FREE ESSAY ON SCHOOL CHOICE: PULIC EDUCATION VS. HOME SCHOOLING

SCHOOL CHOICE: PULIC EDUCATION VS. HOME SCHOOLING

School Choice: Public Education vs. Home School
When American's think of education, they almost automatically think of public education.
Through the years it is slowly changing. Many parents' today are deciding to home school
their children. Although most people think that a public education is better, most
statistics and facts tend to show that home schooling is beneficial in more ways. It is
estimated that parents are now teaching over two million children at home, rather than in
public or even private schools. 
Education in our public schools has been on the down slope for over twenty years now.
Public schools have lost all values and biblical morality. This was what our country was
founded on and it has been replaced with humanism. One example of humanism in our schools
is that they teach evolution, not creationism. Some people believe that this problem is
happening because of the removal of God and prayer in public schools; the U.S. Supreme
Court did this in 1962. Beginning in 1962, SAT scores plummeted. Teen pregnancies, teen
sexual diseases, teen suicides, teen alcohol, drug abuse, pornography, and illiteracy
rates abruptly increased 200 to 300 percent (Klicka 48). Violence is one of the main
factors effecting are schools today. Rape is a growing problem among juveniles. A
juvenile commits one out of every five rapes that occur in the United States. There is
also a higher use of drugs and alcohol among kids in public schools. Over 80 percent of
public high school students drink alcohol and 
45.7 percent have used marijuana. Drugs and alcohol make most people extremely violent.
That is also why our violence and crime rates are so high.
Over hundreds of millions of dollars are spend on the security of our nation's public
schools. In The Right Choice Home Schooling, Christopher Klicka says, "In Washington,
D.C., drugs and violence were such a problem in one 
Elementary school, that the principal banned regular recess, and the children are only
allowed to play outside in a pit enclosed by eight-foot concrete walls, or on a small
section of playground monitored by the police (Klicka 51)." The disciplinary problems of
children usually start even before they reach public school. In the last ten years,
research shows that infants raised in daycare "are more prone to behavioral problems as
young children than their home-reared cousins (Klicka 124)." If you keep your child at
home from the start, you will be able to discipline and raise your children with the
right morals. 
Because so much time is spend trying to clean up and keep our schools safe, we are more
or less falling behind in our education. American's are farther behind in educational
status than countries such as Japan, Taiwan, and China. The teachers spend too much time
on the little things and forget the real reason why the children are there. Not only
that, but the textbooks hold inaccurate information and do not contain the whole story.
Some textbooks stated that the atomic bomb ended the Korean War (instead of World War II)
and that only 53,000, rather than 126,000 Americans, were killed in World War I (Klicka
24 25). One book summarizes Abraham Lincoln's and George Washington's life in
approximately six lines each. Not only are the wrong things written in the textbooks,
they teach the children wrong values. In public school textbooks, marriage is never
mentioned as the foundation of the family, and yet these books are supposed to be the
textbooks that introduce the child to an understanding of American society. Abortion is
another issue. Mel and Norma Gabler's document states, "Abortion is discussed as an
aspect of birth control in biology and health and homemaking books" (Klicka 56). Not only
that, virtually all sex education textbooks used in public schools throughout the country
teach that any kind of sex is all right; such as premarital sex, adultery, masturbation,
homosexuality, and lesbianism. A lawsuit has been filed against one Michigan school
district after seventh through eleventh graders received instruction in "Self-Pleasuring
Techniques" that involved techniques in masturbation, and descriptions of sexual
fantasies involving group and homosexual acts (Klicka 56). On the Massachusetts State
Board of Education, in October 1991, they enacted a policy to encourage local boards to
adopt a condom-distribution policy for high school students (Klicka 56). What is this
telling our children? Public schools are more or less encouraging our child to have sex
and expressing to them that it is okay. After all, they teach our children that if it
feels right, then do it. 
On the other hand, when adults think about educating their children, they often forget
the option of home school. The idea of home schooling started many years ago, but it
really began to flourish in the 1970's. For many people this was the only option, because
either public schools lacked or the schools were too far away for them to attend. In the
present day, there are over two million children being home schooled by their mothers and
fathers, over a fifteen percent rise in home school students each year (Kennedy 1). A
majority of home school students are white middle class families, but minorities are
finding that this option is also better for their children rather than the public
schools. Some of the main factors parents find from home schooling are: the children
often become more independent and more responsible with their behavior, the influence of
peer pressure is reduced, vacations and trips can be planned at the families convenience,
families can spend more time together, and there is usually less stress because the
children don't have to rush out of the house every morning. These factors and many more,
are why parents of today's society are choosing this method.
"Critics of home schooling attack it on many fronts, arguing that children are not taught
by qualified professionals, homes often do not possess the resources of schools,
home-schooled children tend to be isolated from their peers, and systematic evaluation of
children's learning rarely occurs in the home (Simmons 1994)." Yet, research does show
that home schooled children are equal, if not better than, those students in public
school environment are. Almost all reports have shown that home schooled students score
above average on standard achievement tests. This could be because children have more
one-on-one experience. Being above average in their curriculum, home schooled students
also have little difficulty being accepted into colleges and universities. Boston
University says, "We believe students educated at home possess the passion for knowledge,
the independence, and the self-reliance that enable them to excel in our intellectually
challenging programs of study (Klicka 133)." More colleges are even having their own
admissions policy's for children that are taught at home. 
Children that are taught at home tend to have stronger relationships with his or her
father or mother. This is because first, the children only usually spend, on the average,
two to three hours per day receiving instruction. The typical student at a public school
spends 367 hours (more than two hours a day) in activities such as lunch, recess, and
class changing. There is a lot of time wasted each day that a child could be learning
something else. At home also, the curriculum can be geared to fit the individuals need.
The child can spend more time on what they need help in the most and this leaves more
time for "hands-on" activities for the children to learn by. All in all, the children
have more time to spend, at home, building relationships with their family.
Many people are concerned about the social factor of home schooled children. It's a
common belief that home schooled children will not develop the proper social skills to
enable them to interact with others later in life. Many children that are home schooled
today have formed their own social clubs. There are things ranging from their own
basketball teams to 4-H Clubs. Some children even get together and go on field trips
together almost once a week. Social skills are no longer a problem for home schooled
children. 
The idea of public education has been debated for years. Students are being faced with so
much violence and crime in today's public school system that parents are forced to find a
suitable alternative. In the past few years, home schooling has had a tremendous rise and
has proved to be very successful in providing effective education. Home schooling is just
an option that parents have to get their children away from corrupted public education
system. Though this is not always the case for all students and all public school
systems, it has shown true many times.
Work Cited
Hawkins, Dana. "Homeschool battles: clashes grow as some in the movement
seek access to public schools." U.S. News and World Report 120 (1996):
57.
Kenndy, John W. "Home Schooling Keeps Growing." Christianity Today 41
(1997): 68.
Klicka, Christopher J. The Right Choice Home School. Gresham, Oregon: Noble,
1993.
Latham, Andrew S. "Home Schooling. (pros and cons)" Educational Leadership
May 1998: 85-86.
"Learning Around the Kitchen Table: Alternative Education." The Economist 347 
June: 28.
Sullivan, Deidre. "Homeschooling: Going to School By Staying at Home." 
American Legion Magazine Sept. 11993: 25+.