RESOLVED: Homeschooling is better than Public Schooling.

"There is no school equal to a decent home and no teacher equal to a virtuous parent." -Mahatma Gandhi (http://www.goodreads.com...)I thank my opponent, CASmnl42, for accepting this debate. I look forward to an enlightening and engaging debate session.Now, before I state my opening arguments, I would like to address the three points that my opponent brought up his last speech.FIRST: I agree to limiting our discussion to the USA. This will probably help both of us equally.SECOND: I also agree to the more generic definition of "better". This will allow for a broader debate.THIRD: I disagree to the "burden of proof" idea which my opponent stated. Although there is a burden of proof on the affirmative side (PRO) to show how homeschooling is better than public schooling, there is an equal burden of proof on the negative side (CON) to show that public schooling is equal to or superior to homeschooling. If I prove my side, I win. If he proves his side, he wins. If neither of us are able to prove our side, than a "double loss", so to speak, should be cast. This "equal burden of proof" ensures that the debate is equally weighted.With all of that said, I will dive into my contentions (my main arguments). First, I will show how homeschooling is better, both intellectually and socially, than public schooling. Second, I will show a brief history on the orgins of home and public education, and its implications.CONTENTION ONE: INTELLECTUALLY SUPERIORThe evidence supporting this point is overwhelming. It has been found that, on average, homeschool students score 30 percentile points higher than the national average. Also, homeschool-ers earned a higher ACT score (26.5) than public school-ers (25.0). Also, GPAs are higher for homeschool-ers. In college freshman year, high school average is 3.37, public school is 3.08. For seniors, homeschool-ers have an average of 3.46, whereas public school-ers have 3.12.http://www.cbsnews.com...http://endoftheamericandream.com...http://hslda.org...This is only some of the data out there. Any advocate of public schooling would be hard-pressed to find a study showing that homeschool students are less academically intelligent. Most of the argumentation comes from the "social aspect". So lets take a look at that, shall we?CONTENTION TWO: SOCIALLY SUPERIORAre homeschoolers socially awkward? This is a question that many people ask. The answer is, honestly, no.Allow me to lead you to this website here: http://finehomeschooling.com...The writer here gives seven examples of tests and books written showing that indeed, contrary to popular belief, homeschoolers are better in the social aspect than their public counterparts.The evidence included:1. Being around other children harms social skills rather than helping.2. In a study of communication, socialization, and daily living skills, homeschoolers ranked in the 84th percentile, whereas public schoolers ranked in the 23rd and 27th percentile.3. In a blind test, viewers watching the children ranked the homeschoolers above the public schoolers in socialization skills.4. There is a link to a huge article with even more tests. http://www.redshift.com...5. A professor talked to various adults and it was found that those who were homeschooled did not create "social misfits", but were actually pretty well off.6. after researching 24 studies, Susan McDowell, and author, has declared the homeschooling social myth a "non-issue"7. Another test showed that homeschoolers have fewer behavioral problems.All of this points unerringly toward one conclusion: Homeschoolers are socially superior to public schoolers.So now, lets look at the origins of both.CONTENTION THREE: THE ORIGINS OF HOME AND PUBLIC SCHOOLINGThe exact date of when homeschooling began is hard to pin down, however,it is a commonly held belief that in medieval and settler times parents were the ones to teach and educate their children. In fact, until recently, most of our presidents were schooled at home. As finehomeschooling.com says: "Famous people in this nation’s history, such as Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Edison, Woodrow Wilson and many others were part of the history of homeschooling. For most, formal or public schooling was not available in their eras of time." (http://finehomeschooling.com...)Public Schooling is different. Many people attribute the rise of public education to the Industrial Revolution. This was a time that the entire US was changing. Whereas before, people worked at home, getting the skills they needed there, now people were working in factories.This posed a problem. You see, because people were used to being self-employed, they were not used to being under someone else's management. In fact, very few people actually wanted to work in factories.So,the factory owners did the only thing they could: they turned to the children.As Hitler once said: "He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future." (http://www.brainyquote.com...)The factory workers funded the building of public schools. Now, the children all went to the schools to be taught, instead of by their parents. What they were taught at the schools was not how to be a leader,but how to be a follower. Not how to be inventive and innovative, but how to do the single task laid out for you.And it worked.Suddenly, children were working in the factories. The plan had worked. The public school system had worked. This was a step forward for the factory owners, but a step back for education.http://www.outoftheboxchild.com...http://www.ukessays.com...In conclusion, various studies and tests have been done and have shown that homeschoolers are intellectually and socially superior to public schoolers. In addition, the entire idea of public schools was to create a generation of followers, not leaders.Because of all of this and more, I stand RESOLVED: Homeschooling is better than Public Schooling.