Thoughts on Homeschooling?

[Wake]

I'm looking to talk about this here before I take the discussion to FB with family, friends, and coworkers.

The more I think about homeschooling, the more it angers me.

Having actually been homeschooled, I know and understand it more than anyone against it who hasn't been homeschooled. The real problem isn't a matter of academic quality—my grades were superior to those students my age in the local public school.

No, the real problem is the lack of socialization public schooling gives you. I don't care if it means you get beaten up, or try weed, or have underage sex, or other things like that in public school—you need to be immersed among hundreds of other kids your age when you're young. That socialization is so damned important!

I do very well on the academic front, but homeschooling—especially when it's of a religious nature—can lead to isolation and introversion! Only as a young man in my later twenties, being immersed in a highly social and competitive field working in a hospital, do I now feel more and more social, and crave that constant human interaction and fear less the thought of sharing parts of my soul openly with others.

What I am right now is angry. Feeling it right now. I didn't get much of a choice being homeschooled. Being young, having ADHD, I got savagely bullied and beat. The limp-wristed school officials who were too scared to do anything about those fuckers did nothing! Didn't matter that they took wet, rolled up towels and used them to whip gashes into my skin for fun—this was when I was a kid in swim class. So my social well-being was sacrificed so I could be safe—because those school officials did NOTHING—and I did get better grades which became very useful when college came around.

Still, I am an introvert because of homeschooling. Being an introvert in and of itself is not bad—I know a lot of fairly fucking stupid extroverts. It's just that being around a lot of people your age when you're young is really important. They just need to get their act together to clean up the scum in the public school system.

I don't know what should be done about homeschooling. Those kids NEED to be socializing a lot. It's incredibly important. More than a few religious folk homeschool their kids, and some of those folk don't think too much about the vital need to socialize.

I want to know if there's anyone else here who came from a similar background to mine. I want you to tell me—from the bottom of you heart—how wrong or right you believe I am. I won't bite—I'll respect your opinion. Just, please, level with me here to help me understand this better and try to get over my emotions on this.

 

[TNHarley]

My wife was home schooled. As her parents were jehovahs witnesses. She hated it and wouldn't wish it on anybody.
But I wouldn't want to ban it. People should have choice.

 

[bodecea]

Homeschooling should always be a viable option for people. What some (including those in government) seem to forget is that public education was established for those who could not afford tutors or private schools, particularly the children of the factory workers of the NE during the Industrial Revolution.

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

We should ban public schooling.. that seems to be the biggest failure.

 

[TNHarley]

We should ban public schooling.. that seems to be the biggest failure.

Meh. They have standards just like everything else. They even do field trips and dances and such.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

I'm looking to talk about this here before I take the discussion to FB with family, friends, and coworkers.

The more I think about homeschooling, the more it angers me.

Having actually been homeschooled, I know and understand it more than anyone against it who hasn't been homeschooled. The real problem isn't a matter of academic quality—my grades were superior to those students my age in the local public school.

No, the real problem is the lack of socialization public schooling gives you. I don't care if it means you get beaten up, or try weed, or have underage sex, or other things like that in public school—you need to be immersed among hundreds of other kids your age when you're young. That socialization is so damned important!

I do very well on the academic front, but homeschooling—especially when it's of a religious nature—can lead to isolation and introversion! Only as a young man in my later twenties, being immersed in a highly social and competitive field working in a hospital, do I now feel more and more social, and crave that constant human interaction and fear less the thought of sharing parts of my soul openly with others.

What I am right now is angry. Feeling it right now. I didn't get much of a choice being homeschooled. Being young, having ADHD, I got savagely bullied and beat. The limp-wristed school officials who were too scared to do anything about those fuckers did nothing! Didn't matter that they took wet, rolled up towels and used them to whip gashes into my skin for fun—this was when I was a kid in swim class. So my social well-being was sacrificed so I could be safe—because those school officials did NOTHING—and I did get better grades which became very useful when college came around.

Still, I am an introvert because of homeschooling. Being an introvert in and of itself is not bad—I know a lot of fairly fucking stupid extroverts. It's just that being around a lot of people your age when you're young is really important. They just need to get their act together to clean up the scum in the public school system.

I don't know what should be done about homeschooling. Those kids NEED to be socializing a lot. It's incredibly important. More than a few religious folk homeschool their kids, and some of those folk don/t think too much about the vital need to socialize.

