Confessor posted a good entry a few days ago. He was a little put off by the fact that a supposedly Christian radio station was singing the delights of "the most wonderful day of the year" for mothers: the first day of school -- so the kids can get out of the house and leave them alone.
A child must have good socialization skills, the pro-publics maintain. But hold on, let's look and see what socialization really is. What does the Wikster say about the term?
Socialization for social agents (humans)
Socialization is, in essence, learning (see Charon, 1987:63-69). Socialization refers to all learning regardless of setting or age of the individual. In every group one has to learn the rules, expectations, and knowledge of that group, whether the group is your family, the army, or the state (nation). Socialization is the process whereby people acquire a social identity and learn the way of life within their society. All of this amounts to the learning of culture.
(end wiki)
So to have good socialization abilities, one must understand and function within COMMUNITY. In a homeschool, this boils down to parents, siblings, neighbors, pastors, church family, sports and outside curriculuar activities (like the librarian or piano tutor) - anyone newborn to elderly and everything in between. This is a child's society. Within that society they find their own identity. By the way, a hundred years ago and backwards, this was everyone's idea of society (family, township, church). The age segregation experiment is very modern. Wiki basically says socialization is the learning of and interacting within the surrounding culture. Homeschool parents have determined which parts of the culture to expose their kids to - and which to shelter them from. So are homeschool kids lacking?
What about food? Should a well-adjusted child eat good food, and should they not be exposed to numerous, diverse foods? How about exotic foods? And plain foods, ones which, contrasted with more complex dishes, provide a positive, accurate world view about....food. I guess it's a good idea, right? I mean, then the kid will be well-rounded, intellectually and culturally about various foods (might be well-rounded physically too). But wait. There's more. If we are going to be serious about our "food culture" we give to our children, it must be all or nothing. No picking and choosing. There are rotten foods, poison foods, bitter foods, even foods that are "sub-eatables" like ones riddled with trans-fats and chemicals. But they're food! Who are you to call it slop? Food is food. Enjoy it all. Dive headlong into any and all. It's intolerable that you shelter your child from food. And that means ALL food, poison or otherwise. Immerse them in nasty, wicked foods so that they can thank God for the good foods, yes? (No, that's stupid, yet there are "Christian" proponents hoping you'll fall for it)
Next time you get someone bugging you about the "socialization" myth, ask them to please define socialization - and not their definition, the dictionary's. It's likely they can't tell you what it is - or how you are misusing it with your children. And no, we don't have to "tolerate" the kind of social behavior exhibited in schools in the name of "social-lifing" our kids. A true socialization process happens in the real world - society. It doesn't morph accurately inside a public school petrie dish. The fastest way to lose your sense of society is to be herded rank and file into an institution with a bunch of clones. What, is each clone supposed to learn (and teach) social graces from the clone sitting behind him? How backwards can we get? Just as we guard our children from bad food, we guard them from bad culture. They don't have to taste dung to be made enlightened that it's there. Saturate your child with good, delicious, nutritious food. All that is lovely, true, and beautiful.
Parents: you know the truth. Don't let the naysayers distract. Focus instead on your kiddos; train them up as tomorrow's leaders, tomorrow's pastors. Break through the socialization circle; it's all nonsense. Keep them home.
Related Tags: homeschool, first day of school, socialization, Christian, radio
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Aug. 22, 2006
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