Sometimes I am amazed at what gets a rise out of Dispatch readers. In recent weeks, huge scandalous incidents have been reported.
A gated community of eco-friendly homes – with air conditioning – is proposed; the bereaved family of a 5-year-old tyke is billed $20,000 for a non-existent helicopter ride; a softball coach is arraigned for selling meth; funny money is manufactured in a Gilroy motel room. None of these stories receives any comment from Gilroy letter writers.
But two letter-writers write about one off-hand remark in a column I wrote about homeschoolers who choose to switch to Gilroy High School. I remarked parenthetically that some homeschoolers do not wish to attend school, because they have absorbing interests outside of school: real lives.
My remark touched a nerve. To judge by the letters to the editor, I have attacked mom, baseball and apple pie. I already responded to the first letter to the editor.
Now union hack and ex-Gilroy High School biology teacher Dale Morejon leaps into the fray with a series of rhetorical questions. First he asks the “basic” question: “What is real life for children who don’t attend high school be it public or private?”
A rhetorical question expects no answer; I will answer anyway. It varies. Homeschoolers are a diverse bunch.
Some homeschooled teens cheerlead, some play field hockey, some dive competitively. Some sing or dance or act or play musical instruments or all four. Some have rock bands. Some are Civil War re-enactors. Some raise pigs, some paint, some ride horses, some fix bikes, some debate, some perfect their skateboarding techniques. Some are Scouts, some are black belts, some are gamers.
Most of the boys play video games, and AIM to some extent. Most of the girls AIM, and play video games to some extent. All hang out with their friends. Some of their friends are homeschoolers; others are publicly or privately schooled.
In short, homeschooled teens are very normal teens with very normal interests. The biggest difference between homeschoolers and their schooled peers is that homeschoolers spend, on average, 5.5 hours a day doing lessons, whereas schooled children spend 6.5 hours a day in school plus, if they are good students, an average of 5.5 hours a day doing homework. So homeschooled kids have more time for their hobbies.
The balance of Mr. Morejon’s letter is a truly bizarre set of rhetorical questions, beginning: “Are homeschoolers taught the real life fiscal situations that private, profit-making small colleges face in order to remain competitive?”
I confess, I know of no homeschoolers who are so taught. But, then, neither do I know of any public school students who are so taught. I sincerely hope that classroom time is not wasted on the arcane intricacies of college athletic economics. I am flabbergasted that Mr. Morejon would even ask the question. Is that his idea of real life? If so, why not just study Hollywood and have done?
I also question whether Mr. Morejon should be praising high school athletics when so few of our GUSD students get their 200 minutes per week of state-mandated physical education.
As diverse as homeschoolers are, there may well be some who study “the economics of attracting millions of dollars from private corporate contributors,” and the rest of Mr. Morejon’s list. There certainly are some who are competitive athletes, and even some who end up with athletic scholarships to colleges.
It is an incredible stretch to say that high schools are reflective of real life because people enjoy tailgate parties. The fact is that many people like sports, and practically all parents like to see their children play. But sports exist outside of high school.
In fact, one could make an Aristotelian distinction: experiences either exist outside of high school, or they do not. If they do, one can participate outside of high school. If they do not, they are not real life experiences. Q.E.D.
Mr. Morejon’s parting shot is a taunt about broadsword. Sorry, I have never suggested that the state finance my daughter’s hobbies. Also, she regretfully gave up broadsword a year ago. Her current hobbies, if you want to make any more snide comments, are Civil War re-enacting and horsemanship.
Cynthia Anne Walker is a homeschooling mother of three and former engineer. She is a published independent author. Her column is published in The Dispatch every week.
