Public School Versus Home School

Janell Redmond
English 1301
Sharon Prince
March 2, 2013
Home School Verses Public School
It is now more than ten years since the National Commission on Excellence in Education published a report entitled "A Nation at Risk." This report warned the nation on the dangers of "rising tide of mediocrity" in the public school (Davis, 20). Ever since, despite the concerns expressed by politicians, parents, and community leaders, America’s public schools have not changed, In fact, according to a recent report that was funded by federal government, class work in English, mathematics, science, history, geography, foreign languages, civics and fine arts had shrunk to about 50% of a typical American high school day ( Davis, 24). unbelievably, U.S. high school students only spend about three hours every day on core academic subjects which is half as much as the time spent by German, French and Japanese students.
Concurrently, Davis is of the view that the trend has lead parents to take over the responsibility of educating their child at home as opposed to sending them to public schools (Davis, 24). The two opposing views are making parents to wonder what best option for their child’s education is. While home school options offer parents control over their children’s curriculum and environment, Public schools offer socialization and a broad range of concepts; therefore, the choice between these two options requires much consideration.
The first argument is social interaction. According to Jones “social interaction is the process of contact where the behavior modifies slightly”. It is the foundation of society and without interaction there would be no group life (Jones, 22). Human beings are social beings and needs to socialize from birth to death. Today, organizations are working hard to achieve team work; imagine how it would be if employees could not socialize effectively. School is often known as the main place where kids socialize. They are in it for 5 days a week! It is where most of their friends come from.
In a nutshell, homeschooling gives out individuals who cannot handle other people. They cannot cope with the harsh realities of life beyond their family environment (Jones, 24). The children will not learn valuable skills such as the ability to work with others or to handle interpersonal conflicts because of the protective cocoon of the home. This will then disadvantage them when they grow up (Jones, 25).
In public school, Jones says students have the opportunity to learn valuable skills such as the ability to work with others, to handle interpersonal conflicts, work in groups or teams and to make personal sacrifices for the betterment of the group. These interpersonal skills are very critical in life later for them. Above all, they are told about social expectations; things like the Standards of behavior, dress, manners and morality (Jones 27). This is to say, school provides a kind of “informed consent” in that people who choose to ignore social prescriptions do so in full awareness of the penalties that they will likely encounter.
Therefore, to eliminate this critical opportunity for the children is harmful to the social development of a child. And how do you expect your kids to find a spouse when they grow up? Without opposite gender interaction, they will feel awkward around a girl or boy.
The second argument considered is environment. Turtel argues that home schooling gives the children a better, safe, and comfortable environment. Home ideally provides an ideal calm and peaceful environment for the kids to learn (Turtel, 30). This gives the child the opportunity to focus on learning and educational expectations. They do not have to worry about what clothes to wear, shoes, or other requirement of the institution. Not to forget they have an opportunity to work at their own pace and in their own style Turtel notes (Turtel, 359). ...