kestrel9000's attack on homeschoolers is only the latest attack in a troubling trend of non-religious liberals attacking homeschoolers. They are so afraid of Christian Fundamentalist they would create a police state outlawing religion if they could. He makes such stupid statements as........
We'll look at deceitful propaganda and how it's being inflicted on America's children - aided by irresponsible, misguided parents who place their extremist, antiAmerican religionist agenda above the mental health and intellectual strength of their children - below the fold.
Parents aren't irresponsible or misguided just because they are religious or have beliefs differing from kestrel9000's. Funnily enough one of the complaints kestrel9000 makes is that homeschoolers aren't exposed to diversity and are intolerant, but kestrel9000's own statements show what an intolerant person they are.
Kestrel9000 also fails to address the deceitful propaganda found in PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Apparently deceitful propaganda in public schools is OK with kestrel9000 and those of his ilk. Not to mention the deceitful propaganda kestrel9000 seems intent on spreading about homeschooling.
Nonetheless, 57% of the American population disagree with home schooling (Rose, Gallup, & Elam, as cited in Lubienski, 2000, privatization.) This is because there are many reasons to remain in public schools and condemn the home schooling movement. A few of these reasons are: a lack of sufficient social experience, lack of proper learning materials, and insufficient instructors, as well as a destruction of the public school systems. Therefore home schooling is destructive to the students who are home schooled, and to those who are left in the public school systems....Also, when a child is home schooled, they are not able to experience a variety of teachers and teaching methods. They are confined to their parents or one or two tutors. This does not properly prepare them for what they will encounter when they enter the collegiate level. They will have a difficult time adjusting to their new teachers and the myriad of ways in which those teachers will educate them. Most children who are home schooled have not experienced people of religions, races, and backgrounds different from their own.
I have already addressed the socialization issue in other post so I am not going to address it here. Apparently whoever wrote this bit of propaganda is unaware that homeschoolers can purchase the SAME textbooks public schools use if they choose to do so. We are also free to find more challenging, up-to-date textbooks then the public schools use. As for the instructor bit whoever wrote this propaganda seems to place quantity over quality. Apparently they believe it is better to have 100's of mediocre instructors instead of one outstanding instructor. As for the destruction of the public school system that's not my problem. But does the writer also feel that those couples who choose not to have children are destructive to the public school system? If not why do they believe that my choice not to use the public school system is destructive to it? I still pay taxes that support the public school system even though my children do not benefit from it. The idea that homeschooled children will have trouble adjusting to college is complete and utter hogwash, as numerous studies will attest and as I can address from personal experience.
Kestrel9000 is also paranoid enough to believe that NCLB is some sort of conspiracy to destroy public schools.
From Washington Monthly and a piece by Kevin Drum:
Question: Why would NCLB mandate an obviously unmeetable standard? And now that it's up for renewal, why would Republicans continue to insist on that obviously unmeetable standard?
Answer: Because the 100% goal isn't just rhetorical. It comes with penalties. If you don't meet the standard, you lose money, you're officially deemed a "failing school," and your students are eligible to transfer to other schools. And needless to say, by 2014 there won't be any satisfactory public schools to send them to because 99% of them won't have met the standard.
Followup bonus question: What incentive does anyone have to label 99% of America's public schools as failures? That's crazy, isn't it?
Answer: Anyone who wants the public to believe that public schools are failures. This would primarily consist of conservatives who want to break teachers unions and evangelicals who want to build political momentum for private school vouchers. The whole point of NCLB for these people is to make sure that as many public schools as possible are officially deemed failures.
This, it could be argued, is part of a larger, and more sinister, agenda.
Apparently trying to insure that those children stuck in failing public schools get a decent education is a sinister agenda by the Christian Right to destroy public schools (who knew). There are many problems with NCLB, but does anyone seriously believe this conspiracy theory c***?
What's terrifying to me are the nuts who want to abolish homeschooling because they don't like it. What gives them the right to take away my educational choices for my children? Especially on the basis of false assumptions and jingoist public school defenders propaganda. Here are some of the idiotic comments to kestrel9000's post.
I'm opposed to homeschooling in general, because of its deleterious effects on the public education system, and its potential to result in a parentally-inflicted social retardation. I'm happy that you feel you are a success story. But I also feel the risks outweigh the benefits, and left to me, I would abolish the practice.
Magic 95.5 (800)296-9267 Cobalt6
Luckily it's not up to Magic 95.5 and I sincerely hope it NEVER is.
listen here (0 / 0)
I am a gay man who has been victimized by Joshua's generation and I can and will fight back. Once these people put a Constitutional Amendment on the ballot that targets you and your very place in society come back and talk to me then.
Home schooling hurts society and it is a primary weapon the the religious right. One that needs to be taken away.
And I stand by my statement, the success of the few does not justify the damage to the many.
Peace.
"My name's Dr. Multimillionaire and I kicked your ass." --Rep. Steve Kagen D-WI to Karl Rove
by walja on Sat Jul 07, 2007 at 07:39:42 PM PDT
[ Parent ]by kestrel9000 on Sat Jul 07, 2007 at 02:13:12 PM PDT
BS homeschooling does not hurt society, intolerant jerks like walja hurt society. Walja seems to think he should have the ability to take away my right to homeschool, this is as odious as the mistreatment of gays. I have the RIGHT TO HOMESHOOL, Walja has the right to be gay. He doesn't have the right to impose his beliefs on me or my children.
