Why are Parents opting for homeschooling these days?

Due to the increase of student disruptions because of negative behavior in the classroom to the increase of the weight of politics in the classroom, there is a new group of parents these days who are considering homeschooling their children.

The reality is that school systems are facing far more challenges than they ever have before. There were challenges before however the COVID 19 pandemic exacerbated many of these problems. Due to the increase of student disruptions because of negative behavior in the classroom to the increase of the weight of politics in the classroom, there is a new group of parents these days who are considering homeschooling their children. These parents have not considered this option before, these are your parents that work outside of the home and don’t have the work schedule that would allow for them to homeschool their children however they are becoming more and more frustrated with the school systems across this nation and need a way out.

Other Student Behaviors…

Recently more and more parents are getting frustrated due to the behaviors of other students in their child’s class or in their school. Bullying has been a problem in schools for years and it is a problem that is difficult to handle.

From the school’s perspective, many times bullying is not reported or not reported in a timely manner. When it is reported most schools have limited options when it comes to stopping this behavior. Students can be reprimanded, and their parent or guardian can be contacted, but the ending of this type of behavior with this solution relies on how effective the parent or guardian is in reference to managing their child’s behaviors. If the parent or guardian is ineffective in getting their own child to stop, the behavior will likely continue. When this happens, the parents or guardians of the child who is being bullied get increasingly angry and frustrated, which is understandable. This then will lead to another report and the school administration will then need to increase the consequence which can range from another phone call or detention to a suspension.

However, often times in order for a child to be suspended the school has to demonstrate that they have tried to put interventions in place before they implement a suspension. This often leads to more anger and frustration on the part of the parents and guardians of the child who is being bullied, again this is understandable. Usually, unless this is a student with serious behavior issues, a suspension will deter the behavior. But the process to get to that suspension is not an easy one and one that makes the parents or guardians of the child who is being bullied think that the school doesn’t care or doesn’t want to help them. This leads many to pull their child out of school as they fear the impact of the bullying on their child’s overall menta health.

Bullying is just one of the student behaviors that are turning families off. There is also a major increase in student fights in schools. Many of us have seen this on the news, it is alarming. There are some students who come to school with little self-control and are ready to fight over any infraction with another student. Often times the problems start on social media between students and bleed into the school building.

From the school’s perspective, it is literally impossible to know when these situations are brewing unless a student decides to be open and inform a staff member. So many times, these fights happen and the students who are not a part of it either are witnessing these situations or are getting injured by being an innocent bystander.

When parents and guardians hear about these situations this is often a reason for them to feel that their child is in an unsafe environment. This leads many parents and guardians to want to pull their children out of school as they fear for the safety from other students that their child may not even know.

The increase of politics in the classroom…

More and more you will hear parents say that they just want teachers to focus on the content and not the politics of society. It is understandable why parents would feel this way. However, it is important that parents understand that there are federal and state initiatives that have to be taught so many times these programs that parents have issues with are not coming from the teacher. Often times teachers behind the scenes may disagree with what is being taught but must keep their personal opinions about what is being taught out of the classroom and follow the given program.

There are also times where it truly is the teacher speaking about their politics, their personal lives, their opinions, etc. and that information should not be brought into the classroom. When this information makes it home to parents and guardians, it makes parents feel as though these teachers are trying to influence their child in an inappropriate way and will make them want to shield their child from that teacher or from school altogether.

But it is also important to note that when students ask personal questions of teachers it is pretty difficult for them to answer those questions in a way that doesn’t divulge personal information. Most teachers want to be relatable to their students, you know, let them know that they are a human being. So personal conversations come up from time to time. Some teachers avoid all conversation about their personal lives while others give students quite a bit of information.

Depending on what teachers discuss about their personal lives, this information can appear to be inappropriate to parents and a way for the teachers to make their child believe in a particular religion, political affiliation or lifestyle.

Looking at the options…

While these are not all of the reasons that families are making the shift these days these are the ones that are most discussed recently. There are valid reasons for families to choose homeschooling over a public school education, each family has to determine what is truly best for their child and their family. Parents should do their research about homeschooling, look at their work schedule and determine whether this is the best option. You can check out our article, Homeschooling Pros and Cons: A Parent's Guide to Weighing the Options — How To EDU (weareonecs.org), to help you weigh your options.

There are computer-based programs now that don’t require the parent or guardian to be an expert in all subjects and will give the child the instruction that they need starting at kindergarten through twelfth grade. There are also homeschool associations where the child can have access to other homeschooled children so that they can have the social interaction that many families want for their children. So, there are definitely options for families if their work schedule is flexible enough to be able to support their children in this way. Some families are even getting together to form a co-op of sorts, where each family takes turns opening their home to a small group of students and providing home school support as an alternative to the public school setting.

As with anything, there are pros and cons to everything. It is really just about finding what is the best fit for your child and your family so that they are comfortable in their learning environment and are happy.