Posted on 09/19/2014 7:54:07 AM PDT by Ebenezer
About a year ago, when I first started considering taking my kids out of public school, I wasn’t met with the kind of incredulous questioning that I expected after suggesting something so reckless and foolhardy. For the most part people were excited and supportive and helpful. Many thought we were already homeschooling, in fact. What surprised me most though is that folks who were concerned about the prudence of such a decision weren’t worried that my children might not learn enough or the the right things. They didn’t wonder how my kids would know how to be quiet when they were supposed to or to wait in lines when they have to.
No, the biggest concern among the concerned was: SOCIALIZATION. Ahhhh! Socialize those kids! Learnin’, schmlearning- those kids need to be among herds of other kids their exact age in order to learn how to be normal. In other words: homeschooled kids are annoying and weird, and you don’t want your kids to be annoying and weird, do you?
Annoying and weird.
Well, if someone tries to tell you that their kids are never annoying, they’re lying to you. And if someone else tries to tell you that any child of mine isn’t going to be at least a little weird no matter how they’re educated, they’ve lost their minds.
But I digress.
Why is this perception of the weirdo homeschooler so pervasive? Why is it that despite the clear academic achievement of most homeschooled students, the fear of them “acting like that one weirdo guy I knew when I was a kid” is enough to turn otherwise supportive folks against the idea? I’ve thought about it a lot and the best explanation I can come up with is this: ridicule.
See, everyone is born with a certain temperament. Parents of more than one will all attest to this. Same parents, same environment, same rules….completely different reactions from their children. And some kids- well, some kids are annoying. And what do I mean by “annoying”? I mean what people mean when they say that homeschooled kids are annoying. I mean kids who ask too many questions and know too much information and like certain stuff and refuse to like other things and don’t care what other people think about their silly hobbies and their know-it-all-ness.
When “annoying” kids like this go to a traditional school, they’re ridiculed. They have a hard, or even impossible, time finding their niche. They must either hide their true personality and inclinations in order to be accepted or they’re pushed to the fringes and made to feel abnormal. Not good enough. Made to feel less likable than those who keep their ideas and opinions to themselves or fail to form any to begin with. Made to feel that convictions and fascinations are stupid and that pop culture is the only culture. Not because “normal” kids are mean. They mostly don’t even know they’re doing it, I assure you. They just don’t know what to do with someone who’s so, like, weird. Ya know?
I know. I was one of those weird kids.
My eldest daughter knows. She is one of those weird kids.
But when one of those “annoying” kids is homeschooled, no one makes fun of their outfits that don’t match. Or the fact that they like to memorize things and wish the math assignments were harder. No one looks at them askance when they know every answer to every question and are eager to share their knowledge. When an annoying kid like that finds a new hobby and wants to learn everything they can about it and talk about it incessantly, no one treats them like there’s something wrong with pursuing an interest like that, no matter how dull it may seem to the other members of the homeschool classroom. They are not ridiculed into trying to be who God didn’t create them to be.
“Oh but dweej…that’s real life! You can’t just go around being annoying all the time. Better they learn now than later!”
Better they learn what? That the crowd knows best? That their interests are boring and a waste of time? That they need to wear a certain thing and buy a certain thing in order to be worth people’s time? Better they learn now not to stand up for themselves?
Because that’s the thing. By the time annoying people like that are older, they’re older. They’ve advanced beyond certain stages of childhood and are better able to confidently stand up for what they believe in. The idea of being ostracized by a group of people that they don’t really like anyway no longer sends them into a panic. If they spend their whole childhood trying to be something they’re not or believing that what they are is weird and weird is bad, they’ll enter adulthood with those same perceptions, that same lack of self-confidence.
If, on the other hand, they’re able to cultivate their interests, learn to be comfortable in their own quirky skin, encouraged to achieve as much as their little over-achieving hearts desire, they’ll enter adulthood with the confidence to continue on that path. They won’t automatically wonder if people will disagree or make fun of them when they make assertions or cling to ideals. And if those people do disagree or make fun of them they won’t care. Because they’re not kids anymore. They’re all grown up!
Of course, not every homeschooled kid is like that. Not even every one of the kids who lives in this house is like that. But no one asks the “normal” kids and adults if they were homeschooled. It doesn’t cross their minds. Because they’re so, you know, normal.
But the homeschooled kids who are like that, who are “annoying” are so different, so confident, so willing to allow themselves to be something that the majority of society has labeled as weird, that people can’t help but paint all homeschooled families with the weirdo brush. Because shouldn’t kids like that want to keep their mouths shut and keep their opinions to themselves?
And that’s why homeschooled kids are so annoying. Because no one tells them that the way God made them isn’t cool enough.
“Gooble Gobble, one of us, one of us.”
The herd mentality.
Because they are not over-sexualized and actually learn real history?
Public schools are doomed.
Really, look at the cr*p coming out of them...and the uber cr*p teaching them.
Face it, folks, “eddikashun” is not a viable academic major any more.
When did well-educated, well-dressed and well-mannered become annoying?
Public schools are a 19th century paradigm that outlived its usefulness in the late 20th century. And places like MIT.com and Khanacademy.org have sealed the deal.
Public schools actually do more harm than good. Period.
The annoying ones are those who have become arrogant out of their belief that home schooling is superior to public school. Whether they are correct or not, the attitude needs to be flushed down the toilet.
I see kids home schooled in the same household have different attitudes, just like every household, but the home schooled kids have that added tendency kink in their makeup.
All in all, I’m a fan of home schooling. The home teachers, usually mothers, could use some non-government coaching by self organization to help in the matter of this arrogance, among the other problems that come along with home schooling; later dealing with bullies and other diverse personalities, dating, friends, groups, etc.
My only problem is how so many homeschooling freepers become so Phariseecal (sp) concerning the decision of other parents not to homeschool.
They also say "Please", "Thank you", ", "Excuse me"......and the best: "BLESS YOU!"
We almost saw a liberal head explode when the 2 year old said that in a park.
Oh, zot ... you really want to know? Do you have an entire afternoon and a box of pink wine?
I’ve heard some homeschoolers have found they can simulate the socialization in the public schools by jumping the kids in the bathroom, beating them up and stealing their money every couple weeks.
The matter of socialization is vitally important. A child studying with his or her parents is being socialized with adults. A child in a massive school with thousands of children their own age is being socialized in a completely false environment.
The root cause of children rejecting parental authority is the public school environment in which the cult of youth holds greater importance than a healthy relationship with one’s family.
The public school system is antithetic to family nurturing. It is its very enemy, insisting that the school pass judgement on family values and teachings.
Public schools do not teach intellectual pursuits. They inculcate children into socialist doctrine.
Interesting (if not ironic) observation. Liberals claim to be the paragons of culture and learning, and yet they don’t get it when facing a simple act of politeness.
That whole having manners and respecting the dignity of life..and studying hard.....libs don’t know what to do with that....so they are criticized
I beg to differ. Most of the people graduating from them are doomed. The publik skools will continue on unabated because they make a fine baby-sitting service and it is easier to send your kids there than take the responsibility and effort to educate them yourself. Besides, they're "free".
Look for more of the same. Much more.
When I home schooled, that was the gist of my response to the “socialization concern” trollers.
Well then I guess that explains it. I was home schooled.
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