Nation’s public schools. In The Right Choice Home Schooling, Christopher
Klicka says, "In Washington, D.C., drugs and violence were such a problem in
One Elementary school, that the principal banned regular recess, and the children are only allowed to play outside in a pit enclosed by eight-foot concrete walls, or on a small section of playground monitored by the police. The disciplinary problems of children usually start even before they reach public school. In the last ten years, research shows that infants raised in daycare "are more prone to behavioral problems as young children
than their home-reared cousins. If you keep your child at home from the start, you will be able to discipline and raise your children with the right morals.
Because so much time is spend trying to clean up and keep our schools safe, we are more or less falling behind in our education. American's are farther
behind in educational status than countries such as Japan, Taiwan, and China.
The teachers spend too much time on the little things and forget the real
reason why the children are there. Not only that, but the textbooks hold
inaccurate information and do not contain the whole story. Some textbooks
stated that the atomic bomb ended the Korean War (instead of World War II) and that only 53,000, rather than 126,000 Americans, were killed in World War I. One book summarizes Abraham Lincoln's and George Washington's
life in approximately six lines each. Not only are the wrong things written
in the textbooks, they teach the children wrong values. In public school
textbooks, marriage is never mentioned as the foundation of the family, and
yet these books are supposed to be the textbooks that introduce the child to
an understanding of American society.
Abortion is another issue. Mel and Norma Gabler's document states, "Abortion is discussed as an aspect of birth control in biology and health and homemaking books. Not only that, virtually all sex education textbooks used in public schools throughout the country teach that any kind of sex is all right; such as premarital sex, adultery, masturbation, homosexuality, and lesbianism. A lawsuit has been filed against one Michigan school district after seventh through eleventh graders received instruction in "Self-Pleasuring Techniques" that involved techniques in masturbation, and descriptions of sexual fantasies involving group and homosexual acts. On the Massachusetts State Board of ducation, in October 1991, they enacted a policy to encourage local boards to adopt a condom-distribution policy for high school students. What is this telling our children? Public schools are more or less encouraging our child to have sex and expressing to them that it is okay. After all, they teach our children that if it feels right, then do it. On the other hand, when adults think about educating their children, they often forget the option of home school. The idea of home schooling started many years ago, but it really began to flourish in the 1970's. For many people this was the only option, because either public schools lacked or the schools were too far away for them to attend. In the present day, there are over two million children being home schooled by their mothers and fathers, over a fifteen percent rise in home school students each year. A majority of home school students are white middle class families, but minorities are finding that this option is also better for their children rather than the public schools. Some of the main factors parents find from home schooling are: the children often become more independent and more responsible with their behavior, the influence of peer pressure is reduced, vacations and trips can be planned at the families convenience, families can spend more time together, and there is usually less stress because the children don't have to rush out of the house every morning. These factors and many more, are why parents of today's society are choosing this method. "Critics of home schooling attack it on many fronts, arguing that children are not taught by qualified professionals, homes often do not possess the resources of schools, home-schooled children tend to be isolated from their peers, and systematic evaluation of children's learning rarely occurs in the home. Yet, research does show that home schooled children are equal, if not better than, those students in public school environment are.
Almost all reports have shown that home schooled students score above average on standard achievement tests. This could be because children have more one- on-one experience. Being above average in their curriculum, home schooled students also have little difficulty being accepted into colleges and universities. Boston University says, "We believe students educated at home possess the passion for knowledge, the independence, and the self-reliance that enable them to excel in our intellectually challenging programs of study. More colleges are even having their own admissions policy's for children that are taught at home. Children that are taught at home tend to have stronger relationships with his or her father or mother. This is because first, the children only usually spend, on the average, two to three hours per day receiving instruction. The typical student at a public school spends 367 hours (more than two hours a day) in activities such as lunch, recess, and class changing. There is a lot of time wasted each day that a child could be learning something else. At home also, the curriculum can be geared to fit the individuals need. The child can spend more time on what they need help in the most and this leaves more time for "hands-on" activities for the children to learn by. All in all, the children have more time to spend, at home, building relationships with their family. Many people are concerned about the social factor of home schooled children. It's a common belief that home schooled children will not develop the proper social skills to enable them to interact with others later in life. Many children that are home schooled today have formed their own social clubs. There are things ranging from their own basketball teams to 4-H Clubs. Some children even get together and go on field trips together almost once a week. Social skills are no longer a problem for home schooled children.
The idea of public education has been debated for years. Students are being faced with so much violence and crime in today's public school system that parents are forced to find a suitable alternative. In the past few years, home schooling has had a tremendous rise and has proved to be very successful in providing effective education. Home schooling is just an option that parents have to get their children away from corrupted public education system. Though this is not always the case for all students and all public
school systems, it has shown true many times.
