Many years have passed since parents in the United States won the right to home-school their children in all the fifty states. In August 2013, a report released by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) showed that approximately 1,770,000 students were homeschooled in the United States in 2012, up from 1.5 million reported in 2007. This number represents 3.4% of the whole school-age population (U.S Department of Education). However, are those 1,770,000 homeschoolers well socialized? Although critics of homeschooling believe that homeschoolers lack social skills, closer examinations have shown otherwise. Homeschoolers are well socialized because they are not affected by peer pressure or bullying, and because homeschoolers spend more time with different people in a variety of situations than regular students.
Homeschoolers are well socialized because they grow up without the social pressure that school life can bring. Everyday children are challenged academically and socially by their peers at school. Many of them are extremely harassed or bullied. The social phenomenon called bullying has been loudly sounding for years. Thousands of children have suffered from bullying at school and most of them have been traumatized by their peers. A bullied child could become a social misfit, a murderer, or he or she could end commit suicide. A recent study concluded that “bullies and bully/victims are generally at greatest of risk of being involved in violence, engaging in multiple types of substance use, and having academic problems” (Bradshaw).
Homeschoolers do not suffer from bullying at home, they learn in an environment of love by being surrounded by their parents and siblings. They are free to express themselves, they are fr...
... middle of paper ...
... the Role of Ethnicity and Urbanicity." Journal of Youth and Adolescence 42.2 (2013): 220+. Academic OneFile. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.
Ray, Brian D. Ph.D. "Home Schooling Growing Up." HSLDA.org. N.p., 20003. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.
"Homeschooling." Current Issues: Macmillan Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.
Minnesota Homeschoolers' Alliance. "Homeschooling Students Are Well Socialized." Homeschooling. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.
"School's Out Forever." The Wilson Quarterly 36.2 (2012): 64+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.
"Socialization, n." OED Online. September 2013. Oxford University Press. 2 December 2013.
U.S. Department of Education. “Homeschooling Continues to Grow!" States News Service: 3 (2013). Academic OneFile. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.
Homeschooling is probably one of the least known and least understood issues in education. Many people tend to think that most homeschoolers are religious conservatives or extremists. However, the truth is that people from all walks of life are joining the homeschooling bandwagon (Ray, 2004). The main misconception is that homeschooled children don’t get the same academic and social education as traditionally schooled children. Contrary to popular perception, homeschooled children have the same, if not better academic opportunities, social opportunities and college admissions prospects than traditionally schooled students have.
“Adults who were homeschooled often reference extreme social awkwardness as an obstacle they experienced upon entering college or the workforce.” (Whelan). Homeschooling may be a beneficial alternative to public and private schooling, but when the facts are shown and the first hand experiences are dealt with, it is understood that homeschooling has a negative impact. There are many different reasons as to why homeschooling a student can impact their skills in both an educational way and a personal way. Students should not be homeschooled because students who are typically miss out on obtaining skills that are needed in order to advance in the real world.
Homeschooling is becoming a huge trend across America. It does have its downsides to it, just like any other education. Many parents have to worry about the right way of letting their child have socialization. Without proper socialization, a child can lack proper social skills. Many parents fear the temptations public school can provide, so they homeschool their children to bring them up with holy and moral attitudes. No parent wants their child to hang around other children who abuse drugs, alcohol, or can misguide their children down a wrong path. With homeschooling, parents can monitor whom their children socialize with and for how long. Fearing to not have any socialization at all is where parents can go wrong.
Myths regarding the improper socialization of homeschoolers are as ever-present in modern society as they are false. Studies show that home-educated students are not only equal to publicly educated students when it comes to social skills, but are actually superior to their public schooled peers. While this may seem counter-intuitive, as public schooled students spend most days surrounded by dozens, or even hundreds, of other students, some suggest this is the very reason home-educated students hold the advantage in social fields. While public school students are segregated entirely based on grade, home school students interact with individuals of all ages, through partaking in various athletic activities with teams in their area, taking classes at co-op home-school centers, auditing classes at local colleges, and interacting with other social groups in their area. A study by the Seattle-based Discovery Institute in July of 2000, in which counselors were shown videotapes of homeschooled and public schooled children playing, supports the theory that homeschoolers possess superior social skills to public schoolers. Without knowing which children were from each category, the counselors noted that the homeschool students
Lyman(2006) writes about the definition, history, and current social importance of homeschooling in the United States. The author defines the education which is provided at home instead of school as homeschooling. She sates thatearlier homeschooling was confined mostly to the handicapped children who were not fit along with the regular students, who need extra care and the wealthier classes who wanted their children to be prepared for university studies. She continues to give an information that the number of families considering their children to have their schooling at home is increasing every year with the awareness of the positive traits of homeschooling followed bythe research work by the educational specialists, even while other education
Homeschooling offers students a more time efficient education that allows the student to focus on education in which is the sole purpose for school. Homeschooling also gives the teacher a thorough evaluation of a student’s strengths and weaknesses by visually seeing what subjects they excel in and what subjects they are weak in. At this point students can increase their individual progression in each subject. Homeschooling permits control of the environment a student learns in to retain the focus of the student. This will reduce the chances of drug usage, bullying, and violence. Samuel Blumenfeld said this on the importance of homeschooling “The home is a safe haven for the children in a world awash with drugs, sexually transmitted diseases, violence, and moral corruption” (Cindy Mur et al.76). When parents come to realize that the home is the safest place for their children, then will they act as Blumenfeld concludes “I look forward to the day when the public schools will be virtually empty not because we have abolished public education but because the parents will have abandoned it” (Cindy Mur et al.
