Tom Feeny's Arguments Against Homeschooling

The Homeschooling Debate

When I was in the fifth grade, my mother chose to remove me from the public school system and homeschool me. Many of my family members and teachers at the time, including Ms. Duggar, did not agree with her decision and for good reason. While some families have opted into homeschooling, there are numerous factors that argue against the idea. The reasons range from physical child abuse to social deprivation to the possible compromise of citizenship. When you consider these things, it is easy to see why California declared homeschooling a criminal offense in 2008. Tom Feeny, a Florida politician, published an article in “Human Events”, discussing California’s position on homeschooling. “On February 28, […] the court
One of the most significant cases of child abuse occurred in California. “A California man who homeschooled his children, engaged in incest at home and fathered at least one of his own grandchildren, and ultimately shot nine of his family members to death in the home (Barnett 343-344).” In Missouri, there have also been multiple cases of child abuse, attributed to homeschooling. When a child is not in public school, it is hard for the state to detect abuse. “Teachers are the number-one reporters of child abuse occurring elsewhere[…]children spend the most time away from parental supervision when they are at school, many teachers receive training to recognize unreported abuse[…]in some situations, children report abuse to their teachers “(Barnett 344). Because of laws in several states, parents do not even have to report that they are homeschooling their children. This makes it even more difficult to detect child abuse in homes. “Due to states’ limited ability to collect data on homeschooled children, no research exists to show precisely how many homeschooled children have been abused overall” (Barnett
However, according to Rob Reich, “total customization also threatens to insulate students from exposure to diverse ideas and people and thereby to shield them from the vibrancy of a pluralistic democracy.” This means that when parents choose to homeschool, they are representing the victory of a consumer mentality within education. This idea compromises citizenship by allowing children to only encounter materials, ideas, and people that their parents have chosen. By doing so, the children will not respect the attitudes or beliefs of others. Homeschooled students also do not share much in common with other students, and therefore they do not have the skills to bind their world together. Also, they must be exposed to the diversity of society so they can live a life of their own. “Customization, and therefore, homeschooling, seem wonderful if we think about education as a consumption item. But schooling, from the time that public schools were founded until today, has served to cultivate democratic citizenship” (Reich 59). Homeschooling does not allow children to explore their world the way it actually is; they are sheltered and only exposed to what their parents