Topic : 11/24 Great School Debate

I am 18 years old, recently graduated from high school, and currently in college working on a double major and double minor. I was traditionally schooled my entire life in both private and public schools, and hated every minute of it up until this year, when I went to college. I agreed with a lot of the "philosophy" of the parents who wanted to unschool their children, especially in their belief that children are the most unheard and "discriminated against" people in our society today. I have felt silenced by the school systems since I entered them -- teachers don't listen to their students' opinions, advisors hardly hear students' problems, administrators seem to care so very little about the actual well-being of the kids in their care. I felt like a statistic my whole life, and especially felt like there was so much information and subject matter being crammed down my throat -- most of it unimportant, uninfluential, and long since forgotten.

That being said, I also look back and appreciate it. The traditional school provided me with insights and experiences I never would have encountered had I been homeschooled or "unschooled. " I believe that there can be "unschooling" while a child is being schooled traditionally. My parents never restricted me, never stifled my creativity or imagination, never silenced me, never ignored or shot down my opinions, and generally let me make my own decisions and my own mistakes. I learned to be a free thinker with specific morals because my parents were "unschooling" me on the weekends, while I learned to deal with rigidity, conflict, ignorance, and intolerance during the weeks in traditional schools. My family constantly went on weekend trips, went to museums, studied things, and did all the "hands-on" learning that unschoolers hope to achieve, while still allowing me the benefits of traditional schools.

The biggest problem with education is that people take things to the extreme. Why must it be either all school or no school at all? Why can't parents put thier children in the educational system and still monitor them, nurture them, and enhance their person? I don't understand why it has to be one of the other -- I hated school for many reasons, but I recognize the value and the benefits of it and I am grateful my parents put me through it. At the same time, I recognize that my parents put in the extra 300% to ensure I became an individual who is both traditionally educated and independent of "the system," and who is not entirely dependent on them or anyone else to make my decisions or be hanging over my shoulder. Balance is the key, not extremity.

I am a Homeschool Mother of 2.  My husband and I are both products of the public school system, and I think we are both fairly intelligent, well educated people.  I absolutely LOVE Homeschooling!  It totally works in our life!  However, it is definitely not right for everyone.  We are all individuals.  As parents, we should realize what our talents and gifts are and give the most that we can to our children using those talents and gifts.  Not everyone is cut out to sit at home and teach all day.  Similarly, we cannot expect all children to excel in one way or the other.  Children all develop at different rates and need different things at different stages in their lives.  I personally know people on both sides of the fence.  I know people who have had successes and failures on both sides of the fence as well.

When we chose to Homeschool, it was simply that...a choice!  We respect all parents who work hard and try to do what is absolutely best for their children.  At this time, we personally feel we are doing what we think is best for our kids.  We feel that they are happy and well adjusted children.  We feel that they are learning and growing as they should be.  No one can predict the future.  We might one day change our mind.  But, for now, we do what we think is best.

As parents, if we could all just simply work hard at doing what we think is best for our kids, I feel like we could all benefit from each other.  Dr. Phil opened many people's eyes today and helped raise awareness for Homeschooling and Unschooling.  I feel like he did a good job of listing the facts and did not seem too biased. 

I simply wish we could all watch the show and learn and take something from it.  In the end, we should all realize that doing what is best for each individual child is really what matters.  The more we give to our kids and help them become the best they can be, the more it will benefit Humanity in the long run.

Thank you for this glorious post on unschooling!!!

I felt the same way in high school, but that was in the 70s before homeschooling was even a word (unless, maybe, you were the flower children of hippies on a commune, LOL).

I truly didn't come into my own until grad school, because FINALLY I was doing what I wanted to do with my life.  And I only went to grad school because, unfortunately, a doctorate is required for my line of work.

Kudos to you. :)

I am 16 years old and find a lot of Dr. Phil's shows interesting. Today's show; however, made me extremely angry. Now, I agree that no school would be really cool, but I also think it's the stupidest idea I've ever heard of. Kid's should not have the option of choosing school or no school. Us kids are no where near being responsible enough to have such choices.

When Dana said that children should be created equal to adults when it comes to making choices, I found this to be a ridiculous arguement. I believe that sometimes a kid should have the right to make choices, but they shouldn't have the choice between no school and school. School provides kids structure. It helps them make choices in life. If a kid doesn't go to school, they probably should start practicing saying "Do you want fries with that?"

Another arguement of Dana's was that her kids will be able to get a good job. Well, pardon my french, but that is complete bull. No respectable company would give a job to someone who didn't go to school. Dana and her husband aren't helping their kids, they're destroying the kids' futures.

Finally, Joe said his school experience sucked. Well, that's his fault. He should have pushed himself to do better. It isn't the school's fault that he got C's. If he had taken the time to study or get some outside help, he probably wouldn't have gotten horrible grades. I am a junior in highschool right now, and I've had my share of bad grades, but that's because I didn't put the time in to get better grades. Sure, school is a huge stress factor, but it still is EXTREMELY helpful.

Dana and Joe need to put their kids in school. Otherwise, their kids' future will be horrible. They won't have a good job, and they won't make a lot of money. Watching this show made me realize that although I hate school sometimes, in reality, it is a good thing. I am glad my parents aren't into the "no-school" thing. If they were, I know that my future will not be good. I won't get into college, I'd probably end up working at McDonalds, and I won't be able to provide for a family. So, "Dana and Joe, get a clue!!!"

As a mother of three with a college education, I am now home schooling my 15 year old after I got so sick of all the garbage that goes on in public schools. My son's public school teachers were more concerned with how he looked at them, and petty complaints,  then what was being taught and what he was learning.   He complianed two years ago that teachers spent more time on teaching for the tests than teaching new materials.

My son is ADHD, been through the gammut of medication and is in several gifted classes and and IQ of 127.  He has a problem with doing homework but does very good on tests and computer homework compliance. He had a lot of problems with bullying last year which the school pretty much ignored, rumor control among the kids is out of control, and I had more complaints with petty crap than anything else. My son  actually gets too MUCH socialization in public schools because he gets distracted and likes to talk. I said enough is enough, I pulled him out and am now homeschooling him through OHVA and K12.com. He has had several  years of band(including marching) , sports and other socialization activites both in the community and in school.  BTW-with K12, they  sponsor family edcuational and socialization outings yearround and around the state, which is much more than public schools offer.

The home-schooling is structured the same as public school, he takes the same tests, has the same state regulated books, has virtual classrooms through Elluminate Live and I am required to meet  face-to-face with his teachers 4 times a year, which is MORE than what is required in the local public schools.  The differerence that I set my son's schedule according to what  I want . I can pull back  or speed up his schedule and he has the opiton of graduating early if he so chooses.

 My son gets much more done and the learning environment is MUCH more flexible and he doesn't have all the distractions and bullcrap of regular schools.  I should also mention since he has experienced public schools vs. home schooling through OHVA-k12.com, he LOVES the home- schooling so much more and learns more. OHVA focus's more on mastering the material over grades( which is how it should be) and he has the opportunity to move up in grade level when he can show he has mastered the state requirements. I don't have to worry about school lunch garbage, bullying, missing the school bus, snow day cancellations and petty teachers.