Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin M
Thing is, going to school really is partly "babysitting" and teaching people to socialize and get along with people who are different in some way. You don't get that from home schooling. And like I said, I would trust the education of a child with very, very few of their parents. The numbers you point to of increase in homeschooling from 1990-2000 are still VERY small numbers. Like I said, it's possible and permissible, but it's definitely not something that public money and effort should be spent on.
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Actually, the whole "socialization" argument is a fallacy. How well are today's youth "learning how to get along with different people" any better than someone who simply gets their education in a smaller crowd? It's not like home-schoolers are kids locked in the basement, and it's not like public schools don't foster social group segmentation......in fact, there have been plenty of studies suggesting that forcing all kids into the same educational box at the same time is MORE detrimental to social, learning, and skill development on average than the flexibility offered by homeschooling.
I don't want government money for it, that would simply allow the government excuse for more control, but I do think that home-schoolers should not be forced to fund public education at the
same rate as those who are using it. Again, my main point in regards to the homeschooling/government interface is to increase visibility, enlighten the ignorant, and reduce discrimination.
It doesn't matter what the current total number of children are if the effective limits have not yet been reached. Back when the U.S. percentage was 1%, people were saying the same things you are. Funny, now it is more like 3%, and enough time has passed for meaningful studies to report results of typical quality of education, test performance, social standing, volunteerism, and overall success.
These are very broad generalizations you are making, and I'm not sure how much of it pure conjecture (opinion) vs. multiple direct observations (events).