Friday, May 28, 2010

Home Schooling: Students Miss the 'Socialization'

At least up to a few years ago, one of the reasons given for why home schooling was bad for kids was that they missed out on "socialization." You know: the uplifting experience of being snubbed, bullied - and sometimes maimed.

I'll grant that this is an extreme case:
"Student suffers amputation after embarrassing school assault"
KARE11 News (May 28, 2010)

"Pain is the operative word in the unfortunate story of 14-year-old David Gibbons. It is a pain he has endured both physically and emotionally after being punched in the groin by another student as he changed classes at Crosby Ironton High School.

" 'One o'clock in the morning he woke me up and told me he was in excruciating pain,' recalls Christy Gibbons, David's mom. Not long after, David was in surgery at St. Joseph's Hospital in Brainerd having his right testicle removed.

" 'This may be called a game, but it's not a game. It's dangerous and it needs to stop,' said Christy.

"It's a notion seconded by Dr. Scott Wheeler, a Brainerd urologist.

" 'It's just gotten way out of control,' said Wheeler, who now performs 'three to four surgeries a year' on boys with ruptured testicles and other complications of being groin punched - with dozens more coming in with less severe injuries. 'It's high school, junior high, elementary school,' said Wheeler.

"Dubbed 'sack tapping' by some students, the practice is now featured in dozens of homemade videos on YouTube...."
Is it any wonder that I don't feel guilty, depriving my kids of "socialization?"

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2 comments:

Jane said...

I never felt guilty, either. The Church and NCYC provide adequate peer time, and local districts are still required to allow homeschooled kids in extra-curriculars. I don't see the downside to homeschooling, to be honest.

Brian H. Gill said...

Jane,

It's about the same here in Sauk Centre, Minnesota - although we had to push a little at first.

As far as I've been able to tell, there isn't a downside to homeschooling: for the kids; parents; and, providing they go the academic route, the colleges they attend. It's a little extra work for the parents, of course.

The 'downside,' - I suspect - is for administrators in the government schools. As more kids are homeschooled, they have fewer warm bodies to report. And that can have an effect on funding.

I also suspect that homeschooling tends to drain kids from the top maybe 20% of the students, in terms of academic achievement. Which will hurt the government schools' statistics. This is a guess, based on anecdotal evidence regarding college admissions and what I've observed.

Let's face it: kids who are homeschooled have parents who give a rip about them - which probably means that they aren't 'losers.' There's a nicer way to put it, though.

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