3 ms·

Not even sure you can home school children in Italy. I don't think so, schooling is mandatory up to a certain age. Anyway, I've never heard of anyone doing it.

• frostburg 8y ago
  You can, but only terrible people do it. EDIT: keep in mind that the public school system will bend over backwards to integrate and accomodate even the most problematic special needs children. It's among the few things that it does really well.
  • everdev 8y ago
    I don't think HN is the place for judging people you've probably never met.
    • frostburg 8y ago
      Son of teachers. I'm familiar with the issue at hand (there is basically no reason to homeschool in Italy unless you are in a cult or neglect your child heavily).
      • leftyted 8y ago
        This is the US, but an op-ed from a favorite novelist of mine in favor of homeschooling: https://www.salon.com/1997/10/01/01school/ https://www.salon.com/1997/10/01/01school/ I was not homeschooled, but I hated school (even though it was a good public school) and if people want to educate their own children, they should be able to.
      • everdev 8y ago
        > no reason to homeschool in Italy unless you are in a cult or neglect your child heavily Doubling down? I know plenty of kind, loving people who are actively involved in home schooling and are not affiliated with any cult or religion. I know plenty of wonderful families who choose public school and wonderful families that choose home school. I think there's more depth and diversity to people who home school than you might be know of. Some choose to travel the world and expose their children to the amazing biological and human diversity of this planet. What an amazing way to participate in your child's growth and build tolerance for people who think and act differently than you do. As a general rule, it's best not to disparage an entire group of people. I'd be really careful with declarations like those as they can lead to very dehumanizing schools of thought.
        • frostburg 8y ago
          Do you live in the United States? I get the impression that the intellectual climate in grade schools in the USA is vastly more problematic (not that it's spotless here).
• Udik 8y ago
  Ok, I've checked. Apparently it's possible through some very loose interpretation of the law and some additional, and relatively recent, act of the government, which among other things mandates that the parents providing homeschooling need to prove their "financial and technical ability" to do so. Which sounds pretty unlikely since the public school teachers are pretty specialized. In practice in Italy it's such a marginal phenomenon that the law is simply providing a loophole for a tiny minority of very combative people who prefer to give to their children what is ultimately a worse education (if you just wanted to add to the education provided for free by public schools nobody prevented you to do so anyway). In any case these kids need to go through a yearly exam to check on their progress and move to the next "class". Edit: I add what seems to me a very reasonable sentence of the European Court of Human Rights, that upheld Germany's ban on homeschooling: "children are unable to foresee the consequences of their parents' decision for home education because of their young age.... Schools represent society, and it is in the children's interest to become part of that society. The parents' right to educate does not go as far as to deprive their children of that experience."
  • tomjen3 8y ago
    Having attended a public school where is was bullied and my time wasted by terrible teachers, I would have been much, much better of being home schooled.