Homeschool-Bashing? Bring It.
// 11.22.06 // Filed under: Homeschooling
The mainstream media often casts a dim light on homeschoolers, which is really no surprise since a large portion of the media consists of writers and producers who sit firmly on the left and want to further the agenda of the NEA and like minded people in the government.
Rumblings have been heard around the web about an upcoming Dr. Phil show on homeschooling. The show was apparently scheduled, then postponed, and now scheduled again for this Friday. Several bloggers have reported that Dr. Phil took a negative view of homeschooling and stocked his audience with public school students.
Recently, I read this blurb about a homeschooling Mom interviewed for the Oprah show. It doesn’t look like Oprah’s focus is homeschooling for the episode, but one can’t help wondering how that fact will be portrayed. Oprah is very influential and it would be a shame if she made negative reference to homeschooling, especially when so many African-Americans in inner cities (a large part of her circle of influence) have been and continue to be failed by the public school system. Anecdotally, many of these families are turning to homeschooling.
I was also disappointed to see a derogatory reference to homeschooling on one of my favorite shows, Boston Legal. An episode aired several weeks ago portraying a teenage boy accused of murdering an older woman with whom he was having an affair. Turns out the boy’s mother killed the woman out of a jealous rage, because she and her son were lovers (double ick). And? The mother was carrying on about how her son was her whole life and she homeschooled him all his years. C’mon, was that really necessary Boston Legal? Thanks for feeding the ignorance and nasty stereotypes that surround homeschooling. What if they dropped in the fact that they were evangelistic Christians? Would that make the mother seem more likely to shelter her son in some sort of sociopathic relationship? Of course, there are more advertisers that would pull out at the first sign of Christian-bashing. There’s no big money behind homeschooling and just not enough numbers to make the networks care about it.
Then there’s this post, speaking of feeding ignorance and stereotypes. This popular blogger and columnist slams unschooling without so much as a hint of unbiased reporting involved. She even goes so far as to call unschooling parents lazy. My body hair is getting all prickly and my claws are coming out.
Perhaps it’s a positive sign that homeschooling is getting more media attention. Is the mainstream becoming more aware, nay – more threatened, by the growth of homeschooling and the success of homeschoolers? Bad press? I say bring it on.
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12 Responses to “Homeschool-Bashing? Bring It.”
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My fear is – though I am happy to have regime change taking place in our government – that because religious conservatives have been knocked down a level or two, and because they are closely associated with homeschooling, the homeschooling movement will be a target for folks who want to teach religious conservatives a lesson. And those of us who aren’t rc’s are kind of caught in the scuffle. I hate when that happens!
Hmmm… yes, this Dr. Phil thing is all the rage in the homeschooling community this week. Somehow I’m just not all that interested in seeing the show tomorrow. Sounds dreadful and infuriating. And I don’t like those kinds of shows anyway.
I did just comment at Suburban Turmoil though! I stand dumb-founded about the “unschoolers are lazy” comment… wouldn’t truly lazy parents unload their kids as much as possible onto their free public schools? Totally confused.
Hey, I’ll see you tomorrow!
To defend her just a little bit (the nashville columnist that is) she’s writing her opinion, not fact. She’s only looking at the surface, that’s her thing. More readers really need to know what the distinction is. Rush Limbaugh, for instance, is a wonk not a reporter.
But as for the reaction, you are right. Perhaps “Unschooling” isn’t a good word to describe the free school system. But if people did look into it, and spoke to educators, they’d understand that it’s just a different approach with limits and structure, as well, just without cookie cutter solutions.
Best wishes.
I read the transcripts for the Dr. Phil show and what angers me is that it wasn’t as if he was trying to understand unschooling but just trying to bash it. He also implied that kids who are homeschooled after puberty have problems in life and then brought out some 20-something who felt like her life was ruined b/c she was homeschooled. Could we please compare this to how many high school students feel like their lives were ruined because of the public schools? I was impressed how composed, knowledgable and strong in their convictions the homeschooling parents were.
And, KK, I do also worry that restricting homeschooling will be seen as a way to attack conservatives.
Bring it on, indeed!
I am for one for home schooling, but I can understand the aspect of why so many are against it. I am a graduate of a technical school with a certificate and three diplomas in the Computer Information Specialist Program. We not only was graded for the classes we took, but we were graded on ethics. It seems that they are so many people that are not taught that either in the home or elsewhere.
The important ethic I believe and I think was getting across to all the students was working together as a team. Unless a family has a great number of children, there are not that many opportunities for children in home schools to learn about team playing and working together. If children are learning this important aspect, then that needs to be addressed in the future so others can understand the fullness of what is home school is about.
