I just read this blog post, by a high school teacher struggling with a severely disabled child in her classroom who is very disruptive. His aide is apparently not on the ball, he gets into fights, screams through classes so other students cannot hear the teacher.
This teacher is quite rightly questioning the whole rationale behind this child being in her class in the first place, as well as the things she is still supposed to do — and not do. For instance, she asks, “Why do I need to give a final exam to a child who is severely disabled and is simply here for “socialization?”"
Ah, the S-word. Immediately, my homeschool-issues radar perks up. A teacher is complaining about a child who is not suited to this particular class and is there for ‘socialization’. Interesting.
And it continues: “Why do I have a young person in my room, a room already filled with twenty-five other people, who is here strictly for socialization?”
Well, now. From the criticisms and questions usually aimed at homeschoolers, I had just assumed, you know, that school was indeed where kids are supposed to get socialization.
The reader comments shed some light on this: “… the primary purpose of a core academic classroom is learning, not socialization.”
Ohhhhhhhhhhh…. really? Is that so? Funny, that’s not what they tell the homeschoolers, is it?
“There are plenty of opportunities for socialization in other, non-academic settings that will not disrupt instruction and handicap the general education learners.”
Ya know, I think the homeschoolers have been saying this all along…
Oh, and while we’re at it, this post is also highly illuminating about the troubles frequently encountered in typical schools beyond the “socialization” issue. Here are some highlights:
“Why does the caseworker not comprehend this obvious failure in strategy?”
” I have long since learned that the administration doesn’t care if my kid is terrrorized because she doesn’t have a diagnosis.”
“…no one in power cares about the ordinary kids.”
“….in my own 6th grade classroom…. [one child is] so consistently disruptive that if he’s not isolated in a far corner of the room he’ll completely disrupt the learning of those around him. He still manages to whack kids with rulers, or burst out crying (a 12 year old!) when you tell him to do the same assignment everyone else is doing… I spend so much more time thinking about [him] than about how to get nice quiet little Susie to speak up in a literature discussion…”
“As a regular ed teacher with an ineffective co-teacher (he doesn’t SEE anything going on in the room and focuses on the working kids who talk not the non-working kids throwing things) – I feel your pain. I write up the offenders and work to get them out of my class so I can teach the rest.”
“It’s just a matter of time before we have lawsuits against teachers for not teaching their students. Also, tons of lawsuits against school districts for denying their children the education they’re entitled to due to the few who make it difficult.”
“It took 1 1/2 years for me to get my daughter out of a classroom that has a violent disturbed child.”
“[My daughter's] behavior is also deteriorating. Starting about this time of the year we have regular conversations about how just because you can behave that way at school doesn’t make it acceptable at home.”
“We currently have a second grader that is mentally disturbed and not getting any sort of treatment or medication. He is constantly making death threats toward his classmates and teachers.”
“It would also be nice if the kids could learn something every day, but that is probably asking WAY too much.”
I love that last one in particular. Follows right along with my post on “Unschooling and Holes“… Homeschoolers who are not radical unschoolers, but follow at least some sort of schedule or curriculum plan, often get worried or feel guilty if we “miss school” for a day, or skip a particular topic once in awhile, or don’t get through everything we’d meant to. Once again, we are reminded that it is no better in a typical public school classroom.
Oh, and lest anyone think that this issue is discriminatory towards kids with special needs, this comment clarifies that it is not:
“As a special ed teacher and the parent of a kid with learning disabilities, I do believe in inclusion for children who are capable of doing grade-level work with additional academic support… Students who are incapable of learning in this environment, even with special education support, should not be placed in these classrooms.”
Photo Credit: Chris Campbell via Creative Commons Licence
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Friday, Feb 27th, 2009 at 17:51
I am saddened whenever I hear about the problems that occur in the public schools. Naturally, I feel a little justified in our family’s decision to homeschool, but at the same time, I feel pretty sad for the kids who are in these situations. Not to mention the teachers who have so much on their plates already, now having to deal with a negative social situation.
Thanks for posting it, I read all the comments. It gives me a little shot in the arm about just why we are on this journey.
Monday, Mar 2nd, 2009 at 1:08
Hi, my husband sent me a link to your blog. I am a homeschooler and have always said if I wanted to ‘socialise’ my child, I would not use a mainstream school setting to do it. The whole ‘socialisation’ argument has me rolling my eyes.
Love the post.
Monday, Apr 6th, 2009 at 5:07
Love this! It always confuses me when people bring up the “socialization” issue. When I was a kid if you got caught trying to socialize you were told “School is for learning, not socializing.”
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 at 1:24
Researching the origins of the “classroom” and the “public school system” leads to quite a few shocking revelations. Such as the admittance by those that came up with this system in the early 1800 that is a system for training the lower classed masses to be thoughtless and obey orders without question. Public school, its socially acceptable brainwashing!
