The Pilgrim Underground: Homeschooling: The Good and the Bad

14 September 2024

Homeschooling: The Good and the Bad

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/children-deserve-uniform-standards-in-homeschooling/

Homeschooling has exploded, especially in the aftermath of Covid and it is sending up red flags among the Establishment. There have been numerous articles as of late critical of the movement and for every one of these there are multiple responses issued from the Christian community - which by all accounts dominates the homeschool spectrum.

These articles and responses continue to frustrate me as I find both sides to be in error. We homeschooled all of our children and the topic has interested me for a long time - I've attached a partial link-list below.

The interest of the state in the public education of children is somewhat dubious. From an economic standpoint you could say that the state has an interest if these children are going to be unproductive and reliant on welfare. However this is rarely the case and far more likely when it comes to public school students. As far as the notion or robust citizenship and patriotism (which I as a New Testament Christian reject), the Evangelical community embraces this with great zeal.

Although it must be admitted this has gone off the rails in recent years as patriotism has in some quarters been transformed into a rejection of the Founder's Liberalism and an expression of counter-revolution - and thus subversive. The Right has moved so far to the Right that technically it's no longer conservative but guilty of the kind of subversion the Left was accused of 50-60 years ago.

And as I and others have long pointed out, there's a great irony here in that it was Protestant Christians that pushed for compulsory public education in the late 19th and early 20th centuries because they did not want immigrants to have freedom of cultural expression. They wanted their children in order to Americanize them and break them away from old cultural traditions and divided loyalties. The WASP Establishment effectively created the institution and its legal mechanisms and these same people are now in despair because it has turned against them.

And despite the libertarian streak presently in play within the Christian Right - I firmly believe that were they ever to come into real dominating or even dictatorial power, they would once again work to restrict the freedoms of others. Their libertarianism is not principled but self-serving.

In light of a 'Christian' regime and public education, the secular Left might pursue homeschooling in response and yet I cannot imagine the Dominionists in control would simply leave them be in the name of 'liberty'. On the contrary they would wish to regulate their education and compel children into classrooms where the Decalogue is on the wall and so forth.

So let it be said there's a great deal of dishonesty and hypocrisy when it comes to these discussions.

And with regard to abuse, there are many ways parents can abuse children - some are abhorrent to all, other instances should not be viewed as abuse but as discipline. I don't believe it's wrong to tell children 'no' or to deprive them of certain things deemed normative. The Scriptures do not forbid corporal punishment but all of these things (or tools) can be abused. Children can be discouraged, some parents are wantonly cruel and others punish out of anger or wrong motivation. But when it comes to the state and the norms it has established through modern psychology and the like - these must be rejected and it would be an act of sheer madness and abdication to hand over my Christian children to these people or give them access to my home - to judge us by the very standards and assumptions we as Christians must reject.

I cannot speak to the abuse in terms of violence or perversion - the examples in the article are tragic but extreme outliers. I don't say this to downplay their appalling nature but simply to say that statistically these cannot be factored in any more than extreme cases of public school kids or teacher abuse should be factored in either. It's out there and it's also prevalent in the public school setting. Having children looked at by 'mandatory reporting' adults is no guarantee. Even some of these people are abusers. Children will hide things, and not all abusers are stupid. Not a few teachers and school employees are alarmist and as the generation gap grows (it's starting to be more of a civilisational gap) there's such a profound gulf of understanding and intuition that it's hard to interact with such people.

I know of one case in which a woman was advised due to her medical condition to stay home from work for 1-2 weeks. The woman refused to do so. Given that it's a low-end retail job, my guess is that she can't afford to take the time off and so she planned to 'work through it' as they say. The doctor (or more likely nurse practitioner) then marked her down as having 'suicidal tendencies' - which then likely triggered the involvement of various agencies and created a nightmare for her. The younger generation and those deeply shaped by psychologically-informed medicine literally cannot understand the generations that precede them. Increasingly I don't want to deal with these people. I find myself wanting a doctor with grey hair - not just for the sake of experience but relatability.

This same problem also plays out in terms of school officials - many of which live (from my perspective) on a different planet. They think differently and see the world through different eyes. Just as I feel like FOX addicts live in a different reality, my interactions with public education officials isn't all that different. I don't trust them, respect them, and wouldn't want them near my children. That was true over twenty years ago when we started homeschooling and though all our kids are finished - it would be more the case today.

So when the Scientific American article speaks of 'horrific abuse', I'm not sure what they mean. They could mean beatings and molestations or they might even be referring to educational neglect. And there's no doubt that a lot of homeschooled kids are being given a bad deal by their parents.

And yet in our experience all of our homeschooled young adults run circles around their peers - especially out in the world and in terms of college and the workplace. They have better basic skills and knowledge and seem to be excelling even when it was not necessarily their intention to do so.