I want to know if there's anyone else here who came from a similar background to mine. I want you to tell me—from the bottom of you heart—how wrong or right you believe I am. I won't bite—I'll respect your opinion. Just, please, level with me here to help me understand this better and try to get over my emotions on this.

Jesus wasn't home-schooled, well, not until he started murdering his teachers anyway.

"14. And Joseph, seeing that the child was vigorous in mind and body, again resolved that He should not remain ignorant of the letters, and took Him away, and handed Him over to another teacher. And the teacher said to Joseph: I shall first teach him the Greek letters, and then the Hebrew. For the teacher was aware of the trial that had been made of the child, and was afraid of Him. Nevertheless he wrote out the alphabet, and gave Him all his attention for a long time, and He made him no answer. And Jesus said to him: If thou art really a teacher, and art well acquainted with the letters, tell me the power of the Alpha, and I will tell thee the power of the Beta. And the teacher was enraged at this, and struck Him on the head. And the child, being in pain, cursed him; and immediately he swooned away, and fell to the ground on his face. And the child returned to Joseph's house; and Joseph was grieved, and gave orders to His mother, saying: Do not let him go outside of the door, because those that make him angry die."
Infancy Gospel of Thomas, First Greek Form (Roberts-Donaldson translation)

 

[Dan Daly]

I'm looking to talk about this here before I take the discussion to FB with family, friends, and coworkers.

The more I think about homeschooling, the more it angers me.

Having actually been homeschooled, I know and understand it more than anyone against it who hasn't been homeschooled. The real problem isn't a matter of academic quality—my grades were superior to those students my age in the local public school.

No, the real problem is the lack of socialization public schooling gives you. I don't care if it means you get beaten up, or try weed, or have underage sex, or other things like that in public school—you need to be immersed among hundreds of other kids your age when you're young. That socialization is so damned important!

I do very well on the academic front, but homeschooling—especially when it's of a religious nature—can lead to isolation and introversion! Only as a young man in my later twenties, being immersed in a highly social and competitive field working in a hospital, do I now feel more and more social, and crave that constant human interaction and fear less the thought of sharing parts of my soul openly with others.

What I am right now is angry. Feeling it right now. I didn't get much of a choice being homeschooled. Being young, having ADHD, I got savagely bullied and beat. The limp-wristed school officials who were too scared to do anything about those fuckers did nothing! Didn't matter that they took wet, rolled up towels and used them to whip gashes into my skin for fun—this was when I was a kid in swim class. So my social well-being was sacrificed so I could be safe—because those school officials did NOTHING—and I did get better grades which became very useful when college came around.

Still, I am an introvert because of homeschooling. Being an introvert in and of itself is not bad—I know a lot of fairly fucking stupid extroverts. It's just that being around a lot of people your age when you're young is really important. They just need to get their act together to clean up the scum in the public school system.

I don't know what should be done about homeschooling. Those kids NEED to be socializing a lot. It's incredibly important. More than a few religious folk homeschool their kids, and some of those folk don/t think too much about the vital need to socialize.

I want to know if there's anyone else here who came from a similar background to mine. I want you to tell me—from the bottom of you heart—how wrong or right you believe I am. I won't bite—I'll respect your opinion. Just, please, level with me here to help me understand this better and try to get over my emotions on this.

Just because you are anti-social doesn't mean that the rest of the homeschooled population shares your handicap. Did your parents keep you locked up in the house after school hours and prevent you from socializing with the other kids in your neighborhood and community?

My kids were home-schooled and I darned sure had more kids that were not mine hanging around my house than my parents did when I was attending public/private schools.

One area that did tick me off though and where you have a valid gripe is when it comes to organized extra-curricular school activities like sports, drama, clubs, etc. Why is it that in a public school, paid for by my property taxes, my kids could not participate in those activities? Sounds like it's the public schools that make socialization harder, not the parents who opt for home schooling.

 

[Vandalshandle]

Home schooling is a great idea if you don't want your children to be more educated than you are. That being said, people should have the right to make that decision, no matter how much I disagree with it.

 

[Book of Jeremiah]

I believe homeschooling works best in a group. By group I mean the parents take turns with field trips, teaching certain subjects where more than one child is present. My son was part of a home school group of eight and his main teacher told me this was how the Kings were taught. They were tutored! I had a separate tutor for math. He was the world champion of a mathematical game and was an excellent teacher. My son graduated from high school 2 years early (he took the tests early). Homeschoolers do tend to outperform public and private schooled children consistently.