Wouldn't be necessary (2+ / 0-)
the law would be the law, and you'd either be willing to send your kids to a school run by profesional educators, surrender your kids to CPS, or shoot at the SWAT team. These would be your choices. You would have no others, especially when considering your children's educational requirements would not satisfy the law in the intervening period of time during which any litigation you might undertake would be in work. Your kids don't get to go uneducated while you litigate. Therefore: Which would you choose?
Magic 95.5 (800)296-9267 Cobalt6
by kestrel9000 on Sat Jul 07, 2007 at 04:54:09 PM PDT
What a horrible world, sounds like Anthem by Ayn Rand or 1984 by George Orwell, no choices just turn your kids and your life over to the state. Again I am glad Magic 95.5 isn't in control. I would choose to get rid of nutcases like Magic 95.5 that think they should be able to dictate how I raise my children.
I am sick and tired of all these so called progressives that think it's perfectly permissible to bash homeschooling and homeschoolers. Apparently they never see the irony in their haste to spread false propaganda about homeschoolers, their insistence on stereotyping homeschoolers and disparaging them and then labeling them intolerant. These homeschool bashers are the intolerant ones and they have no interest in understanding why parents would choose an educational choice for their children other then public schools.
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As a liberal, non-Christian who also happens to be a homeschooler I jsut wanted to say there are loud mouth bigots on both sides of the lines. Unfortunately. I just grit my teeth and remember that the loudest are often the minority while the majority stays quiet lest they look like the fools screaming their heads off. Though, I do wonder if we had a better educational system in this country if there would be less loud-mouth idiots ranting in public spaces.
You are so right about their being bigots on both sides; it seems like homeschoolers get stuck in the crossfire between them.
The problem with ignoring them even though they are in the minority is that they are very serious about enacting laws to abolish homeschooling. I have seen first hand how a few parents with a loony idea can destroy the public schools, so I am not willing to let a few bigots destroy homeschooling
"Also, when a child is home schooled, they are not able to experience a variety of teachers and teaching methods. They are confined to their parents or one or two tutors. This does not properly prepare them for what they will encounter when they enter the collegiate level. They will have a difficult time adjusting to their new teachers and the myriad of ways in which those teachers will educate them. Most children who are home schooled have not experienced people of religions, races, and backgrounds different from their own."
This is just utter hogwash! If his contention is true - that students who have only had one or two teachers won't be prepared for having different teachers in college - then how on earth can ps middle-schoolers ever manage to make the transition from one teacher in elementary to a different teacher for every class in middle school? Surely an 18-year-old ought to be better able to make a transition between teachers than an 11-year-old!
Not only that, but many if not most homeschooled kids are involved in a co-op of some kind, in which they DO have different teachers, at least one day each week. Not only that, my kids like most homeschoolers are involved in outside activities such as gymnastics, swimming, Sunday School, clubs, each of which has different teachers.
In my experience (and I was personally homeschooled for all of high school), the ones who have difficulty transitioning to college are the public-schooled students, not the homeschooled ones. Homeschooled kids get to college prepared to learn, and knowing how to study independently. Public-schooled students often have a rough first semester or first year as they attempt to figure out what to do with all that freedom.
As for the contention that most homeschoolers have not experienced people of religions, races, or backgrounds different than their own - does this person even KNOW any homeschoolers? My kids have FAR more exposure to different kinds of people than most public-schooled kids do; and they have guidance from me as to how to interact with those people, so their interactions are more likely to be positive. I deliberately expose my children to people who are different from them, so that they don't suddenly get dumped into the adult world unprepared - and most homeschoolers I know do the same.
Did you notice one area of differences this author DOESN'T mention? There's not a word about exposure to people of different AGES. I wonder why a person who advocates ps and hates homeschoolers would not discuss exposure to age differences? Because there, we homeschoolers clearly have the advantage - our kids have lots of experience with people of ages different than their own!
Great post, Alasandra!
I linked to this post on my blog:
http://marcys-musings.blogspot.com/2007/07/countering-homeschool-bashers.html
Thanks again!
You made a great point about the different ages. Every place I know hires employees of varying ages, but in public schools children are segregated by age and told that they aren't suppose to associate with those older or younger then they are. How does that prepare them for the real world, where they will have to work and interact with people older and younger then they are?
Marcy Muser,
Thanks for linking to me.
Thanks for posting Alasandra! It was a great post. I'm with you. I'm so amazed at why some people spend so much time arguing against homeschooling when public schools are clearly filled with problems. Homeschooling has proven to be the better form of education and yet people have to twist it up and make it something that it is not.
Aaaargh! How can people be so blind? Great post.
Great post, Alasandra. And I'm still wondering how a bill authored by Ted Kennedy is a conspiracy by the religious right? Maybe I'm missing something.
I doubt you are missing anything Dana, more likely K9000 is missing something like common sense.
This is the first time I have heard homeschoolers or the religious right being blamed for NCLB. In fact many homeschoolers have denounced NCLB on their blogs.
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