Re: Public Schools

[Adamsc@io-online.com (Adamsc)]

On Sun, 22 Sep 1996 15:40:32 -0700, Timothy C. May wrote:

>>> thru about the 3rd or 4th grade, and I do agree that most of todays schools
>>> are shit, however there is one area--social skills--that homeschooling
>>> simply can't compete. Children need to learn how to interact with one another

>>in a certain area get together.  Homeschooling does not have to stand in
>>the way of a normal socialization process.

>Also--and I mean this point completely seriously!--many parents are not
>altogether convinced that the "public school socialization" is all that
>beneficial. Do kids really _need_ to learn to wear gang colors, smoke to be
>cool, get pregnant at age 14, and so on?

>I think the "social skills" Snow talks about above are actually the _worst_
>part of public schools in fin-de-Siecle America. If I had a kid, I wouldn't
>want him or her in the local public schools.

I'd have to disagree with you on this.   Based on my experience in 3 widely
different districts, such behaviour/problems isn't likely to result from the
school environment.  It's a function of the family life these kids have.   If
they come from a disfunctional family, kids are going to join gangs, get 
pregnant , use drugs, etc no matter what school they're at.   If they have
the right background, it's not going to happen.  

Of course, in some areas (esp. inner cities) the rate of social dysfunction
is extremely high, so some schools are 90% 'problem-kids' as well.   I'd
reccommend against having a homeschooled kid go to one of those (unless
you've been using the Cypherpunks Homeschool Plan For the Instruction of the
3 Rs,  Martial Arts, Bomb-Making, Assasination and Black-Helicopter
Countermeasures.  I imagine school would be very popular if some list members
were teaching)  just because it would significantly reduce the opportunity
for them to catch a stray bullet or something.   I still doubt that a
homeschooled kid from a strong family would join these groups.