The Socialization Deception
Taken from http://www.crosswalk.com/family/homeschool/high-school/the-socialization-deception.html?ps=0
If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it a thousand times—that age-old question asked of every homeschooler by every homeschool skeptic: “What about socialization?”
Whether asked by genuinely concerned and well-meaning relatives or posed by our most ardent critics, the question has become so routine that many homeschoolers are able to answer it without a moment’s thought. But for years, we’ve been answering this question the wrong way.
“Well,” the standard answer goes, “our kids go to soccer practice once a week, our youngest daughter takes music lessons, our son is in 4-H and Boy Scouts, the oldest two are part of the church youth group, and they all have lots of friends around the neighborhood. They get plenty of socialization.”
Question answered, critic silenced. We feel good. Vindicated. “You can’t get us with that question,” we think to ourselves. “Just look at all the socialization my kids get!”
However good it may feel to give this answer, it amounts to little more than an “Oh yeah?” response. “What do you mean my kids don’t get enough socialization? Just look at everything they’re involved in!”
Is this the best answer we can give? And is it possible we’re compromising our own values and allowing the world’s thinking to become our own? (more…)