Sunday, Jun 28th, 2009 at 19:37
Interesting…
I love the photo at the top–among other things, “No daydreaming”
Tell that to Edison, or Einstein or any writer ever.
“Do not use your mind in creative ways during class time!”
Nice…
Monday, Sep 7th, 2009 at 19:10
Amen!!
Monday, Nov 16th, 2009 at 19:24
is this a straw man attack, or are you really this confused?
“socialize” in this context means “talk during class”. “socialization” means “learn how to deal with people”. You are basing your argument on conflating two very different words with the same root.
homeschool kids spend all day with their parents. that’s pretty much the opposite of socialization, REGARDLESS OF HOW MUCH TALKING HAPPENS.
Monday, Nov 16th, 2009 at 19:43
misanthrope, did you read the article? Did you understand it? “Socialization”, as in learning how to deal with people, is precisely what we are talking about. I’m actually impressed that you understand the difference between “socializing” and “socialization”, because this is exactly what homeschoolers get unjustly attacked (or at least questioned) about. Yes, the title of my post refers to “socializing” while the content refers primarily to “socialization”. This is to demonstrate the confusion that we ourselves are faced with. We are constantly being asked “what about socialization”, by which the questioners MEAN “when do they get to play with their friends?”
The issue being addressed in the article is about how impossible proper socialization (learning to deal with people) was becoming in these classes. So whether you think kids need to be in school for socializing (talking in class, not allowed) or socialization (learning to deal with people, not working), in either case it’s hardly any better than homeschooling.
And do you honestly believe homeschoolers spend all day with their parents, or are you really this confused? Even if they spend a LOT of time with their parents, if they are good models of social behaviour then the kids are learning socialization skills (rather than learning and imitating 20 to 30 same aged, equally immature peers). If there are multiple siblings, then there are conflicts to resolve, and lots of opportunities for play with peers.
But homeschoolers are not stuck at home with just their families anyway. We are not in the habit of locking our children in closets to keep them away from the world. Rather, we are out in the REAL world, not in an isolated classroom with the same 30 children for 7-8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 40 weeks a year. Our homeschooled children interact with people of all ages and backgrounds in a wide variety of situations, as we go out and run errands, visit museums, chat with neighbours, go to different activities, and play with friends.
That’s pretty much the DEFINITION of socialization — learning to socialize and get along with a wide variety of people in REAL situations, not stuck in only the one artificial paradigm of the classroom. Kids in public schools learn the socialization rules of the classroom and the playground, based on cliques and peer pressure and materialistic quests for popularity… not the socialization rules of the community, the world at large, the varied landscape of social situations that mature people interact with every day.
Tuesday, Aug 24th, 2010 at 16:08
This is an argument I keep having with so many people. School should not be about socialization.
I’m puzzled whenever the socialization is brought up in relation to homeschooling. Why would homeschooled children be handicapped in terms of socialization?
Children that are sheltered and kept apart from their community might have problems adapting once they get older, but why would that be assumed of homeschoolers?
My children probably have a wider base of acquaintances than most kids their age, or even many adults.
The socialization that occurs in public school bears very little resemblance to what adult society does (or should) look like. People who believe otherwise either don’t remember school very well or are still behaving like children.
Wednesday, Sep 15th, 2010 at 19:33
I’ll put it like this: My son started at a very early age (probably as a trait of his natural extrovert qualities) was very well socialized. Many people seemed surprised at his verbal and social skills. He could enunciate, had excellent grammar for a toddler, and knew general rules for behavior in different public settings. He’s always a joy to be around.
Half way through first grade in public school, I noticed a very serious change in the way he acted. He was withdrawn, tired, irritable. He was not behaving the same in familiar social settings, and cried a LOT. He just wasn’t happy being around only children his age all day.
It has been a year now. He initiates many of his own lessons out of his natural innate curiosity, reads better than some children older than he is, is excelling at all of his basic subjects, and is preparing to start learning new languages and some work on the computer with linux.
My son is 7.
His biggest problem? Boredom. Because the teacher had to handle students that just aren’t suited for a regular classroom, she was unable to bring her curriculum forward to keep the majority of the children in the class from saying, “Hey, we KNOW this! We want more!”
My son’s best friends are junior high students. He is, in fact, unique in that he has shown a precocious level of social skill compared to his age group. He has thoughtful, pointed discussions with adults. He even works when he can convince someone to hire him for jobs suited to his size and ability, and loves the learning process that comes with hands-on education.
The problem we found with public school for our son is that he’s a very direct, physical learner. He reads signs and newspapers, rather than short books and worksheets. He loves to build things that demonstrate the laws of physics, rather than reading theory out of a book. Schools are unable to do this, because they have to cater to too wide a group of learning types, and it quickly becomes unaffordable.
As far as socialization goes, children tend to learn from those they see. Parents have always been the instructors of behavior. School isn’t the place where children are raised, and socialization still remains in the realm of parenting.