By Mimi Rothschild
I would like to open this post with a warning to all parents that this post contains material inappropriate for younger children.
That being said, I would like to address a serious issue that our teens face. I’m usually not one to look back at the not-exactly-halcyon days of the 60s with fond nostalgia. However, I don’t remember ever being confronted with anything this blatantly dangerous and damaging.
Parents need to be aware that our teenage children are faced with sex parties. These orgies are becoming vogue among kids as young as thirteen. A recent young-adult novel, Rainbow Party, details a specific type of sex party that I won’t describe here. Concerned parents can read more here. According to recent studies, over 70% of older teens have engaged in oral sex.
Another recent trend in the public school is the affectionately-coined “teachers gone wild.” These teachers, who have been entrusted with the safety of our precious children, have been arrested for hosing sex parties. Some of the teachers have gone so far as to supply the kids with drugs and alcohol as well.
The threat of STD’s has reached jaw-dropping levels. You can read more about the spread of STD’s here. Here are a few quick facts:
• It is estimated that 1 in 6 people in the United States has genital herpes; yet only 1 in 10 realize they are carrying it and possibly spreading it to others.
• Roughly 65% of all STD’s occur in people under 25.
• 1 in 5 people in the US carry some form of STD.
• 1 in 4 people will contract a STD at some point in their lives.
• Hepatitis is almost 100 times more infectious than HIV.
• HPV is fastest growing STD in the US, with 5 million new cases reported each year .It is also linked to cervical cancer in women.
These facts may shock you, as they should. And what are public schools doing about these epidemics? They are throwing condom parties, teaching kids how to properly use a condom (complete with a banana visual aid). Schools are sponsoring seminars and lectures teaching kids how to have sex while avoiding common STD’s. Abstinence, the most surefire way to avoid such diseases (as well as emotional and spiritual damage) is usually overlooked or included as a bullet point afterthought on the back of a brochure. Perhaps the saddest reaction of all is the education of our young girls regarding how to go about getting an abortion.
All of this comes as a shocking realization to parents. The thought that their daughter may have already engaged in oral sex before they have had the chance to have “the talk” is both terrifying and heart breaking. Don’t let it happen to your child. Homeschooled children never have to deal with this peer pressure and you will never have to hear “Mommy, What’s Oral Sex?” Don’t force your child to cope with this kind of pressure. They deserve better.
By Mimi Rothschild
Most homeschool families are able to finish their schooling in just a few hours in the morning. By cutting out unnecessary study halls, lunch periods, activities, and games, homeschool children are usually done with their work hours before their public school peers.
But what should be done with all this extra time? Here are a few options:
Part-time job: My son works as a cashier throughout the school week. This not only provides him with some extra spending money, but he will have a few thousand dollars saved up to cut down on college tuition debt. The responsibility that is cultivated by holding down a part-time job will be useful during the transition into adulthood.
Apprenticeship: Does your child already have a specific career interest? Ask around to see if any friends or area companies would be willing to take on unpaid help. A friend of my daughter’s is currently working in a local library, gaining invaluable experience that will jumpstart her career dreams of becoming a librarian. If your child is interested in history, see if there are any museums nearby that are looking for volunteers during busy months. Even if they are tasked with mopping floors, this experience looks great on a resume.
Volunteer: The extra time granted by homeschooling provides children with the unforgettable and enriching opportunity to volunteer for an area ministry or charity organization. One of my children volunteers at a local drug and alcohol addiction rehabilitation center. My friend’s son works for a hospice center, spending time with the sick and elderly.
College Courses: If you have a particularly ambitious scholar in the house, enrolling in either community college or university courses can be a cost-effective way to enhance your child’s learning experience. Not only will your child learn more in high school, he or she will spend less time and money at college by knocking off a few required courses.
Whatever you do, don’t let your children spend their extra time loafing around with TV and cell phone conversations. There is a wealth of opportunity out there for high school homeschoolers, but you must motivate your students to go out there and grab it. You will appreciate the enrichment your children receive, and they will appreciate the benefits from having a well-rounded resume.
By Mimi Rothschild
Have you made your own noodles? After making the dough, one guides it through a mold, turning a mass of lumpy, distinct chunks of dough into uniform strips of spaghetti or some other noodle. I recently made a spaghetti dinner for my family and an analogy struck me.
When people homeschool, they usually factor educational needs, social needs, and spiritual needs. However, some folks overlook the benefits homeschooling brings in regards to personality and character development. Have you guessed where I’m going with this?
The way our public schools treat children is like the aforementioned spaghetti mold. It forces unmolded, unique children, each with something different and special to contribute to our society, through a series of molds. In the process, most of the personality and character is removed from each child. When students show any sign of independence, they are either medicated or disciplined. Interests are squelched as the pursuit of those interests is limited to a handful of mass-produced classes. The children come out of high school looking the same, sounding the same, thinking the same, and most unfortunately, behaving the same. In the end, we’re left with a bunch of wet noodles.
Homeschoolers, on the other hand, thrive in an environment that facilitates their development into unique individuals. Unique contributions are encouraged. Interests flourish as students don’t have to choose from a pre-selected group of classes. I have friends with children who are taking harp lessons, learning computer programming, and becoming experienced craftsmen, even selling wooden kitchenware and bowls!
