Schooling has been around for thousands of years, and, as the rest of society has evolved, the traditional schooling technique has virtually stayed the same. Children still remain at desks, listening to their teachers lecture; kids still take home worksheets for extra practice called "homework." Standardized tests are still given, and kids are still excelling. However, as time goes on, more people have begun to question this type of schooling, and why it has not changed for over 1000 years. A recent change people have suggested, with the rise of technology, is "distance learning", a way to "attend" school from the confines of ones own home. While this idea seems promising, it is not a good change for the schooling system because, for the vast majority of students, it will cause unneeded distractions, a less stimulating environment, and the inability to distinguish home and work life.

As children grow and learn, they are more likely to choose play over work. Because of this, kids are often distracted from their assignments in school, whether it be with the thoughts of their Buzz Lightyear action figure they can not wait to play with or with the drama on their cell phone. When children are placed in the sterile environment of the school system, these distractions are minimized because the child's surroundings are sterile, solely containing learning materials and peers who are trying to accomplish the same task. If a child were to attempt to learn at home, no matter what age they were, they would be surrounded with the temptations of play, and, even if they had the power to restrain, it would affect their ability to concentrate and retain information.

Continuing, the home simply does not stimulate the mind as completely as the school does. In a school there are hundreds of resources at a child's fingertips: libraries full of books, teachers full of knowledge, materials full of the ability to educate. While the home may have educational resources, the vast amount does not compare to that of a traditional school. Not only does a classroom have abundant learning materials and information, but it also has students who help each other grow and prosper in their learning environment. For hundreds of years, the traditional desk-and-chalkboard schooling system has been used, and over those years, people are still excelling and test scores are still rising. This is because the school stimulates the mind like nothing else; it allows children a place to let their curiosity wander and lead their education. To take away the school will take away the stimulation.

Finally, a common problem found in adults is an inability to separate home and work life; this begins at a young age when children fail to make the clear distinction between home and school. By allowing students to participate in school from their home, it will make this distinction even less clear which will not only affect the child's present life but also his or her future life as a working adult. when there is no specific time and place for a child to learn, their home and education lives blend together, often affecting both for the worse. An example of this is seen in Tara Westover, the famous author of the memoir,

Educated.

Westover was home schooled but was often given little time to learn because of her home obligations. This caused her to lack education as well as the knowledge that home and school are two distinctly different things. If students were able to mix their home and school lives, the negative results of an inability to distinguish The Home and The School would far outweigh the positives.

Many may disagree with this position, saying that this opportunity, to learn in the comfort of ones own home, would greatly benefit those who suffer from illness or other challenges that prevent them from attending school. However, the ratio of those who are unable to attend a traditional school to those who are is very small. Many students would take advantage of this "distance learning" opportunity and use it for an easier education rather than a better one. There are several types of accommodations one can receive for illness or any other obstacle that hinders their education; allowing any person, without such disabilities, to receive these accommodations endangers them and their education.

Although the idea of learning from home has been widely acknowledged, it has also been widely debated. There are several positives when one looks on the surface of this idea, however when one truly delves into the logistics of such a change, they will realize that there are too many negatives that accompany it. The home is too distracting and does not allow the proper stimulation for learning that a child needs to succeed in life; the lack of a distinguishable home and school life will also harm the child as he or she matures. If a change that is supposed to bring better and more accessible schooling to children in fact causes the opposite, this change will not benefit the education system.