Comments on: How Fundamentalist, Patriarchal, Uneducated Homeschoolers Who Live on Tarps in Parking Lots with Their Eight Kids are Harming America

By: Heather

Heather — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:56:22 +0000

I agree that this is not a description of your typical homeschool family. However, I don’t believe your hackles would be so raised were there not a grain of truth to West’s caricature of the quiverfull people. As someone who was homeschooled through graduation in the ’80s and early ’90s, I think we all know of whom West speaks. They were around in “my day,” and I know some of those kids are now homeschooling their own kids, while living in abject poverty on whatever jobs they can find with their scant education (let’s face it, some parents do not have a game plan beyond protecting their children from the evils of the secular world and there are plenty of kids who neither learned anything useful in the modern world nor gained the social acumen to succeed in a typical career). As for me, I was lucky enough to have fundamentalist parents who WERE concerned about preparing me for college and a career (although there was much pressure to find a missionary or preacher to marry so I wouldn’t “have to” finish college). I did well in high school, excelled in university and did OK for myself in the workplace; however, I don’t think I’m any more or less successful than any other motivated child with attentive parents would have been — and whatever educational edge I may have gained has been mitigated by the fact that I am completely and totally socially inept. It’s not that I can’t have a conversation with someone, but my life experiences are so dissimilar to others’ that I can’t relate to them, nor they to me. And as Heidi mentioned, there’s that air of superiority people find so annoying! I’ve spent ages trying to wipe the supercilious smile off my face, because quite frankly, all the intellect in the world won’t do you any good if your colleagues find you insufferably arrogant.
I graduated 12th in my university class, and of the kids who graduated above me, two were privately educated and the rest were products of the evil, secular public school system upon which my parents and their friends spent so much time sneering. Had I learned before it was too late that taking the PSAT could earn me a National Merit Scholarship, or that you have to actually APPLY to Harvard to get in, or that professors have office hours — all things a guidance counselor will tell you — who knows how I might have done?
At any rate, I, too, am sending my children to a private school, where they will enjoy the benefits of individual attention AND regular social interaction with other children.
I’ve also noticed, after reconnecting with old homeschool acquaintances on Facebook, that they all share exactly the same political viewpoints (with the exception of one, who has added white supremacy to her portfolio. I only wish I was kidding.). If homeschooling is supposed to encourage creativity and critical thinking, how can it produce such a homogeneous worldview? I absolutely agree with West’s characterization of the homeschool “army” and its unquestioning attitude toward the “authority” of conservative leadership. I’ve read enough of the classics to know that our great philosophers and politicians have all had their differences, and goodness knows I have my own point of view on everything. But when it doesn’t jibe with the views of other homeschoolers, I’ve been accused of being everything from a tool of Satan to a “lost soul” to my favorite, being brainwashed by secular society. I’m sorry if I read the entire contents of my library and it poisoned me, people — what did you expect me to do with all that spare time at home? ;-)

By: uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:39:29 +0000

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By: F.R. Duplantier

F.R. Duplantier — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:32:11 +0000

Nevertheless, there are some serious drawbacks to homeschooling, as outlined here: http://politickles.com/blog/?p=953.

By: Homeschooled kids ARE DANGEROUS ROBOT DRONES! « THE BLACK KETTLE

Homeschooled kids ARE DANGEROUS ROBOT DRONES! « THE BLACK KETTLE — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:48:12 +0000

[...] Homeschooled kids ARE DANGEROUS ROBOT DRONES! How Fundamentalist, Patriarchal, Uneducated Homeschoolers Who Live on Tarps in Parking Lots with The… [...]

By: Elena

Elena — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:28:39 +0000

The real harm to society is the publication of articles like Ms. West´s in so-called serious journals.

By: heidi

heidi — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:28:47 +0000

I was homeschooled, and at age 16 proudly wrote a : “Homeschooling: The Best Form of Education” research report for my English250 class at a public university (yes, my professor loved me!) I am now 27 years old. My eldest child is 6. Because of my own childhood homeschool experiences, however, my husband and I have decided to send him to a private school this fall. Yes, I am nervous about this decision. You see, some homeschoolers really are raised to fear the “real world”, have difficulty socializing and, even worse, feel that they are so far superior to the mortals who attend public school that they shouldn’t waste their time with them. Only with the support of my wonderful private/public schooled husband have I been able to better discern what will be a more balanced approach to my childrens’ education (please God).

There’s one thing Robin West got wrong that I have to point out — at least based on my experiences – Patriarchal? Yeah right! I can count on less than one hand the homeschooled families I know where the father is actually the “head of the household”. Homeschooling frequently attracts strong-willed, MATRIARCHAL-type women who have no problem taking the majority of the credit for their seemingly brilliant, obedient, admired, emotionally stunted children!

This isn’t just my story. I’m not the only one with a “horror story”. We tend to only hear of the success stories, or articles like West’s. I’m sure there are many homeschooled families who are doing a wonderful job. I was raised in a very rural area. Maybe homeschooers in urban areas are able to lead a more balanced life. But on the outside my family looked like we had it all together too. Others told us they envied our “perfect” family. It has taken years of struggling with relationships (what??? why should I respect your way of thinking, when mine is so far superior?) and attending therapy, to deal with some of these issues. My therapist acknowledged that she has seen a huge increase in one group of clients: HOMESCHOOLING FAMILIES.

God bless homeschool families, for their road is very difficult. God bless homeschooled children, for I fear many of them – if they dare to leave the bubble many were raised in – will have a very painful journey ahead.

By: Ron Thomski

Ron Thomski — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 03:33:42 +0000

We are headed for a new dark age. Unlike the last dark age, this coming dark age will be one where there is an abundance of information, just no one who knows how to use it. West’s article is a sign-post of the coming intellectual dark age: self-contradictory ramblings passing as “scholarship”. To get published and applauded, it need only pass one litmus test: “does it advance the left-wing agenda?” The process of “dark age-ification “will probably take 100 years. It began in the ivy league post-WWII. It will be upon us in toto by 2050. The Georgetowns and Harvards will all succumb to it. The echo chamber of self congratulation and tautologous self confirmation that liberlism demands will silence countervailing points and liberal nonsense will go unchecked. Unchecked nonsense only gets worse, and the worse it gets, the darker and dumber the denizens of these “universities” will get. Homeschooling and the new classic Catholic schools and universities are the future. I am not a home schooler, but the writing is on the wall.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 20:58:35 +0000

If you were to narrow down all of the
~Fundamentalist
~Patriarchal
~Uneducated Homeschoolers
~Who Live on Tarps in Parking Lots
~and have Eight Kids

I would dare say you might come up with one family at most… and shame on them!

By: Pentimento

Pentimento — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:35:24 +0000

The most shocking thing about West’s article is that a presumably peer-reviewed academic journal published it as an essay based on verifiable evidence. The fact that West cites no sources for her money paragraph about oppressed families living in tarps exposes her as a shoddy scholar whose work no one should take seriously.

By: Alasandra

Alasandra — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 20:43:06 +0000

My rebuttal is here
http://alasandras.blogspot.com/2010/01/robin-l-west-takes-potshot-at.html

It doesn’t drive all lefties crazy, some of us actually homeschool our kids. Homeschoolers are more diverse then most people realize.