Homeschooling is an unusual punishment inflicted upon many children in America. School is a place to be educated, make friends, find out who you are and learn life lessons. Homeschooling doesn't allow a child to independently develop. They are hidden from the real world. This causes many problems later in life.
“The home is the most violent place in the United States” (Garrett 19). Any one can become a bully. Some people who are being bullied may also become bullies some at some point in their life. Parents can ruin their children’s life many ways from not giving them enough attention, punishing them the wrong way, abusive environment, friends and teachers. If the society is suspecting children are being mistreated at home, then they should do home check ups. People need to gather together and try to stop bulling before it becomes worse than it already is.
An estimated 4 million children are currently home schooled with a 15-20% yearly growth rate. According to a California study by researcher Dr. Brian [D.] Ray, 92 percent of school superintendents believe that home learners are emotionally unstable, deprived of proper social development and too judgmental of the world around them. The latest claim against home schooling suggests that home schoolers are potential child abusers. Mr. Ron Barnard, a Holly High School teacher says that he would prefer public schooling for his children because of the peer socialization, extra curricular, and mandated curriculum. Public schooling is more efficient in educating our youth than traditional home schooling.
In today’s American society, quality education is important for one to succeed. Without proper education, a person will find it extremely difficult to apply for college, a job, or to pursue his or her dream. Typically when Americans think of education, public education is the first to come to mind. Public education has been around for centuries and is provided to most children throughout the United States. Due to this fact, public education has been the go to education source for years. Though, this trend is slowly changing with many parents deciding to home school their children instead. Many factors are the cause for this issue, but the common arguments arise from a certain few. For students, public school provides many opportunities ranging from social connections, school sports, and the exposure to teachers who are experts in their fields. But homeschooling is often superior because it offers additional time for students to participate in various extracurricular activities and community service, allows for more individual attention, personal character development, and it offers less exposure to discrimination that is received in the public school environment.
ABSTRACT: Home schooling is a controversial topic among educators. The issues that follow a child throughout their educational and social lives, are elevated when a child has been home schooled. There is no social environment for the child to learn to develop basic social skills; most home schooling environments are made up of a child, perhaps accompanied by a sibling, and the parent teaching the information given. There is no room for a developed personality that is constant with a child of equal age and grade in a normal schooling environment. Other problems include the quality of the teacher, lack of practice for standardized testing, bias grades, inconstant laws on home schooling from state to state, the overall education of a home schooled child, and the quality of the teacher. All these problems are explored, and discussed with in this essay.
Thesis Statement: Homeschooled students often achieve higher academic success and are more active in their communities than traditionally schooled students, due to a personalized approach to learning that emphasizes individuality.
Today, many parents are homeschooling their children. A U.S. Department of Education’s report shows that approximately 1.5 million children were being homeschooled in 2007 (Lips & Feinberg, 2008). This is almost 3 percent of all school age children (Lips & Feinberg, 2008). A private researcher, the National Home Education Research Institute, estimates 2.5 million children were being homeschooled in the 2007 – 2008 academic years (Lips & Feinberg, 2008). By either count, homeschooling is growing exponentially.
Homeschooling is a rising alternative in children’s education. As with any other major movement there have been doubts and debates as well as support and promotion for this educational approach. Homeschooling was once the norm in society before there was a public school system. But the parents involved in homeschooling feel very strongly about the positive outcomes that it has brought about in the lives and success of their children. It has once again surfaced and become popular but there are several people who question the possible negative effects this option creates.
As the population in public schools increase, the problems in these schools are also on the rise. These changes are leasing to the way parents are schooling their children. Many parents are leaning towards homeschooling as a solution to this problem. This increase in homeschooling can be directly related to an increase in school violence, the offering of a lack luster curriculum, and lack of student teacher interaction.