Sunday, October 27, 2019

Homeschooled Kids are Missing Out

Lilly Rubin

Homeschooled Kids are Missing Out

Parents of homeschooled kids are setting them up to be less successful in life.  About three percent of kids in America are homeschooled and do not attend the traditional  idea of a public or even private school. Many say this will keep kids on a better track than those who attend school outside of the home  by keeping them away from distractions. Homeschooled kids are missing out on many aspects of their life and teenage experience by not attending school such as extracurriculars like sports and clubs, diversity, easy access to ap/honors classes, and social experiences.  They are generally very sheltered from real world experiences.


By being homeschooled, kids are missing important extracurricular activities and clubs. Sports and the team aspect of a sports team is unavailable to someone who is homeschooled in most cases. Only two states in the US allow homeschooled students to be active on high school sports teams. In West Virginia students are allowed to participate in high school sports if they attend half a year of school. To abide by this, some students choose to do half days.

Butch Powell, WVSSAC assistant executive editor, says, “Some choose the half day, while others do not,” he said. “But we believe to participate on school-based teams, you must walk the halls of the school you play for.” Massachusetts happens to be among the two states that fully allow homeschooled students to play for public schools. That is as one in twenty five chance the state you live in will allow you to play sports in public school. It is proven that doing a sport releases chemicals to your brain making you feel happier. Yes, homeschooled students can do athletics outside of school but are missing the team aspect. Being on a team promotes teamwork and fosters relationships. It also helps kids to become better at communicating. It is obviously important to get the everyday exercise a sport provides but also experience situations that will prepare students for real life.

Another problem with homeschooling is the lack of diversity and exposure to new people.  The idea that homeschooled students are isolated is a common complaint of people who do not support
homeschooling. This is easy to see because they are not spending time with other kids. One of the best examples of this is group projects. From experience, you are often put into groups by teachers and do not know or are not friendly with others in your group. This is an experience that is helpful to kids in the future. They will learn how to interact with new people, collaborate on ideas, and grow as a thinker. It is a learning experience that cannot be matched when students do not attend school. It is also needed for adults and prepares students for their futures in the real world. It is expected of adults in the workforce to be able to collaborate with their coworkers and this is preparation for that.

Many view a problem with homeschooling, the level of learning and students not being challenged. Homeschooled kids can take AP and honors classes online. A class that is labeled as an honors class, can be any class you are taking you just put the label on. A homeschooled student, Sarah McLaughlin says the classes she was taking, were just labeled honors and “my mom has her own standards for what she labels as “honors,” proving homeschooled educations are not equal and students may be given unfair advantages by labeling their classes as honors and not doing much or any extra work. She continued saying they might get a little more homework to label it an honors level class.

Students who do not attend school and are homeschooled are missing out on social situations and challenges people their age are dealing with. Many parents want to homeschool their kids so they can avoid parties, drinking, and drugs. This makes sense until the child is faced with a situation they do not
know how to handle because they have never been faced with it. This is just one example of many real world problems many people face and learn through experience how to deal with it. If kids are being sheltered, they will not know how to responsibly respond to this type of situation and could end up in trouble or in a scary situation.

Homeschooled students are missing out on important life skills and academics. They are unfairly being shorthanded opportunities with students their age and everyday encounters. They are not getting the socialization kids need to succeed in the world and prepare themselves for their future. They are also not given the challenges of working with people they do not know on school work. Overall, students should not be homeschooled because they are missing out on important aspects of life students that attend school are able to experience.


"How do homeschooled students do AP or Honors courses? - Quora." 7 Jul. 2018, 
"Opportunities My Teens are Missing Because We ...." 
"Homeschooling Pros and Cons - Calvert ...." 
"Negative Effects of Homeschooling | LoveToKnow." 
"A House Divided: Homeschool Students on School ... - NFHS." 
"How Homeschooling Doesn't Help With Socialization ...." 12 May. 2018, 
https://www.popsugar.com/family/How-Homeschooling-Doesnt-Help-Socialization-44028681
"Homeschooled Kids, Now Grown, Blog Against the Past." 11 Apr. 2013, 


Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)