Utterly Meaningless

One hesitates to criticize a fourteen-year-old child’s article, but here goes:

“All I know is this decision, I’m quite confident, will reinforce all my current beliefs on public education….” It’s useful to go into an experiment with a more open mind. Otherwise, what’s the point.

“They go from class to class, like robots in a factory….” No, they don’t. I’ve been in school, and recently I’ve been in my daughter’s school during class change. They go from class to class like noisy, happy, busy teenagers.

“Their lives are run by mandated tests, mandated curricula, mandated educational topics, mandated class times and even the mandated food they must eat!” The mandated tests, curricula, topics, and class times are necessary for order and consistency. You could not possibly run a school of 500 to 2000 students, or a district of tens or hundreds of thousands of students, like a homeschool. And no one forces kids to eat their school lunches; they are free to make their own provisions.

“It’s obvious that with a system like that, the real goal is to pass a class, not learn a thing.” A bit of hyperbole here. Most of us went to school in systems like that, and we went on to become doctors, lawyers, and even chemists(!). I’ve watched my daughter’s knowledge base expand dramatically from her schooling, as distinct from what she’s learned at home or on her own. Some things are not taught as well as in my day, but some are taught much better.

“[In] homeschooling: The only one required to please is yourself….” Daryl, I trust you and other homeschooling parents are preparing your children for the grownup world. Unless they are all going to be self-employed entrepreneurs or independently wealthy, the day will come when they have to tie themselves down to someone else’s schedule and do what that someone else wants.

It’s a well-crafted article, though, a nice piece of writing for a teenager. I’d be interesting to see the article he would write if he would allow himself to enjoy his public school experience, and find some positive things to report about it. Besides sports.

In many cases, homeschoolers are part of the “grown-up” world during their “school-age” years. The two go together. One recruiter from Chik-fil-A, the fast-food company, says he prefers to hire homeschoolers over conventionally-schooled pupils, because “They’re smart, ambitious, and very driven.”