Be Careful about Judging other Homeschoolers

by Andrea Hermitt | More from this Blogger

08 Apr 2008 11:02 AM

There seems to be a lot of attention paid to Muslim and Islamic homeschooling in the news. Very little of it is favorable. It is labeled as a form of indoctrination of children, and of sexism toward Muslim girls. I have also noticed that other homeschoolers are criticizing these Muslim homeschoolers.

It is not my goal to debate whether Muslim homeschoolers should or should not be able to teach their children according to their own beliefs or customs. We all know that Muslim culture greatly differs from American Culture and that strictly practicing Muslims who choose to homeschool do it to keep their children culturally pure.

Personally, I don't feel that Muslim homeschoolers are any different than those who homeschool for reasons unique to Conservative Christians. I Also don't think that that Muslim homeschoolers are any different than African American homeschoolers who homeschool to give their children a strong African American upbringing. Unfortunately it is also no different than those who homeschool in order to teach their children how to hate.

I think this is a reason why socialization is a big issue among those who oppose homeschooling. By putting children of all of these backgrounds together, you can weaken the hold their parents have on their thinking and in the end, have a society that is more mainstream than extreme. In spite of the fact that there is some truth in this statement, I feel that school socialization is a waste of time.

As an adult, I have come to meet many people who were raised and educated in secluded and culturally sterile environments, regardless of the fact that they went to public school. I met students in college who had never met a black person before. I met Asian students who had never socialized with people outside of their own race. I met black people whose thinking was 40 years in the past. Eventually all of these people came together as young adults at an age when they were more likely to think from themselves and more likely to form opinions that were uniquely theirs.

So while I may not like the reasons that you homeschool, and you may not like the reasons your neighbor homeschools, the truth is that being divisive and judgmental will only hurt homeschooling as a whole.

Related articles: Islamic Waldorf School Online For the Last Time, Homeschoolers are Not Strictly conservative Christian

Learn more about Andrea Hermitt

Andrea Hermitt is a native New Yorker currently residing in GA. She has been married for over 16 years and has two teenage children.

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