And I'm also thankful I don't have any children and if I did, that they wouldn't be in public school either.


I live in a small town, we don't have school shootings and stuff like that here, but my neighbor came home today and told me that in the lunch room at the high school today, a boy and a girl who had been dating for a year got into a fight and the boy stabbed the girl with a pencil and stabbed the teacher also, then he had the balls to blame the girl for it when he was arrested.

If I had kids right now, I wold be thanking God that they would be homeschooled and not having to face the possibility of that every day they went to school.

Supernova wrote:

And I'm also thankful I don't have any children and if I did, that they wouldn't be in public school either.


I live in a small town, we don't have school shootings and stuff like that here, but my neighbor came home today and told me that in the lunch room at the high school today, a boy and a girl who had been dating for a year got into a fight and the boy stabbed the girl with a pencil and stabbed the teacher also, then he had the balls to blame the girl for it when he was arrested.

If I had kids right now, I wold be thanking God that they would be homeschooled and not having to face the possibility of that every day they went to school.

Maybe if the parents would have disciplined him properly when he was growing up he might not be such a spoiled brat. If that were my kid he would still be disciplined after that stunt.

I forgot to mention, going to a private Catholic School, we used to get our asses kicked in one way or another from the nuns. Homeschooling may be good for one thing but it does not prepare you for the world out there.

What you just described could have happened at a playground, park, movie theater, recreation center, or any other place where there at kids.

Hey Tony!

Hey Nhaiyel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Happy Friday to you!!!

That it very well could've, but for this town's history it has NOT happened at the movie theater, or the rec center, or so far as I know, the park either. Usually when the kids get into violent crap like this, or a few months ago when one girl pushed another one out of the cafeteria window, it happens primarily in the school, why it is, I don't know.

Supernova wrote:

That it very well could've, but for this town's history it has NOT happened at the movie theater, or the rec center, or so far as I know, the park either. Usually when the kids get into violent crap like this, or a few months ago when one girl pushed another one out of the cafeteria window, it happens primarily in the school, why it is, I don't know.

You should see some of the subway fights between the girls here in NY, you could grab a bag of popcorn and choose sides!

Tony Marino wrote:

Hey Nhaiyel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Happy Friday to you!!!

Same to you brutha man. Enjoy your weekend.

Gee. Maybe the school was built on an ancient burial ground and the spirts of the dead are angry

Supernova wrote:

And I'm also thankful I don't have any children and if I did, that they wouldn't be in public school either.


I live in a small town, we don't have school shootings and stuff like that here, but my neighbor came home today and told me that in the lunch room at the high school today, a boy and a girl who had been dating for a year got into a fight and the boy stabbed the girl with a pencil and stabbed the teacher also, then he had the balls to blame the girl for it when he was arrested.

If I had kids right now, I wold be thanking God that they would be homeschooled and not having to face the possibility of that every day they went to school.

In all fairness, I went to public school, and this never happened in my experience.

Chris wrote:

Supernova wrote:

And I'm also thankful I don't have any children and if I did, that they wouldn't be in public school either.


I live in a small town, we don't have school shootings and stuff like that here, but my neighbor came home today and told me that in the lunch room at the high school today, a boy and a girl who had been dating for a year got into a fight and the boy stabbed the girl with a pencil and stabbed the teacher also, then he had the balls to blame the girl for it when he was arrested.

If I had kids right now, I wold be thanking God that they would be homeschooled and not having to face the possibility of that every day they went to school.

In all fairness, I went to public school, and this never happened in my experience.

LOL, I find it baffling how people attack public schools as if somehow it's paralell to all of the 'bad' ones. One raggedy school in one raggedy town and just about all of them are the same. LOL.

So... wait.

Only public school students are capable of violence? That's only slightly elitist.

I disagree that homeschooling doesn't prepare kids for the real world. I think like anything you have to do it "right" and make sure than any deficiencies in socialization or discipline are addressed. I also disagree that public school is more dangerous than private school...My kids are in public school and it's been a great experience so far. We have the choice, in our school district, of picking what school we want them to attend and we chose a school in a different neighborhood with an arts focus. We originally chose a foreign language magnet school where they are taught in one of four foreign languages starting in kindergarten, but we changed our minds at the last minute. Our daughter had such an aptitude for the arts that I felt like the foreign language thing was "my" dream, not what would be best for HER.

We also could choose a public Montessori, and my kids are NA so they have the extra option of going to the tribal school...Those are just the options that I considered. There are also science and technology schools (the one in our neighborhood is one of these) and I'm sure a bunch of other options.

I feel like there are all these great options for public schools here, and yet the rep that public schools get is that they suck.

Yes, there are violent kids and there will be violence once they get to high school, I'm sure...But I think that it happens where ever kids congregate, more so at the park and the mall here than at the schools.

Tony Marino wrote:

I forgot to mention, going to a private Catholic School, we used to get our asses kicked in one way or another from the nuns. Homeschooling may be good for one thing but it does not prepare you for the world out there.