The field trips should be emphasized because this is where the children have the opportunity to socialize more.

 

[Wake]

My wife was home schooled. As her parents were jehovahs witnesses. She hated it and wouldn't wish it on anybody.
But I wouldn't want to ban it. People should have choice.

The J-Hos are some of the worst, as in stubborn and ignorant. I don't know your wife but I instantly feel for her already.

People should have choice... I just need to vent. I feel if enough people share this downside to homeschooling maybe something might come of it.

Homeschooling should always be a viable option for people. What some (including those in government) seem to forget is that public education was established for those who could not afford tutors or private schools, particularly the children of the factory workers of the NE during the Industrial Revolution.

If this is accurate, then that is interesting, because I never knew that.

We should ban public schooling.. that seems to be the biggest failure.

Eh. Public schooling just have more overt downsides than home schooling. I don't like it when some in my circle say that homeschooling is automatically better... when I softly remind them that they weren't homeschooled, and that no it is not automatically better. If there could be a mix of both home and public—like private school—that'd be nice... but most private schools are either religious or absurdly expensive, which is a sad thing in my book.

We should ban public schooling.. that seems to be the biggest failure.

Meh. They have standards just like everything else. They even do field trips and dances and such.

That's just part of the presumably wholesome fun that a lot of homeschooled children miss out on.

If I ever homeschool my children, they have to be going out into the community and doing things and volunteering constantly.

Circulation.

 

[Wake]

Home schooling is a great idea if you don't want your children to be more educated than you are.

And this is ignorant.

Don't be like those people who make obnoxious and patently false statements about this group or that.

It just does not fly here. So you stop that now.

 

[Vandalshandle]

Home schooling is a great idea if you don't want your children to be more educated than you are.

And this is ignorant.

Don't be like those people who make obnoxious and patently false statements about this group or that.

It just does not fly here. So you stop that now.

No, I will stop it at 11 PM AZ time tonight (with your permission, of course)

 

[thereisnospoon]

I'm looking to talk about this here before I take the discussion to FB with family, friends, and coworkers.

The more I think about homeschooling, the more it angers me.

Having actually been homeschooled, I know and understand it more than anyone against it who hasn't been homeschooled. The real problem isn't a matter of academic quality—my grades were superior to those students my age in the local public school.

No, the real problem is the lack of socialization public schooling gives you. I don't care if it means you get beaten up, or try weed, or have underage sex, or other things like that in public school—you need to be immersed among hundreds of other kids your age when you're young. That socialization is so damned important!

I do very well on the academic front, but homeschooling—especially when it's of a religious nature—can lead to isolation and introversion! Only as a young man in my later twenties, being immersed in a highly social and competitive field working in a hospital, do I now feel more and more social, and crave that constant human interaction and fear less the thought of sharing parts of my soul openly with others.

What I am right now is angry. Feeling it right now. I didn't get much of a choice being homeschooled. Being young, having ADHD, I got savagely bullied and beat. The limp-wristed school officials who were too scared to do anything about those fuckers did nothing! Didn't matter that they took wet, rolled up towels and used them to whip gashes into my skin for fun—this was when I was a kid in swim class. So my social well-being was sacrificed so I could be safe—because those school officials did NOTHING—and I did get better grades which became very useful when college came around.

Still, I am an introvert because of homeschooling. Being an introvert in and of itself is not bad—I know a lot of fairly fucking stupid extroverts. It's just that being around a lot of people your age when you're young is really important. They just need to get their act together to clean up the scum in the public school system.

I don't know what should be done about homeschooling. Those kids NEED to be socializing a lot. It's incredibly important. More than a few religious folk homeschool their kids, and some of those folk don't think too much about the vital need to socialize.

I want to know if there's anyone else here who came from a similar background to mine. I want you to tell me—from the bottom of you heart—how wrong or right you believe I am. I won't bite—I'll respect your opinion. Just, please, level with me here to help me understand this better and try to get over my emotions on this.