I have often heard the parents of public school students voice concerns such as “How will they survive in the job market? Public school students will have an edge due to their common backgrounds.” Although this may be true in some cases, I have a different take on it. Public school prepares students to be middle management. In other words, public school grads are primed to thrive in jobs that require little of them other than punching in and out while maintaining the status quo. Homeschoolers, however, are being trained to be entrepreneur’s, CEO’s, and innovators of all kinds, pushing the boundaries of industry and technology. These are tomorrow’s professionals who will have no trouble “thinking outside the box” because they’ve been doing just that since Day One!
By Mimi Rothschild
We homeschoolers are academics at heart. As a fervent proponent of education, my biggest dream has often been to see my kids receive their college degree. I see it almost as a seal of approval on my own ability to homeschool. It means that I succeeded in preparing them for the rigors of collegiate life. But has this preparation gone to waste?
More students go to college today than ever before. One could assume that this means that our country’s young people are better educated and that the U.S. is poised to lead the world. Unfortunately, this reasoning is not unlike the push for higher minimum wages. By increasing the amount of students attending college, the academic standards across the board must be lowered to accommodate less prepared students.
This frightens me. The K-12 public school system has been fumbling for decades. Many colleges, even private schools, have to follow suit in order to maintain funding. A good percentage of students attending universities are indifferent to learning. Rather than giving them the boot and losing their tuition money, some universities have opted to cater to the apathetic underperformers.
Parents are still willing to pay outrageous tuition dollars to keep kids in colleges that do little to prepare them for that ever-boding “real world.” Consider the following, from a recent article in the Christian Science Monitor:
“Last year’s National Assessment of Adult Literacy found, for example, that less than a third of college graduates are proficient in reading and the ability to do elementary mathematical calculations.”
As tough as it is, homeschooling parents have to buck this trend and realize that not every child was meant to enter college. I know a young man who recently graduated from a top college. All he wanted to be in high school was a foreman on a construction site. His parents forced him to go to college. Although he performed well, he sadly lacked the motivation to pursue a white collar job and is currently working at the same fast-food restaurant at which he was employed in high school. College students across the country, even ones that do want to pursue white collar jobs, are forced to work as cashiers, baristas, and other low-paying jobs. All this, and they remain mired in crushing debt for years.
Parents, remember that college is one of many ways to achieve financial stability and occupational fulfillment. Pushing your unwilling children to enter college will not necessarily give your child the edge he or she needs to compete in the job market. Rather, pray with them. Pray that God will show them the path that they are to take. Don’t push your child into a university if he or she has no clue what she wants to do. There’s nothing more confidence-breaking than spending four years and $60,000 on a worthless college degree. I’ll leave you with one more statistic from the same report:
“Take a look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s 10 fastest growing occupations between 2004 and 2014, and you’ll find that six of the 10 professions do not require a four-year degree, and four of these call for no academic degree at all.”
It’s something to think about, parents.
By Mimi Rothschild
There are many different perceptions of homeschoolers whirling around in people’s heads. One is of a right-wing survivalist family-troop stocking up canned food in the basement while waiting for the apocalypse. The women all wear practical dresses and the men brandish shotguns.
Another is an image of wild-eyed bohemians who subsist solely on soy products and desire to get out from under the system. They avoid social security numbers, paying taxes, and name their children after celestial bodies.
It’s funny, as ridiculous as these stereotypes are, they completely overlook a steadily growing segment of the homeschooling population. When I mentioned the above stereotypes, did you picture any minority families? Probably not. Historically, homeschooling has been practiced predominantly by whites. Fortunately, that’s changing rapidly. Websites like The African American Homeschoolers Network and The Black Christian Homeschoolers Association have risen to meet the growing demand for online resources.
As this article in the San Francisco Chronicle points out, an increasing number of black families are pulling out of public schools.
“Although homeschoolers often are stereotyped as white and evangelical Christians, in 2003 about 9 percent of homeschooled students were black, and 77 percent were white, compared with a total student population nationwide that was 16 percent black and 62 percent white.”
There are several reasons for this mass exodus. Some families are unfortunately limited to under-funded schools in violent neighborhoods. Some left because they were turned off by the lack of expectations placed upon their children. Sadly, some public schools seem to view young blacks, especially young men, as lost causes. As a result, they can be get shuffled through high school and out the door with little effort made towards equipping them for real life situations. Furthermore, black students are three times as likely to require special education than white students, according to this article. Homeschooling allows parents to get their kids back on track.
Another common reason is the current lack of black history taught in the public school. Awareness of the rich African-American heritage can be vital for young black students. This knowledge teaches them that they have more to contribute to our country than slavery.
I, for one, am thrilled to see more diversity within the homeschooling world and welcome them with open arms. Blacks fought hard to achieve integration in public schools. It must be a tough mental decision to pull out after their parents fought so hard to win. Kudos to the brave parents who have recognized that the public school isn’t what it used to be. Please pray for our black brothers and sisters, that they might all realize the joys of home education.