todayWhat is the main thing that people ask you when they find out that you are a homeschooler? Come on, you know that DREADED question, “What about socialization?”. I know that we ALL have dealt with it, and it’s tiring and just downright annoying; BUT, I think I have cracked the code as to why it is such a huge topic for most people.
I had a discussion with a young lady on facebook yesterday and she shared with me that her 16 year old daughter did school online at home. As the conversation went on, she said that she did not like homeschooling because her daughter did not have any real live social engagement. I didn’t understand and of course I asked her to explain and she said that they tried the homeschooling groups where they met new people and teens her daughter’s age but the relationships never stuck, not like they would if her daughter was going to an actual brick and mortar school. The light bulb went off! When you go to traditional school you essentially see the same people day in and day out and for the most part you are forced to interact and socialize with them, it is easy….convenient, BUT with homeschooling you actually have to work at establishing and keeping lasting relationships.
We live in a world where everyone wants everything FAST! RIGHT NOW! Instant gratification INCLUDING the way relationships are established and they don’t want to have to really go any further than their realm of comfort to do so. All of this brought me to why people ask “what about socialization”, they are incapable of seeing another way of establishing relationships outside of being grouped together in a classroom day in and day out until someone decides that they mind as well start making “friends” because they will be looking at this same group for the next 4 years. In this world of instant gratification, no one is interested in working at anything, even something like FRIENDSHIP.
It is clear why people think that our homeschooled children are weird and unsocialized, because they think that we are just as lazy as them BUT they are so wrong. I have found that us homeschoolers look forward to and cherish REAL friendships not just for our children but for ourselves, we see the value that is in obtaining lasting friendships and there is great joy is meeting new people. I am glad that we go “against the grain”, the world can keep their fake friendships and fast food socialization, I like real connections that last a lifetime.