And while I do not understand or greatly sympathize with parents that are selling their children short on education - and I know a lot of them, another part of me says, 'so what?'

As Christians do we define success the way the world does? I hope not. What about status? What about citizenship? I look at all of these things differently and as I've said before, I don't care if my kids end up doing menial or humble work as long as they are Christians. I hope for them to be happy but this is not a primary concern. And I hope most readers have enough Christian wisdom to realize that the state of mind we call 'happy' is one that can be found regardless of circumstance. Some situations are better than others to be sure but personal peace and contentment need not be tied to a job that is granted status by society or one that generates an impressive paycheck. There's more to life than security or the dreams of the middle class.

Hard work and the pain that comes with it can be miserable - as I well know. But in other situations there is a kind of satisfaction and contentment that can come with it and at times I appreciate the gritty simplicity that life takes on - the glories of a passing cloud providing shade, a breeze on a sweltering day, or even something as simple as a sip of cool water. I can then look contentedly at the people sitting in their air conditioned rooms, seated in plush furniture, imbibing expensive drinks of whatever variety - and know that many of these people while enjoying a moment of creature comfort (and sometimes enslaved to such) can at the same time be miserable and have no peace. In other words these things don't make them happy and many are not. I don't find joy in their unhappiness but rather in understanding that peace and contentment are found elsewhere.

These are largely intangible questions that deal with unquantifiable aspects and qualities of life but they should affect (at least in part) the importance we place on education and success. And what education? What does that mean? I'm not trying to muddy waters but rather to encourage believers to step back and re-think some of these questions. For most today education is about getting certified to make money. That's a shallow and indeed vapid understanding of knowledge and its role in our lives.

I often tell the story of two men - one is a retired military man who gave his life to his work and has done very well by it. The other stocks shelves at a small town grocery store. The one by all societal measures is successful and respectable. He lives very well and is a pillar of society. The other is a nobody. He's poor, exploited by the grocery chain he works for, walks to work, works very hard and yet has nothing to show for it. In the eyes of society he is a loser. In the eyes of the middle class he is a failure and many would say his condition is due either to his stupidity or his sloth. His failure is not just financial but moral.

The thing is the first man made his fortune on exploiting people. He signed on to a machine that commits mass murder around the world and is the spear-tip for a financial system that destroys societies, families, cultures, and generates strife, political upheaval, and war. A grand beautiful house, courtesy and exquisite manners, and even a type of generosity cannot paper over the blood that his personal empire and status are soaked in. It cannot hide the fact that the foundation of his house (as it were) is comprised of corpses and tears - even if he personally never pulled a trigger. Society has woven smokescreens to ensure this is not grasped or seen by the masses and instead of of questioning it, they largely aspire to the same.

And what of the grocery store stocker? He may not have a lot of imagination but he works. He has been more or less kicked all his life but he's still a nice person that's willing to give - even if his motives are tainted by a desire for approval. Don't be fooled, the well-to-do man isn't all that different in that respect.

But here's the thing - the grocery stocker doesn't hurt people. He's part of a corrupt system (as we all are to greater and lesser extents) but in his case he's one of the people at the bottom. His wealth (or lack thereof) and his status are not built on the exploitation of others or violence. He hurts no one - at least in terms of his work and his income.

The world says - I want my child to be like the first example. Is that Christian thinking? If the aforementioned grocery stocker is a Christian, then there's nothing wrong with his life. He can serve the Lord and the Church, and live a humble, faith-sustained, honourable, and happy life. In Christian terms (if he's a Christian) I would deem him 'successful'.

And with the other well-off man - his Christian testimony (if he has one) is tainted and poisoned. If he's not a Christian then he's just an official of Babylon. Why as a Christian would I look up to that? The Scriptures do not reckon such a man 'successful' or worthy of esteem. I would never want my sons to be that man. And while I might hope they can do more than stock shelves at a grocery store - simply because I want them to be able to support a family, there's nothing wrong with that path and there's nothing to be ashamed of if that is one's earthly vocation.

The world doesn't see it that way - and sadly for the most part the Church is no different. Generations of false leaders have successfully taught God's people to think just like the world.

And so these questions also play into the question of homeschooling and notions of success and social integration - although as stated, the vast majority of Christians are in reality much closer in their thinking to the mainstream of society at this point than the position I'm arguing for.

I am concerned about the Christian parents who homeschool out of political motivation and may or may not be selling their kids short in terms of their education. In some cases the basic skills are there but their thinking is so skewed that they will be all but unable to function. I've also seen the kids that were just failed by the homeschooling parents and they enter adulthood with an education equivalent to someone in junior high (about 12-13 years old).