I disagree. I think homeschooling prepares you just fine, certainly no worse than any regular school does. I see no evidence that regular school prepares kids based on the crop I see coming from them today. Sure, if your idea of homeschooling your kid is locking him in his bedroom and giving him a book, he'll likely not be prepared. Most homeschooled kids I know are nowhere near like that. The idea that homeschooling doesn't prepare kids seems to be based more on people's notions than on what is actually happening.

Private Catholic School is a joke today too cause it's little better than public schools. Getting asses kicked from the nuns mighta been the other extreme but let's not act like people didn't tempt those ladies to begin with.

I understand that some people may have no other choice than public school. I get that. But it's a bullet that I think is best dodged if opportunity presents itself. I don't feel it really prepares kids for anything, and the little it MAY prepare them for is offset by it's failures in teaching them. The proposed benefits (that I don't even see being provided in the first place) are hardly worth a compromised education.

Public school violence is as much a stereotype as home school kids being socially inept.

Jason B. wrote:

Public school violence is as much a stereotype as home school kids being socially inept.

Maybe so, although the isolated cases of each will of course shine much more unfavorably on the public schools. Not that violence in public schools is the real reason that they suck. The schools are incompetent on a wide scale. No stereotype there.

I don't think it is a stereotype, it's just a matter of the extent of the violence. Every school does not have Columbine going on, but can anybody say there are schools where the kids on the lower levels of the food chain don't get the hell beaten out of them for no reason, and can't fight back or else THEY'RE the ones in trouble? Oh sure the teachers will say that doesn't happen, that the kids are just too sensitive, but what do they know?

I have to agree with Supernova on this one. I went to a public school from ages 5-15 and it was a toilet. The public school system has gone to hell, even in a community (like mine) where there wasn't that physical violence. The children were horrible and the teachers were horrible - I guess people think they can stick anybody up in front of 20 kids and call them a "teacher."

And I totally have to agree with some other posters who have said that homeschooling prepares a child just fine for the world. This I agree with too. Homeschooling prepares a person for the world just as much as public school does. No matter what kind of schooling a person has, there's nothing in a textbook that prepares you for the big, bad world.

Can we please not glorify home schooling for a minute?

With home schooling, you're at the mercy of your parent or private tutor (I'd prefer the private tutor). While the relaying of information is the operative goal, if your parent cannot teach you how to be a socially functional person, you're SCREWED. Which is exactly what happened to this one girl I knew. Had no clue how to function and interact with other people. And now? Well, now she works from home. I think being social is more important that most of the information.

I think public schooling needs a revamp, but I'm not very quick to trust home schooling either.

Rockbird wrote:

Can we please not glorify home schooling for a minute?

With home schooling, you're at the mercy of your parent or private tutor (I'd prefer the private tutor). While the relaying of information is the operative goal, if your parent cannot teach you how to be a socially functional person, you're SCREWED. Which is exactly what happened to this one girl I knew. Had no clue how to function and interact with other people. And now? Well, now she works from home. I think being social is more important that most of the information.

I think public schooling needs a revamp, but I'm not very quick to trust home schooling either.

Why not glorify it? It can go toe to toe with any other form of schooling at least.

You're hardly at the mercy of a private parent or tutor. That's just not true. And as for teaching people how to be a socially functional person, who says school teaches you that? I was more socially awkward coming OUT of a classroom setting than I was going in. And you act like homeschoolers are total hermits. A large majority DO have friends and hang out quite a bit with people they don't live with. (Heck, most of the ones I know probably do it a little TOO much) And if you wanna go with personal examples, I know several people who also go to public school and who have fairly pathetic social skills compared to the very outgoing homeschoolers I know who can carry on intelligent conversations with adults. I just see NO proof that homeschoolers are any worse off than those who go to any other school setting. You'll have successes and failures in all of them.

So ultimately, I see no evidence that homeschoolers are worse off than anybody else.

I'm not saying that people who are home schooled are doomed. But it seems that people ARE saying that about public school students. There are tons of people who were home schooled and are successful. But it has its shortcomings just like all the other varying methods of education.

But I wasn't speaking of teachings, actually. I was talking about interaction with peers. You have to learn to survive in this social world, and there are many home schooled children who get fucked over by their overbearing, controlling parents.

I just hate the assumption that if you go to public school, you'll be a failure. The logic is flawed, and it's highly insulting.

Because from my experiences, home-schooled kids have their own set of issues, and (again from MY experiences), it's the social issue.

I don't think anybody is saying that those in public school are doomed either.

Interaction with peers isn't really what school is SUPPOSED to be about. It's a place to give the children information; social contact is a secondary effect. And as I said, I DON'T see that happening with regularly schooled kids. They aren't learning how to function in the social world nearly as well as the homeschoolers I know. I don't feel most homeschoolers have overbearing parents outside of TV Land. The ones I know are perfectly able to function in a social world, at least as well(if not better) as anybody else. And being in college myself, I am still not seeing these great social benefits of the classroom setting. I think the idea of it is a lot better than what is actually happening. Because this interaction with peers is NOT all it's cracked up to be.

Maybe now you know how homeschoolers feel when people make assumptions about them. But I don't feel see people saying that here at all.