For me, I am single with hopefully the right ideas for my children whenever I get them. How I see it, I think that the government educational system needs to team play with home schoolers then play the “bashing” game. All that parents want is the best for their children. Home school is the best in their education, but what so many are concerned about it is book learning all children needs to know? I surely do not know all the answers to life. In away I prefer it to be that way. Would not life be boring if things too easy.
I enjoyed and linked to this post, I really enjoyed your thoughts on the negative attention on homeschoolers. Thanks for sharing!
Ugh – here we go, again – what IS it with people like Dr. Phil and Oprah, anyhow.
Stirring the pot for ratings sake, I say.
Did we NOT have enough with the media’s stay-at-home, vs. work-at-home, vs. working mom!?!
Apparently, not – now, we’re going to start slinging poo at each other’s education choices…for children’s sake!?!
Opinions are fine…even better, when communicated in a respectiful manner.
Name-calling, however (a.k.a. unschooling parents are lazy) is childish and ignorant, especially coming from a Mom (who happens to have a syndicated column!)
My body hair is all prickly – and I’m not a homeschooler – enough already.
The stereo-typing has to stop…mom and dad…it’s bad for the kids!
There is a definite slant against homeschooling by the media. It should be no surprise though given the fact that most journalists lean to the left and the left is a big supporter of the teacher’s union.
Unfortunately, it seems to not just stop with their reporting. I just read a recent post about how Arizona banned homeschoolers from participating in a chess tournament and cited something to do with students having to stay in their own home district. Of course, they did not apply the same rule to public or private schooled children!
if dr phil does a special on homeschooling i want to be on it, the only people you can find supporting homeschool are kids still in it, and their closed minded parents, as someone who made it to adulthood after being homeschooled (by some of the most educated people on the subject i might add) i’ld say the whole thing was a complete failure, academically it was ok no real harm done, the social issue is drastically true, i spoke with a homeschooling family about the issue, you would think they could listen because i’m the closest thing to a predictor of their daughter’s future that they could possibly find, same stuck up i know everything and F*ck U attitude, as every homeschooler gets with the rest of the world, why are y’all so opposed to hearing a valid arguement, or the truth about homeschooling from someone who went through it? i’ve come to the conclution that mast of you will still do it no matter how harmful it is, or how many horror stories you find or don’t find, its not a joke, without me going into detail, just don’t homeschooling is dangerous, and it can make a social leper out of your children, i have known countless other kids who were homeschooled and trust me its not a pretty picture when adulthood comes, most are adults still living with mommy and daddy unable to establish themselves in the real world, its not just financial its social, its the kind of thing where you raised the sweetest kid in the world, and now they have to be come adults and its like putting a lamb in a tiger cage… trial and error, in my case itsalmost ended in death several times, i can say this so many times in so many ways, but if it falls on deaf ears, no one pays that price except your kids, they won’t know its normal to get picked on or that some peopl are dangerous ect, because they have never experienced it, and they probably won’t experience it until adulthood, you can say it so many times but saying it and experiencing it are two different things, i just pray that you love your kids enough to not do that to them, there are alot of ways to have it go wrong but i have never seen a true success story when it comes to homeschool, never… as someone who is about to become a mother myself i just have to let you know, and i have to give you a chance to protect them by letting go, because what they don’t learn now will forever affect them, please be wise enough to listen, you won’t know the damage its caused until its already done, and by that time you may be lucky to still be close to them at all, if your child wants to go to public school don’t make them resentful and desperate let them go, i know for me this one issue has single handedly destroyed my future and my relationship with my parents, we can still talk but we will never again be close…
do your self a favor and don’t be that parent
I do not think it is a bleak as you state. It is up to have protective mom and dad are that makes the child not able to become adults. I believe in individuality. It is up to us to make the decisions in our lives. What works for one may not work for another. What I am saying is that I have seen individuals that have gone through homeschool and they are normal. They show more maturity then most that goes through a public/private school system. Another words all of what you have said is simply your educated opinion. Nothing wrong with that, but to say to another that homeschool is harmful is rot.
I guess I’ll have to tell my six home educated graduates that they are social misfits – but I suspect that they won’t believe me as they all lead successful and fulfulling lives, with many friends and social outlets.
I have homeschooled my son for 4 years and feel it is a great educational option. As I see it, radical unschoolers are giving homeschooling a bad name. These parents don’t teach their children anything and allow them to play video games all day. On the other hand, unschoolers encourage learning based on their children’s interests and care about what their children learn. The radical unschoolers are truly lazy and shouldn’t fall under the umbrella of unschooling.