Homeschooling

Thank you for accepting, SnaxAttack. I too was homeschooled, and it will be interesting to see your perspective on the issue. The main problem with homeschooling is that there aren't enough checks to ensure that the student is receiving a quality education. Requirements for homeschooling vary in each state, some states requiring the parents to send test scores or have their curriculum evaluated, and some states requiring no prior notice from the parents to start homeschooling (https://www.hslda.org...). These varying laws means that there is no way to ensure the kids are getting a good education. While one of the main benefits of homeschooling is the ability for the parents to make their own curriculum, parents can make a curriculum that is too easy or too full of "fluff" subjects. Some parents do a good job at homeschooling their child and that is great, however, because there is no minimum standards, the negligence or incompetence of the parents may affect their child for the rest of their lives. I acknowledge that there are cases where parents have done a good job homeschooling their child; however, I think this is the exception, rather than the norm. Because of this looseness, homeschooling can break down in 3 main ways. First, homeschooling doesn't always provide enough social experience. Being schooled at home with no significant interaction with kids (or adults) outside of their family doesn't provide the necessary social experience that is required to do well in the real world. While, to be fair, some homeschool families involve their kids in social activities, many don't do enough, or even stifle their child's social activity (http://www.responsiblehomeschooling.org...). Second, homeschooling can be a weak academic environment. One way this can break down is in grades, and the other is in actual instruction. As there is no outside check on how grades are assigned, homeschool grades can be accurate or they can completely misrepresent a child's academic ability. Parents can give out a perfect GPA even if the student does poorly, making the student eligible for many college scholarships and possibly cutting other, more deserving students that don't have a perfect GPA out. The other way homeschooling can be a weak academic environment is in actual instruction. Parents are not necessarily qualified to teach their children school subjects. Their parent's academic weaknesses can be transferred to their children. Third, homeschooling can be used as a way to shelter or brainwash kids. As a National Center for Education Statistics study found in 2007, 2 of the main reasons parents chose to homeschool were desires to provide moral or religious instruction. While these goals are good, there are few external checks on the curriculum, which could lead to parents brainwashing the child without presenting all sides of the issue, not preparing them for real life where their ideas will be challenged. This problem can be compounded if the child only has limited social interaction; being brainwashed by parents and not having their ideas challenged by other kids with different opinions can make the child live in a bubble, unaware of how the real world works. These three things combined make me doubt that homeschooling should be allowed to continue in its present form.