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When I hear some people talk about homeschooled kids being "weird", I have to wonder how weird they themselves would seem to others if transported to some other
by SiVal 12y ago
When I hear some people talk about homeschooled kids being "weird", I have to wonder how weird they themselves would seem to others if transported to some other time or place where the local conformists had conformed to a different set of cultural assumptions than those they had conformed to.
What if the local culture had expectations that they found objectionable? I have to wonder whether they would decide to re-conform to whatever happened to be the local fashion in thought and behavior, go along and get along, or whether they would choose a different path and be thought "weird". If they were willing to deviate from unfortunate social norms and risk being different, why not do it here and now?
It matters because I don't take for granted that the current culture in many public schools is the right one to conform to. It would be quite a coincidence if the local culture of the moment just happened to represent the best a human being could be.
- mercer 12y agoThat's exactly it. Partly because of homeschooling, I've been instilled with an, I think, rather healthy skepticism to 'normal' things. Furthermore, being in a public school doesn't just mean conforming to 'local culture', it means conforming to the local culture of those in a small age range. I'd say conformism coupled with being a teen is significantly worse than just having to adapt to 'local culture'.