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But should you be able to totally escape from scrutiny? To me it seems very wrong to deny a child the opportunity to learn the things they'd need to function in
by elil17 3y ago
But should you be able to totally escape from scrutiny? To me it seems very wrong to deny a child the opportunity to learn the things they'd need to function in society like reading, math, and science. Most homeschooling parents are teaching these things to there kids, but there are some who aren't. That ought to be stopped.
- ejb999 3y agothere are plenty of public schools, despite spending 10-15-$20K per student are also not teaching those things. THAT ought to be stopped.
- elil17 3y agoYeah that should also be stopped.
- Clamchop 3y agoIsn't it some comfort that you can see there is something to stop or change?
- tivert 3y ago> Isn't it some comfort that you can see there is something to stop or change? No, of course not. Is being helpless comforting to you? How often does anyone actually fix a serious problem with an institution? Sure it happens sometimes, but the best almost everyone can hope for it to muddle through being subjected to the problems. The impulse to put homeschooling under the thumb of government officials is not comforting, because it would remove the agency of parents to respond to problems they experience or fear in the school system.
- elil17 3y agoCan't there be a middle ground? I'm not saying the government should mandate particular curriculums. What I'd actually propose is something like random checks to make sure that homeschooled kids are actually learning at some point during the day and to check for signs of abuse.
- cooper_ganglia 3y agoIf I choose to send my mail using FedEx instead of USPS, should the government investigate me solely on the grounds that I chose an alternative to a government service? Personally, I don’t think so.
- elil17 3y agoIf you're trying to make an analogy between mail and school, I think FedEx would be more equivalent to a private school than home schooling. And FedEx, much like private schools, has to to comply with a bunch of government regulation. In the case of FedEx, they have to check to see whether there are drugs or bombs in the packages. FedEx also has to deliver the package, you can sue them if they fail to perform their contractual obligations. Private schools have legal requirements and report evidence of child abuse and have to provide actual education. In this child = cardboard box analogy, I guess home-school would be equivalent to transporting the box in your own car. In this case, the box would also be subject to scrutiny, for example at border crossings.
- Clamchop 3y agoI don't think "of course" belongs in that sentence. Not everybody feels so defeated, or would feel better seeing the manifest evidence of societal dysfunction (if it happened, I've not foreclosed on it) emerging from black boxes concealing different interpretations of a good and complete education as numerous as there are families. And I can't argue with your position on how often things are fixed. It wouldn't matter what evidence I found, the goal post would just move a little bit farther. Sure, "it happens sometimes," but never enough to satisfy. But I can counter with, how often can you fix broken homeschooling that has no auditing or oversight? Never. Not even sometimes.