Your focus appears to be on "social" aspects..
Now, the entire premise of your post is based on a perception that home schooled kids "don't get out much"...
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Save for a few utlra fanatic religious freaks, home schooled kids don't do any less social activities than any other kid....
They play organized sports or or other participation activities. They have neighbor friends.
Home schooled kids are main stream now.
This obsession with the idea that unless a kid is forced togo to some big building crammed full to over capacity with a whole bunch of other kids, where teachers, mostly with their own ideas on how to raise someone else's kid, mind you, have complete control over your kid for 7 hours per day.
Kids have enough problems dealing with education and all the aspects of growing up. They don;t need the added nonsense of dealing with Joe the neighborhood tough guy. The mean girls club. If in a "diverse" school, the stupid racial bullshit. The pot heads/party kids. Elitists/rich kids looking down on everyone.
Who needs this shit?.....
If I could have home schooled my kid, I would have.
Illegal? maybe 4 decades ago. But that genie is already out of the bottle.
Quite frankly, many people, including those who send their kids to private and charter schools are sick and tired of the captive market of government schools.

 

[Wake]

I'm looking to talk about this here before I take the discussion to FB with family, friends, and coworkers.

The more I think about homeschooling, the more it angers me.

Having actually been homeschooled, I know and understand it more than anyone against it who hasn't been homeschooled. The real problem isn't a matter of academic quality—my grades were superior to those students my age in the local public school.

No, the real problem is the lack of socialization public schooling gives you. I don't care if it means you get beaten up, or try weed, or have underage sex, or other things like that in public school—you need to be immersed among hundreds of other kids your age when you're young. That socialization is so damned important!

I do very well on the academic front, but homeschooling—especially when it's of a religious nature—can lead to isolation and introversion! Only as a young man in my later twenties, being immersed in a highly social and competitive field working in a hospital, do I now feel more and more social, and crave that constant human interaction and fear less the thought of sharing parts of my soul openly with others.

What I am right now is angry. Feeling it right now. I didn't get much of a choice being homeschooled. Being young, having ADHD, I got savagely bullied and beat. The limp-wristed school officials who were too scared to do anything about those fuckers did nothing! Didn't matter that they took wet, rolled up towels and used them to whip gashes into my skin for fun—this was when I was a kid in swim class. So my social well-being was sacrificed so I could be safe—because those school officials did NOTHING—and I did get better grades which became very useful when college came around.

Still, I am an introvert because of homeschooling. Being an introvert in and of itself is not bad—I know a lot of fairly fucking stupid extroverts. It's just that being around a lot of people your age when you're young is really important. They just need to get their act together to clean up the scum in the public school system.

I don't know what should be done about homeschooling. Those kids NEED to be socializing a lot. It's incredibly important. More than a few religious folk homeschool their kids, and some of those folk don/t think too much about the vital need to socialize.

I want to know if there's anyone else here who came from a similar background to mine. I want you to tell me—from the bottom of you heart—how wrong or right you believe I am. I won't bite—I'll respect your opinion. Just, please, level with me here to help me understand this better and try to get over my emotions on this.

Just because you are anti-social

I'm cutting you off right here because you just made the mistake of thinking introversion is synonymous with being anti-Social, which is completely false and a bit offensive. I don't think you meant to imply that, but if you did I would gently remind you that the two terms are absolutely not the same, and that the use of words does matter especially when they have different meanings. You do not know me, nor are you aware of how many patients and family members I care for and coworkers in the hospital wings I interact with on a constant basis. Likewise you don't know the level of social interaction required to be working in an extremely intense hospital wing for patients with traumatic brain injuries. I just had to sit down and comfort three sobbing family members of a young man who's dying because his brain injury is taking a turn for the worst. Do not ever tell me I am anti-Social when you don't know me one bit. Please.

6 Myths About Introverts To Stop Believing

 

[amrchaos]

I don't think the problem is homeschooling itself, nor do I feel it should be banned. In fact , I believe there should exist some forms of homeschooling even for students in public/private school(but that takes time and highly specialized in terms of what I am thinking of)

The problem you speaking about is the socialization issue. It maybe easier if you lived in a community that homeschooled--then your 'PTSA' could organize extracurricular activites and clubs. On the other hand, if you live in an area that does not, talking to the board of education of your school district to allow exceptions for your kids might help.

Its just a thought, but I seriously don't think banning homeschooling for the reason stated is a good idea. Try exploring the resources available to resolve the socialization problem first.

 

[Dan Daly]

I'm looking to talk about this here before I take the discussion to FB with family, friends, and coworkers.

The more I think about homeschooling, the more it angers me.

