THE UNEXPECTED UPSIDE OF... A HOMESCHOOLED EDUCATION
introverted because I’m homeschooled or homeschooled because I’m introverted? It’s a rephrased formulation of the nature-vs- nurture debate, and your answer will probably come from your preconceived notions about education and humanity. I’m going to cheat on that question. The biggest influence on who I am has nothing to do with school, and everything to do with my parents. I’d take a step further and say that’s true for most people. Shy and hesitant in social encounters? Sounds remarkably like my dad’s description of his college days. Loud and opinionated? Sounds quite like my mother. What I have to say here probably won’t satisfy a sound-bite society. In an age of easy absolutes, homeschooled kids must either be hothouse flowers, sheltered from the character-building agora of junior high, or overachieving honor students kept pure from the filthy masses. The reality’s more like real life. Some are hardened by adversity,
Hannah Long is a freelance writer and recent Emory & Henry graduate. Her work has appeared in TheWeekly Standard. C.S. Lewis said once that friendship begins when one person looks at the other and says, “What? You too? I thought I was the only one.” Or, as that conversation usually goes in college, when one person looks at the other and says, “Oh, crap – that was due today ?” others draw strength from privacy and family. Some wilt away in isolation, others love crowds. Ultimately, the best people to ask what’s best for kids aren’t their politicians, but their parents. As for me, school and society are significantly less intimidating now, both because I’ve grown stronger, but also because I’ve learned that everyone else is just as uncertain and awkward and socially clueless as I am.
I was able to live unstructured and unplugged, enjoying learning for its own sake. In that, I count myself lucky.
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American Consequences 43
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