. It must be based upon the situation.

Best of luck to you! I hope your homeschooling continues to go well!

Answer 6

I'm 17 and have been homeschooled my whole life too. I believe that most people have a negative view of homeschooling, because they haven't been exposed to the positives. Whenever homeschooling is in the media, it isn't in a positive light, like someone pointed out, when people think of homeschooling they bring images of psychos drowning kids in tubs...but that's not homeschooling. My mother's parents have always been against her homeschooling us ever since my older brother was little, but when he started taking courses at the community college PaPa said to my mom "well, I guess you did ok after all...". It took that long for them to actually see homeschooling in a postive light. My mom doesn't have a college degree to teach, but she has been to high school, she does know what she's teaching because she's been taught it before. And it's also like she re-learns things right along with us.

I have only met one other homeschooler who I felt didn't know how to socialize well, but I attribute that to the fact that she doesn't have any brothers and sisters, not because she's homeschooled.
True, I have never been public-schooled, but one of the only positives I can see in the public school system is that some people do need a strict schedule of the public school away from the distractions of the home.
One person said that they see kids shopping during school hours, one thing everyone needs to understand is that homeschoolers have different hours than the public school. I've known some people who finished their work for the day by 11 or 12 (when other kids were still in school). Another thing is that going to the store with your mother is a learning experience, teaching you the value of the dollar, learning how to write checks by watching her write them out, learning how much something costs by figuring out how much 30 percent off is,etc...
By homeschooling I know how to associate and get along with people of all ages, not just people my age or grade. I feel I am more prepared for the "real world" because I have been exposed to it, rather than just sitting in a classroom with 20 other kids my own age.

Answer 7

The reason that people have such a negative idea of home-schooling is because they don't really know what it is like, I myself have been home-schooled for the past three years and I believe that it is absolutely fine to be home-schooled. Although being home-schooled sometimes meaning missing out on some social things. I mean if you are planning to go to brick and mortar high school or even college it is true that you might have a little more trouble because you are used to the one-on-one contact from your teacher, and you are used to being able to work on your own schedule. Although I do believe that you are correct in that we, as home-schoolers, are not as vulnerable as everyone seems to think. In addition I think that it is crazy to think that most home-schoolers stay cooped up in the house all of the time, we do get out a lot, especially if you belong to a home-schooling group or co-op. Oh, and I think that home-schoolers have a better chance of succeeding in the future because we can not only learn from our own mistakes, but we are close enough to our parents to learn from their mistakes as well.

Answer 8

We were home schooled. The older ones had already been to public school so we could really feel the difference. I was home schooled from 6-9th grade. My parents decided to try it because of their religious beliefs. They felt that public school was not the place for us to learn what they wanted us to learn.

My youngest sister was home schooled up until she entered the 9th grade. She did not suffer from a lack of social skills, she did not suffer from a lack of education. I agree that while she may not have a gaggle of friends the ones she does have are real friends.

But I don't think that really has anything to do with being home schooled. I went to public school with the exception of those three years and I am the same way. I do not have a lot of friends but the ones I do have are real friends. I could trust them with my life.

I don't know about the abuse thing. I am sure it happens. I mean abuse can and does happen anywhere at anytime.

I think that if parent's feel that they can do a better job of teaching their children then go for it. I think what my parents did with my youngest sister was perfect. They taught her up until high school. She had this craving for learning when she was younger that I never had, ever. I know that my parents had to prove they were knowledgeable enough to teach us AND we had to take the same state tests that other kids had to take. The state watched our progress.

Answer 9

I've read all the other responses and some sound like they haven't experienced homeschooling or maybe have some misconceptions. One thing you want to check into is your state laws if you are homeschooling. In many states, like the one I live in, you are allowed by law to participate in all the extracurricular public school functions like bands and sports. For example, the current quarterbacks at FSU and University of Florida Dean Whetherford and Tim Tebow took advantage of that. They were both homeschoolers who played football with high school teams.

Also, I do happen to have an Education degree and I don't think it is essential to have one to be a homeschooling teacher. You can learn how to homeschool on the job, definitely, there are many useful books, this site is nice, and there are tons of Yahoo homeschool groups you can join that are helpful esp. when you are starting out. Usually there are local groups in your own town or community that you can join as well. Other homeschoolers are great about sharing info when you start out and I am really grateful to them.

Another person posted that they see homeschoolers out shopping on school days. Well, that makes sense and shows a productive use of time because if you are a homeschooler and shop on the weekend shopping can take 2 or 3 times longer when it is crowded with all the working people. That makes no sense. We can homeschool in the morning, afternoon, early evening, and weekends, summers, and do. Plus, we don't waste a lot of time on administrative tasks like they do in schools like taking class roll, changing classes, handing out books and collecting books, checking to see if books are in decent condition, standardized testing (homeschooled parents know what level of ability their kids are at & don't need to test their children to find out), etc...

Answer 10

Many home schoolers do lose out socially, not necessarily all. They don't get the opportunity to face some of the social issues that students who go to school face (peer pressure for example) and learn how to deal with it. When they do get out in the real world they don't know how to deal and that can leave them very vulnerable. There are many home schoolers that are kept under their parents watchful eye and have no opportunity to form a relationship or identity outside of their family which is very important just as forming an identity with your family. So yes there are plenty out there that when they do go away to college or are out on their own for the first time they do go wild and have no idea had to act socially. Not saying this is true of all home schoolers but for most people's experience that is what they see.

In most people's experience a lot of super religious zealots home school their children and do not let them have any freedom. When I was a kid there was a family across the street that home schooled their kids. We were allowed to go across the street and play with them but they couldn't even leave the front porch. Their front porch was the width of their house and had a whole bunch of toys on it and that is where they were allowed to play with other children but couldn't not leave the porch or house to come play with us. In some people's experience that is only who they see in terms of home schooling so that is why they have a negative view of it. Once again I know that is not how all home schoolers are.

Home schooling is great academically. You get that one on one teaching and attention and you really get a good grasp on material. If a student is not getting any socialization that can have a negative affect on their adult lives because lets be honest socializing and communicating with our peers is very important.

Also you tend to lose out on some memories your other friends are going to have. For example school dances, field trips, prom, football games. etc.

These are just generalizations that most people see. This does not mean every home schooler is that way but people only go on with what they are familiar with.

Answer 11

I think it's because people are so in a box, that any thing outside of that box to them is unorthodox. They think pulic school or private school is the only way to get an education. They are ignorant and don't have any right to judge especially when they haven't tried it or seen first hand the benefits from it. I wish they could hear my brother who teaches at a high school say how the school that he teaches at is almost unbearable for him and other teachers as well as the students, they can't really learn in peace because of the disruptions caused by the students that don't want to be there and fights and all kind of behavior problems...