Having actually been homeschooled, I know and understand it more than anyone against it who hasn't been homeschooled. The real problem isn't a matter of academic quality—my grades were superior to those students my age in the local public school.

No, the real problem is the lack of socialization public schooling gives you. I don't care if it means you get beaten up, or try weed, or have underage sex, or other things like that in public school—you need to be immersed among hundreds of other kids your age when you're young. That socialization is so damned important!

I do very well on the academic front, but homeschooling—especially when it's of a religious nature—can lead to isolation and introversion! Only as a young man in my later twenties, being immersed in a highly social and competitive field working in a hospital, do I now feel more and more social, and crave that constant human interaction and fear less the thought of sharing parts of my soul openly with others.

What I am right now is angry. Feeling it right now. I didn't get much of a choice being homeschooled. Being young, having ADHD, I got savagely bullied and beat. The limp-wristed school officials who were too scared to do anything about those fuckers did nothing! Didn't matter that they took wet, rolled up towels and used them to whip gashes into my skin for fun—this was when I was a kid in swim class. So my social well-being was sacrificed so I could be safe—because those school officials did NOTHING—and I did get better grades which became very useful when college came around.

Still, I am an introvert because of homeschooling. Being an introvert in and of itself is not bad—I know a lot of fairly fucking stupid extroverts. It's just that being around a lot of people your age when you're young is really important. They just need to get their act together to clean up the scum in the public school system.

I don't know what should be done about homeschooling. Those kids NEED to be socializing a lot. It's incredibly important. More than a few religious folk homeschool their kids, and some of those folk don/t think too much about the vital need to socialize.

I want to know if there's anyone else here who came from a similar background to mine. I want you to tell me—from the bottom of you heart—how wrong or right you believe I am. I won't bite—I'll respect your opinion. Just, please, level with me here to help me understand this better and try to get over my emotions on this.

Just because you are anti-social

I'm cutting you off right here because you just made the mistake of thinking introversion is synonymous with being anti-Social, which is completely false and a bit offensive. I don't think you meant to imply that, but if you did I would gently remind you that the two terms are absolutely not the same, and that the use of words does matter especially when they have different meanings. You do not know me, nor are you aware of how many patients and family members I care for and coworkers in the hospital wings I interact with on a constant basis. Likewise you don't know the level of social interaction required to be working in an extremely intense hospital wing for patients with traumatic brain injuries. I just had to sit down and comfort three sobbing family members of a young man who's dying because his brain injury is taking a turn for the worst. Do not ever tell me I am anti-Social when you don't know me one bit. Please.

6 Myths About Introverts To Stop Believing

I made no such mistake...but you just made another. I am an introvert...neither public nor private schooling changed that, nor did military service, serving in elected office or a lifetime of employment. Blaming homeschooling for your personal traits or handicaps is silly and dishonest.

Note that you failed to answer my question...did your parents prevent you from socializing with your peers...or is it just that they didn't force you to get out of the house?

 

[thereisnospoon]

I'm looking to talk about this here before I take the discussion to FB with family, friends, and coworkers.

The more I think about homeschooling, the more it angers me.

Having actually been homeschooled, I know and understand it more than anyone against it who hasn't been homeschooled. The real problem isn't a matter of academic quality—my grades were superior to those students my age in the local public school.

No, the real problem is the lack of socialization public schooling gives you. I don't care if it means you get beaten up, or try weed, or have underage sex, or other things like that in public school—you need to be immersed among hundreds of other kids your age when you're young. That socialization is so damned important!

I do very well on the academic front, but homeschooling—especially when it's of a religious nature—can lead to isolation and introversion! Only as a young man in my later twenties, being immersed in a highly social and competitive field working in a hospital, do I now feel more and more social, and crave that constant human interaction and fear less the thought of sharing parts of my soul openly with others.

What I am right now is angry. Feeling it right now. I didn't get much of a choice being homeschooled. Being young, having ADHD, I got savagely bullied and beat. The limp-wristed school officials who were too scared to do anything about those fuckers did nothing! Didn't matter that they took wet, rolled up towels and used them to whip gashes into my skin for fun—this was when I was a kid in swim class. So my social well-being was sacrificed so I could be safe—because those school officials did NOTHING—and I did get better grades which became very useful when college came around.

Still, I am an introvert because of homeschooling. Being an introvert in and of itself is not bad—I know a lot of fairly fucking stupid extroverts. It's just that being around a lot of people your age when you're young is really important. They just need to get their act together to clean up the scum in the public school system.

