The School System

This post has been inspired by a rant on tumblr and so it may turn into a bit of a rant itself, however I am going to try and hone it into a reasonably coherent, sensible, rational post.

I am endlessly glad that I was home-schooled; it is, in my opinion, the better way to be taught. You're taught as an individual, you're allowed to develop your own personality and you are able to learn at more of a personal pace. You learn in a familiar place and you're not forced to press ahead to match the standard, neither are you held back on thing that you could skip through more rapidly. The learning experience is tailored to you and how you need it to work for you as an individual. On the aspects of the actual quality of education and learning, this benefits of home schooling over state schooling can be undisputed.
However, home schooling tends to be looked down on for pathetic reasons. For example, socialisation is the biggest argument that is used, in my opinion. "Oh, how are they going to socialise if they don't go to school? They'll end up being these recluses that will always need mummy." First, which is more important; a good educational base or magnificent social skills? I would rather my child had a well rounded, solid basic education and was somewhat more shy than a restricted and patchy base whilst being an outgoing people person whom is friends with everyone. I am a more naturally shy person and I would rather be the way I am than some overtly social beast that can talk to anyone and everyone.
The fact of the matter is, it's an invalid argument. Sure, there are children in home school situations that have socialisation issues, but had they been in school those issues would not have been negated. The effect of a school would have been to make them more aware of these socialisation issues by the way every other child would have picked on it. On the socialising aspect, school is not the apparent wondrous social base in which it is perfect to learn. It's a false reality; when else in anyone's life are you going to spend time with large groups of others that are the same age as you, or very near it. Socialisation is not improved by being thrown together with large numbers of others; in many ways, it can be a negative impact to social skills. I know an awful lot of people brought up in the state school system that are very judgemental. They take the clothes you wear, the music you listen to, the way you speak et etcetera and form an opinion of you, of who you are and of where you fit into an imaginary strata of life before they've even got to know the slightest thing about you. That, in my humble opinion, is an incredibly negative and narrow minded trait to have. However - without wishing to appear self-important - I judge no one on any of those things. What and who a person really is cannot be understood just by looking at them and learning some peripheral facts. You need to learn who they are. Granted, I do form opinions and judgements once I have got to know them, but at that point I have grounds to.

Now, don't get me wrong; I do not think that the school system is the work of the devil and stuff like that. My girlfriend is a Primary school teacher, for one thing. I don't think that school is necessarily a bad place to learn (although this is very true for some places). In an ideal world, I strongly believe that the home is the best place to learn. But I accept that we don't live in an ideal world and so it's often impossible. And I do recognise the important part school plays in the lives of some kids; often the only reliable and constant adult in their life is the teachers they come into contact with. I recognise that school is often an important and vital part of the life of a child. But that's almost inconsequential, in my opinion; state school is not the ideal place to grow and learn and I am yet to see any evidence that can make me think otherwise.

Goodnight all and until next time, K.B.O.