Deschool Yourself: I Feel Sorry For Kids In School. Every. Single. One.

By Linda Dobson who owns and maintains the website Parent at the Helm and is the author of many homeschool books.

I check education news every morning. I know good news is rare. I know some days are worse than others. And there are some days when the news breaks my heart. Today was one of those days.

I feel sorry for kids in school. Every. Single. One. For so many reasons I’ve lost count, so the following isn’t an all-inclusive list. Rather, it’s a list about the crux of the problem. I hope parents will use the list to check and see what may be/is going on in their children’s lives, as the children may be so numb as to not recognize what’s happening and therefore not share with parents the detrimental practices and attitudes that permeate their lives.

Why I Feel Sorry for Kids In School (Today: The List Is Always Subject to Change)

The President’s call: “So tonight, I call on every State to require that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn 18.” Sigh. Empty rhetoric when continued action doesn’t match words helps no one. The system isn’t working for a high percentage of attendees, in part because of programs like No Child Left Behind, an insane focus on standardized tests, teachers unions, and a general resistance to bringing the system into the 21st century. More of what’s wrong doesn’t fix what’s wrong.

A Pervasive Lack of Respect for Children: Kids in school walk through metal detectors on the way in, know there is a police force presence on campus, and get arrested for violations – real or imagined – of school rules. A school “outlaws” footballs, soccer balls, tennis balls, every kind except Nerf during recess because a parent got hit in the head with one. At least those kids still have recess; does yours? Can your child go to the bathroom when necessary? Kids in one school are only supposed to go three times a week in a “No Pissing Contest” for sticker and pencil prizes. What about a school that makes students create a blog (even if writing, spelling and grammar are not student’s strong points), then uses said blog to publicly humiliate the student?

Bullying: Please, don’t make me look up all of the stories I’ve read of heartache – and suicide – of children for whom daily school attendance is sheer psychological and mental torture.

Poor health: We know children suffer a plethora of health ills, from shared lice and flu bugs to environmental allergies to poor nutrition (unless you really do count pizza and ketchup as vegetables). Please read 12 Health Benefits of Homeschooling for a comparison. And, oh, how my heart goes out to the twelve teenage girls in upstate New York suffering a mystery illness no one seems able to stop. Besides Tourette’s Syndrome-like tics, “Her mother, Melisa Philips added, ‘She also now has daily blackouts and seizures … not like epilepsy seizures, but where she’s somewhat lucid and can feel her body being rigid and it’s almost like she’s a stone statue. And she can’t move and she’s very weak and tired, and so, it just continually seems to get new symptoms.’” How long will this remain “a mystery” for these kids in school?

Not receiving a real education: Why do we want kids in school? Theoretically, it’s so they can receive an education. There are just too many locations where that isn’t happening, parents.