Just Enough and Nothing More

Ok, I just couldn’t resist. I used this letter from an 18 year old in Pakistan and re-wrote it. What do you think?

“Personally I feel that public schooling is not very effective. From my experience meeting children and teenagers who have received their education through public schools, there are a number of problems I have observed. First, I have noticed that teenagers who I have worked with at different jobs who have been educated through public schools lack social skills. They have trouble getting along with their co-workers, difficulty with following instructions from their managers, difficulty receiving constructive criticism, and difficulty with customers. I have noticed through my experience that younger children in public schools have difficulty in socialization also. My opinion comes strictly from my observations and I have not researched any aspects of public schools. I have seen children in public schools whose parents let them do as they please and their children don’t get a good education.

There are exceptions and circumstances where children need to be put into public school, but the majority of children need to be learn at home with a parent simply for the fact that children need to learn social skills in order to be able to effectively function in society. Socialization is in the hidden curriculum in homeschooling. The hidden curriculum simply means that things are taught at home without actually being formal lessons such as social skills, cooperation, respect, following directions, and responsibility. I feel that social skills are best learned in the real world in order to prepare children for the real world. This can’t be taught in school where the student only socializes with one or two teachers and the kids in their class.”

I can’t tell if it sounds more logical with the roles reversed, or if there isn’t enough logic in the argument to give it any weight either way. It seems to me that basically he doesn’t like homeschooling cuz, well, he doesn’t like homeschooling.

Although, I must admit, my edited version does make some sense. I mean, doesn’t socializing in the “real world” lead to being able to socialize in the “real world?”

Related posts:

1. The Weird Homeschool Girl Goes to School
2. Education is Political
3. An Unschooling Teen Speaks
4. Can an Uneducated Teen Be Successful?
5. Does Homeschooling Work?