Why We Home School: Reason #47,358
The other day, a friend of mine went for a "ride-along" with his buddy on the Livermore Police force. They ended up at one of the local high schools where the school administration called the police in to deal with the aftermath of a campus brawl. Turns out the fight was gang related; it seems "Red" and "Blue" gangs are established at the school ("Bloods" and "Crips," I guess). From what my friend tells me, the police officer did a great job of handling the situation and gave the ringleader a taste of where his life was headed, while giving him a choice to get himself squared away.
What's going on? Have we so coddled kids for fear of bruising their fragile "self-esteem" that we've spawned a generation that has never had to meet even a minimum standard of civil behavior? How such a rabble will end up as responsible citizens of the republic is hard to imagine.
Comments
It is, indeed, a prickly situation. We are looking at various high schools just to see what's out there..Victoria enters 7th grade next year. We have been blessed at City Tree...good Christian environment, small classes with attention to behavior and performance...but soon we will move on to the big show and we are afraid. We are fortunate that in San Diego there are lots of good Christian schools but in those schools are lots of kids who are not necessarily believers. We have heard horror stories from private and public schools alike. A friend who is somewhat of a right-wing crackpot (if I say so you know he's out there) advocates homeschooling or private religious schooling until high school and then letting them attend public school. His thinking on this is that it is better to have your kids deal with the real world (and all the bad ideas there) while you still have some control over them and can guide them through it. I must admit I thought he made some sense. Right now I am watching to see what kind of kid Victoria will become as she grows. If she is secure in her faith and self-image this approach might be OK. If she seems inclined to run with the crowd than I don't think that idea will work very well. Anyway, it sure is a lot harder that when I was a kid and you just went to the high school in your neighborhood.
Posted by: Betsy Cuthbertson | April 29, 2006 5:45 PM
Betsy,
We had some friends several years back who took that approach: they home schooled their sons until high school and then sent them to public school as a "shake-down cruise" before sending them off to college. I used to think that was the preferred approach, but now I'm not so sure.
It seems to me that high school is the time when a lot of the social pathologies of the public school system are at their worst: the cliquishness, the tyranny of popularity over merit, the drugs. By the time you get to college, you can safely avoid that stuff if you choose to do so. Popularity is no longer the sine qua non of life.
I'd be interested in hearing more input about the merits of home schooling versus public school for high schoolers.
Posted by: Don Roberts | April 29, 2006 11:03 PM