| There's an interesting movement taking place | | | | purposeful harm or threats to students by other |
| across America these days. While all over the | | | | students. Maybe it's the violence in the media and |
| world tensions are heating up over wars and | | | | movies or the latest gansta hip-hop song lyrics or |
| saber rattling, while the collective economies | | | | even fast food; no one knows for sure. The |
| worldwide are in shambles and while most of the | | | | simple fact remains that it gets harder to deal |
| rest of the world, it would seem, are on their | | | | with every year. And it's not just the kids making |
| Internet blogs, a small, but growing number of | | | | this a difficult matter to deal with. Teachers have |
| parents are beginning to home school their | | | | told me it's much worse sometimes to deal with |
| children. | | | | the parents of those kids. Some parents blame |
| A survey released in December of 2008 done by | | | | the teachers themselves for the way their kids |
| the U.S. Department of Education's National Center | | | | are and the way they act. It's as if there's been a |
| for Education Statistics reported that in the Spring | | | | paradigm shift in some people's minds that the |
| of 2007, over 1.5 million children were being home | | | | school system should raise the kids and teach |
| schooled. And that was up over 400,000 kids | | | | them right from wrong and how to conduct |
| from just four years earlier. And almost double | | | | themselves around other people. What had |
| the figure from 1999. What's going on? | | | | normally and rightly been a duty and responsibility |
| The top three reasons parents gave for home | | | | of parents has now somehow been shifted |
| schooling were: | | | | toward the school systems. And in the litigious |
| | | | society we live in, we all know that kind of thing |
| 1. They had concern about the school | | | | would even be impossible to do even if they |
| environment. | | | | wanted to. Something is indeed out of whack. It's |
| 2. They wanted to provide more religious or | | | | actually surprising more parents aren't home |
| moral instruction. | | | | schooling. |
| 3. They had dissatisfaction with the academic | | | | The second reason to home school given above |
| instruction available. | | | | really needs no explanation. Parents merely want |
| Most of the concern in reason number one is | | | | more structure and faith to enter into their |
| centered around violence, the threat of violence | | | | children's education. That's their prerogative. |
| or the way students were allowed to interact | | | | And the third reason is actually self-explanatory |
| with each other while at school. As we all | | | | also. Parents just don't feel their school systems |
| remember, there were always bullies and snide | | | | live up to their expectations for a quality |
| little girls who both found a way to play tricks, | | | | education. They would rather sacrifice their time |
| talk badly about us or in some cases actually | | | | and money than short their child's education. A |
| cause us minor harm in some way. Some schools | | | | noble expression of love. |
| have gone a long way past that sort of behavior | | | | Elementary home schooling, preschool |
| these days. Kids have been injured or killed and | | | | homeschooling and even high school |
| not just in the mass slayings so much in the news | | | | homeschooling are on the rise in America. And for |
| these days. We're talking about daily acts of | | | | all the right reasons. |