A recent letter to the editor proposed that homeschooling should be a punishment for irate parents over the mask mandates in schools; and that their children would be “losers” because of it. I had to smile.
The author seems to have a 1950s view of the public schools, but this is 2021. Our public schools are now safe havens for raising little socialists, atheists and pursuing every latest trend of the progressives. A 12-year-old I know was required to read a book with her teacher and class, “How To Be a Student Activist.” (What happened to “Treasure Island,” which I read at her age?) A young teacher, upset, told me she was required to use the personal pronouns her kindergarteners choose this coming year, whether they are males or females.
I challenge parents to home-school. I withdrew my four biracial children from the Seattle schools in the ‘90s and was horrified to learn just how bad public education was. My reasons for pulling them out were to provide a better education, reinforce our family’s values and beliefs, and to provide safety.
As of the fall of 2020, over 11 percent of U.S. households reported that they were home-schooling. This is a doubling of figures in recent years. (In particular, it is interesting to note that non-white students accounted for 41 percent in 2016).
How did my four kids do? They all went to college on scholarships. Three became lawyers; one owns a business. All are well-rounded and heavily involved in their communities. No, home-schooling doesn’t produce losers.
Linda Jinkens
Arlington
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