I don't know what should be done about homeschooling. Those kids NEED to be socializing a lot. It's incredibly important. More than a few religious folk homeschool their kids, and some of those folk don/t think too much about the vital need to socialize.

I want to know if there's anyone else here who came from a similar background to mine. I want you to tell me—from the bottom of you heart—how wrong or right you believe I am. I won't bite—I'll respect your opinion. Just, please, level with me here to help me understand this better and try to get over my emotions on this.

Just because you are anti-social doesn't mean that the rest of the homeschooled population shares your handicap. Did your parents keep you locked up in the house after school hours and prevent you from socializing with the other kids in your neighborhood and community?

My kids were home-schooled and I darned sure had more kids that were not mine hanging around my house than my parents did when I was attending public/private schools.

One area that did tick me off though and where you have a valid gripe is when it comes to organized extra-curricular school activities like sports, drama, clubs, etc. Why is it that in a public school, paid for by my property taxes, my kids could not participate in those activities? Sounds like it's the public schools that make socialization harder, not the parents who opt for home schooling.

Regarding extra curricular and sports. In many states these bans of home schooled kids are illegal.
Here in NC every child whether they attend their assigned public school or not is fully entitled to participate in any and all extra curricular activities, including team sports.
The basis of the argument was two pronged. One , the state law is clear. Every child in NC is entitled to a "sound basic education" Part of that statute also has a requirement of daily physical activity or exercise. Sports are included in this.
Also, the federal government also requires pretty much the same thing regarding physical activity.
In fact in my home school district(NJ), Physical Ed was NOT an elective. It was required throughout all of elementary, middle and high school.
I think the same applies here in NC

 

[Dan Daly]

I'm looking to talk about this here before I take the discussion to FB with family, friends, and coworkers.

The more I think about homeschooling, the more it angers me.

Having actually been homeschooled, I know and understand it more than anyone against it who hasn't been homeschooled. The real problem isn't a matter of academic quality—my grades were superior to those students my age in the local public school.

No, the real problem is the lack of socialization public schooling gives you. I don't care if it means you get beaten up, or try weed, or have underage sex, or other things like that in public school—you need to be immersed among hundreds of other kids your age when you're young. That socialization is so damned important!

I do very well on the academic front, but homeschooling—especially when it's of a religious nature—can lead to isolation and introversion! Only as a young man in my later twenties, being immersed in a highly social and competitive field working in a hospital, do I now feel more and more social, and crave that constant human interaction and fear less the thought of sharing parts of my soul openly with others.

What I am right now is angry. Feeling it right now. I didn't get much of a choice being homeschooled. Being young, having ADHD, I got savagely bullied and beat. The limp-wristed school officials who were too scared to do anything about those fuckers did nothing! Didn't matter that they took wet, rolled up towels and used them to whip gashes into my skin for fun—this was when I was a kid in swim class. So my social well-being was sacrificed so I could be safe—because those school officials did NOTHING—and I did get better grades which became very useful when college came around.

Still, I am an introvert because of homeschooling. Being an introvert in and of itself is not bad—I know a lot of fairly fucking stupid extroverts. It's just that being around a lot of people your age when you're young is really important. They just need to get their act together to clean up the scum in the public school system.

I don't know what should be done about homeschooling. Those kids NEED to be socializing a lot. It's incredibly important. More than a few religious folk homeschool their kids, and some of those folk don/t think too much about the vital need to socialize.

I want to know if there's anyone else here who came from a similar background to mine. I want you to tell me—from the bottom of you heart—how wrong or right you believe I am. I won't bite—I'll respect your opinion. Just, please, level with me here to help me understand this better and try to get over my emotions on this.

Just because you are anti-social doesn't mean that the rest of the homeschooled population shares your handicap. Did your parents keep you locked up in the house after school hours and prevent you from socializing with the other kids in your neighborhood and community?

My kids were home-schooled and I darned sure had more kids that were not mine hanging around my house than my parents did when I was attending public/private schools.

One area that did tick me off though and where you have a valid gripe is when it comes to organized extra-curricular school activities like sports, drama, clubs, etc. Why is it that in a public school, paid for by my property taxes, my kids could not participate in those activities? Sounds like it's the public schools that make socialization harder, not the parents who opt for home schooling.