That said, I don't believe the state has anything to offer. I know there are good public schools out there but not in my area. Kids are graduating high school semi-literate and the ignorance my son is encountering in college is staggering. As previously stated, a generation or two ago these kids would not have been encouraged to go to college as they are not prepared or simply lack the discipline or aptitude. The truth is many of them wouldn't have graduated high school and yet they're now in college. The public system has failed and while I am alarmed at some of what's happening in the homeschool world, the officials of the state education system have little to say. As far as socialisation, the public schools along with modern psychology-driven parenting have produced the most backward, broken, and anti-social generation of young people in history. So while homeshooled kids sometimes struggle with socialisation, at this point just about anything is better than the public school, and from a Christian standpoint the things going on in school with behaviour and (again) psychology-driven ideology are simply beyond the pale and no Christian in their right mind will send their kids to such schools.

Churches need to re-think their budgets - get some volunteers to mow the lawn and cancel the coffee bar and start helping those in the church that don't have the means to pay for private school and may lack the resources or means to homeschool. It's that serious. But sadly in many cases the theology of these churches is unable to frame or grasp this and at the same time politics and American ideology (confused with Christianity) is driving these questions more than Christian thinking, virtue, and compassion. All this stupid 'woke' talk is a case in point.

Revisionist history abounds in all quarters and we should expect lost people to twist history to support their idols. Why are Christians doing the same? The answer is simple - because large swathes of Evangelicalism are also given over to idolatry of America. It is their security, their wealth, status, pride, and hope. It is a blasphemous substitute for the Kingdom of God. This idolatry has resulted in judgment and the searing of their consciences and as such they too are resorting to lies and other forms of evil - and the re-writing of history in order to justify the narratives they wish to tell regarding their counterfeit Zion.

As far as the education status or experience of parents - that can be both a benefit and a hindrance. I know of some that due to their education lose the forest for the trees and can't break free of the Horace Mann/John Dewey models of education. That said I know of others who hide their ineptitude behind the farce of un-schooling.

As Christians we should be self-motivated, and the study of Scripture drives us to want to learn. Scripture opens up worlds of history - both Biblical and Church history, and this in turn drives us into the realm of ideas, epistemology, and ethics. And as we try to navigate life as Christians we (with our renewed minds) ought to be driven to learn and wrestle with the world. We should be of all people the most curious and motivated - and yet as I say that I will freely admit there's a tension as the desire to learn can easily be corrupted by wrongly driven motivations and foster not just pride but other harmful tendencies as well. Even an undergraduate degree is no guarantee that a parent will be a good teacher and many public school teachers do a poor job as well. There's more to being a teacher than simply persevering through a programme or following a curriculum. Many of us had a few good teachers in school - and lots of mediocre ones and often some bad ones as well. I know people with college degrees that possess a kind of knowledge and aptitude but that doesn't mean they're particularly sharp, nor does it mean they will have the wisdom to communicate or help a child understand a complicated topic - let alone foster within them a desire to learn and develop a self-motivated curiosity about the subject at hand.

Do a lot of parents enter into homeschooling having no clue as to what they are doing? Without a doubt. At the same time there are many who are reticent and paralyzed by unwarranted fear.

I've written in the past about some of the regulations. Pennsylvania is usually considered one of the 'bad' states in the homeschool community. We found it to be easy. Sometimes the paperwork was a bit of a headache and the costs for evaluation (our choice) were a burden but all things considered it was easy. We did everything required and were communicative and polite and we had no trouble. We know families that have had trouble and from our perspective - they brought it on themselves with their refusal to just follow the requirements of the law and in particular their manner and the way they dealt with officials.

The fact that we had to turn in an affidavit to the school district (allowing them to know who was homeschooling in their jurisdiction) wasn't a huge burden. The result was we received a paper every year from the superintendent that said we were legal and permitted to homeschool. Unlike states with no regulation we never had to worry about a social worker or truancy official showing up at the door. All we had to do was show them the form and refer them to the school district. In states without regulation a social worker or truant officer can simply respond, "You're homeschooling? Prove it. Otherwise your kids should be in school."

We never had this problem and we never had to meet with school officials even once. I had a few phone calls over the years but that was it.

The state has an interest in making sure children aren't tortured or dysfunctional to the point of ending up on welfare - but the public schools (forgive the cliche) are people living in glass houses and we all know they shouldn't throw stones. From cases of missed abuse, to teachers sleeping with students, to psychological torture and mutilation, as well as educational neglect, the public school system has no moral standing and though I risk offending readers, I struggle with respecting professing Christians who continue to operate in that system.

The Pilgrim Underground

14 September 2024

Homeschooling: The Good and the Bad

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