[Cindy]

There are three realistic options for ensuring your children receive a good, well-rounded education. They are:

1. Homeschool
2. A good Private School
3. A combination of homeschooling/private school classes

That's it!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

I agree.

[thegreatbeast]

"Other scholars have studied Shaker Heights and other similar districts and found little difference in the tendency of the kids to make fun of friends who do well in school, except that lower-income kids tend to do it more. Since black students tend more often to come from lower-income families, they probably feel more of such peer pressure."
The other races don't consider academic achievment as being traitorous to their race. This is huge, in my estimation- that it is nerdy, uncool or 'white' to exert yourself in school. Could there be a more devious or more successful program to keep blacks back than to convince them that knowledge is worthless?

[dawn53]

Parents of teens fight a never-ending battle against the negative influences of their teens' peers

My 15 year old was homeschooled. We consider peer interaction important, so we "orchestrate" his peer exposure.

We invite teenagers over to our home a couple of times a month to "hang out" and play pool or board games.

We know the kids (mostly other homeschooled kids) and lots of times the parents stick around as well.

It's amazing to watch a group of teenagers having a good time, and not being bothered by the fact that their parents are in the living room.

In fact, we've often commented about the socialization issue, in that through the evening the kids will drift in and out of the "adult gathering", sitting for awhile to talk, and then go back to join the teenagers.

Major bump for homeschool, nothing we did, just the result of not being peer dependent, and being able to "socialize" with people of all ages.

Also most of the high school home schoolers we know use our dual enrollment program at the local college. Pass the College Placement Test and you can take college classes for free that count as High School and College credits.