Regarding extra curricular and sports. In many states these bans of home schooled kids are illegal.
Here in NC every child whether they attend their assigned public school or not is fully entitled to participate in any and all extra curricular activities, including team sports.
The basis of the argument was two pronged. One , the state law is clear. Every child in NC is entitled to a "sound basic education" Part of that statute also has a requirement of daily physical activity or exercise. Sports are included in this.
Also, the federal government also requires pretty much the same thing regarding physical activity.
In fact in my home school district(NJ), Physical Ed was NOT an elective. It was required throughout all of elementary, middle and high school.
I think the same applies here in NC

That is good to know, thank you.

 

[Wake]

I'm going to give a little more background, because I don't think the OP is thorough-enough.

Basically my father was a traditional Apostolic-Pentecostal who was very selfish and cared more about money than family.

He was too busy to do anything fatherly with his children. He was also an abusive man emotionally and verbally, and sometimes physically.

What he would do most of the time is stay upstairs in office and be on the internet, keeping a psychotically-focused eye on the stock market.

When the heavy box containing my schoolwork arrived, he'd give it to me and tell me to get it done, so he could grade it.

I never had a teacher. Him being a computer engineer, he'd help me on some math problems, but that was it.

Basically I was left to learn it on my own. Oh, and he wouldn't put money towards his family but the bare essentials.

He decided what you ate, when you went out, where you could go, and you could buy. Yeah, fun times. He was a control freak.

Rereading what I'm writing right now... I get that not all homeschooled kids go through a hell like this. I'm just feeling angry over ir.

 

[thereisnospoon]

I'm looking to talk about this here before I take the discussion to FB with family, friends, and coworkers.

The more I think about homeschooling, the more it angers me.

Having actually been homeschooled, I know and understand it more than anyone against it who hasn't been homeschooled. The real problem isn't a matter of academic quality—my grades were superior to those students my age in the local public school.

No, the real problem is the lack of socialization public schooling gives you. I don't care if it means you get beaten up, or try weed, or have underage sex, or other things like that in public school—you need to be immersed among hundreds of other kids your age when you're young. That socialization is so damned important!

I do very well on the academic front, but homeschooling—especially when it's of a religious nature—can lead to isolation and introversion! Only as a young man in my later twenties, being immersed in a highly social and competitive field working in a hospital, do I now feel more and more social, and crave that constant human interaction and fear less the thought of sharing parts of my soul openly with others.

What I am right now is angry. Feeling it right now. I didn't get much of a choice being homeschooled. Being young, having ADHD, I got savagely bullied and beat. The limp-wristed school officials who were too scared to do anything about those fuckers did nothing! Didn't matter that they took wet, rolled up towels and used them to whip gashes into my skin for fun—this was when I was a kid in swim class. So my social well-being was sacrificed so I could be safe—because those school officials did NOTHING—and I did get better grades which became very useful when college came around.

Still, I am an introvert because of homeschooling. Being an introvert in and of itself is not bad—I know a lot of fairly fucking stupid extroverts. It's just that being around a lot of people your age when you're young is really important. They just need to get their act together to clean up the scum in the public school system.

I don't know what should be done about homeschooling. Those kids NEED to be socializing a lot. It's incredibly important. More than a few religious folk homeschool their kids, and some of those folk don't think too much about the vital need to socialize.

I want to know if there's anyone else here who came from a similar background to mine. I want you to tell me—from the bottom of you heart—how wrong or right you believe I am. I won't bite—I'll respect your opinion. Just, please, level with me here to help me understand this better and try to get over my emotions on this.

It looks like you are an introvert because you wish to be.
You said so yourself. You were getting the shit beaten out of you. So your parents after seeking the help of school administrators, gave up and home schooled you.
And now you're angey because you missed out on social interaction? Seems to me you were an abject failure art it.
Where I come from, very few kids were targeted for being picked on totally at random. And the weaker kids got their balls busted and such, but that is just part of growing up.
The kids, mainly boys, that got picked on daily most of them were pains in the ass who just did not want to take a hint that they were the problem.
I had this one type of kid in some of my freshman and sophomore classes. He was constantly getting stuff done to him...You name it. They did it. He even got on my nerves to the point ( he and I were about the same size) where I was going to basically pound his ass, if he didn't back off.
The point is whatever this idiot got, he deserved.
Your finding fault with home schooling is simplistic.
If you disagree with it, fine. Don't take that choice away from others.