According to an article named “Homeschooling Continues to Grow in Popularity Nationwide,” by Dave Bohon, “A study by the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) found that as of 2011 there were an estimated 2.346 million children being homeschooled in the United States” (para. 2). Homeschooling has become quite popular lately because many parents have decided that they can provide their children with a better education and a better understanding of life by becoming their teachers and allowing them to learn at their homes, failing to realize how inadequate that environment would be for their children. Children and teenagers in Texas should not be homeschooled by their parents because they are not taught to be punctual, there may be tension between the parents and the children, and they are oblivious to everyday problems that those at school have to face.
There is no place that teaches someone the importance of punctuality, a healthy parent/child relationship, and awareness of the everyday problems that one must face daily in life like school. First of all, most students who are homeschooled by their own parents have very flexible schedules and wake up whenever they want to, which does not help them at all because at a job, punctuality is crucial. Homeschooling would be better if the government had permission to monitor the parents while they homeschool their children, but according to the governor of Texas, “Texas does not index or monitor home school programs” (as cited in Zeise).
That means that, at least in Texas, parents have the right to wake their children up at whatever time they want to and do whatever they want to with their homeschool schedules. With that said, there is nothing wrong with a little freedom every now and then, but too much freedom can be terrible for children and teenagers because, once they grow up, they will realize that, at a job, one must wake up early and follow a fixed schedule. Therefore, they would have a harder time getting used to having an actual schedule, and there could be a lot of problems between them and their future boss/bosses.
Second of all, children should not be taught by their parents because it could build tension between them. Phoebe Doyle, a mother who happens to be a teacher, explains, “The only reason I couldn’t contemplate home schooling would be because I actually quite like my children and wouldn’t want to subject them to my stricter than strict approach that’s induced only by the combination of their mere presence and an educational activity” (para. 9). This means that she would not like to be her children’s teacher because she would have to be even stricter to be so, and being quite strict does not benefit the children at all.
In fact, being extremely strict with one’s children causes a significant amount of tension between someone and his or her children. Children may grow up with dislike, or even hatred, to their parents, failing to realize that their parents only wanted to help them. To avoid any misunderstanding, parents should not home school their children. Thirdly, it is not appropriate for parents to home school their children because, even though they are trying to protect them, they are actually teaching their children that is all right to escape their problems. They are teaching them that nothing bad will happen as long as they stay home.
This is a cruel world. Life can be cruel sometimes, and these children fail to realize it because in their tiny bubble, everything is perfect, and nobody messes with anyone. They think that everything will always be this way, but it will not. Cruel people exist everywhere. Once these children have to face the bullies, the envious individuals, and many other kinds of people with whom they will have to deal at their jobs, the children will realize how bad the choice that their parents took to home school them really was. All in all, these issues are faced by many home schooled children, and in order to avoid them, their parents should consider sending them to public or private schools.
Imagine someone living in a bubble for all of his life. Inside it, everything is perfect and nothing can ever harm him. He loves the bubble because nothing bad can ever get to him, but what he does not know is that there are people in this world who will want to hurt him and to impede his success. Unfortunately, the individual does not know anything about it because he is living inside this bubble, where everything is perfect and nothing bad ever happens. One day, the person finally goes out of the bubble, and he meets several individuals who only want to bring him down, who are always trying to make his world miserable, and who will not give up until they see him failing.
That is exactly how much of an impact it would be for a home schooled person to go out to the real world. Perhaps his parents only wished to protect him, but they just taught him something that is completely untrue: that one should escape his problems. It is not true that to end with a problem one has to escape and go to live inside a bubble. One must face the problem, for every problem makes him stronger. Unfortunately, an individual who has been home schooled all his life does not comprehend the gravity of escaping instead of fighting, or perhaps the need to belong will be stronger, and the individual will find himself doing unimaginable stuff. Human beings were created to be warriors, to fight against those who are only looking for ways to weaken them.
For a child who has been home schooled, though, the world is perfect and no one will ever harm him or her because his or her parents will always be there to protect them. Sadly, this is what home schooled children think, and once they have to go out of their house to look for jobs and live a regular life, they will not only get disappointed. They may also get scared and be unable to function properly. That is another reason why a child should not be home schooled. The needs to belong and to acquire a reality check once in a while could be harmful to those individuals who are home schooled. The need to belong may make the individuals do bad things, and the need to acquire a reality check, which they are not obtaining because their parents have done their best to keep them apart from bad stuff, blinding their kids.
Of course, there are several reasons why one may choose to home school his or her child, and many people would argue that home schooling one’s own heir is a perfect choice. “What if the children have a strict parent who does not allow them to sleep late and makes them wake up early? Would not that make the children more punctual?” It is true. Having a strict parent as their teacher would definitely make the children more punctual and responsible, which would really benefit their development as students and future workers. Strict parents normally make their kids work harder than normal parents or even teachers, and that would really make the children work harder than children who attend regular schools.
That is a quite reasonable argument that one may have, but, just like stated on the second paragraph, a parent should not play the role of a teacher because it may build tension between him and his child. As if having a parent who asks his children to do their house chores were not enough, a child with a parent as his or her teacher will have to deal with a parent who asks him or her to do his or her homework, complete his or her classwork, wake up early, and do so many other things. That will only stress the kid out, and it will make the kid think that his parents do not love him, or that they are only doing this to annoy him.
At a young age, one fails to realize that parents usually want what is best for their children, and having a very strict parent who also plays the role of a teacher could be a total havoc for the kids. If parents were made to play the role of teachers, there should be no need to pay people to teach the kids. Having teachers is very important because they are being paid to make the parents’ role less exhausting. Parents who decide to home school their children are probably not aware of how much easier it would be to simply allow the teachers to do their job and teach the kid. It would be way easier for everyone, especially for the kid, who would not be as stressed knowing that his or her parents are just his or her parents and his or her teacher is just his or her teacher. The parents should think about the tensions that may be created before even considering home schooling.
In conclusion, children should not be home schooled by their parents because they are not taught to be punctual, having one’s parents as his or her teacher may bring up tension between the individual and his or her parents, and because the individual who is being home schooled would not be aware of the reality in the world. Punctuality is quite important at a job, and a kid with a very flexible schedule, just like most of the home schooled children, should struggle whenever time comes to acquire a job. A parent should not play a teacher’s role because it could make the kid grow annoyed or tired of his or her parent. Plus, the children would not be aware of how an environment with people of their age really is, and once they started working, they could realize how cruel life can truly be, but it would be too late. Home schooling one’s children is simply not the best choice.
