Is homeschooling a safer option?

“The aim of education is knowledge, not only of facts, but of values” William S. Burroughs once said. Without any doubt, we need to take a deep look on how we are educating our children nowadays. Being an educated man is much more than being able to perform a complicated task, on a specific amount on time.

When it comes to homeschooling, COVID-19 made parents realize that it's a feasible option during this gruesome times we’re living in. According to a group of homeschoolers surveyed by the Edchoice organization in partnership with Hanover research, the pandemic is the first of their concerns, followed closely by more flexibility to shape their kids learning experience and finally, a one on one attention to their specific needs.

Another important concern is the environment in which their children will grow. There’s something mean in each one of us, children act without thinking on the consequences of their actions. Being rude or cruel to your peers comes natural to some. It does not matter if they come from a good and well educated family.

We have been guided to believe that something unfamiliar to us, could become a threat to ourselves. William Goldings made it simple in his famous novel “Lord of the flies.” Humans have an innate capacity for evil, it’s in our nature. What can start as a game, can escalade to frightening consequences.

As an example, I can talk about the case of one of my classmates during my elementary school years. She was being bullied just because of her last name. Even now, she feels so much hatred for my fellow classmates. That kind of behavior on a young and impressed mind can leave scars that will not heal completely with time. I spoke to her a couple of years ago, I could still feel the anger and bitterness of those memories in her speech. Her scars were still sensitive, it’s an open wound. When you’re a kid, it’s hard to believe that something you say, can do so much harm.

Another friend of mine, a young girl bullied for years, took her own life when she was 20 years old. I feel sad just by remembering the way she was treated by other students. I’m sure she took her life for other reasons. In my head, when you’re 20 years old, your school days are something from the past, deep inside, I know that she was a sensitive person. Who knows what crossed her mind to actually dare to commit such action?

Some years ago, when the Columbine shooting was all over the news, flashes of my school days flooded my mind. What could trigger such actions by two young teenagers? It’s hard for me to imagine the amount of anger that is needed to plan and commit an act of such magnitude. But the ones to blame, were victims of years of abuse by their peers in school, they grew up feeling neglected, stepped over by jocks or alienated by the popular ones. I guess it reached a point were the only option for them was to take revenge, make bullies pay for what they did.

The world is becoming more and more insensible, social media is the new tool to attack and put pressure on the population. Young students are inclined to take advantage of it and cause as much damage as possible. Now, it’s not only the classroom or the school playfield, it’s on the web for the world to see.

Parents are aware of it, some of my friends are so concerned that homeschooling is a valid option. I know it can sound a bit over the top, but when you know first-hand what can happen, that option sounds logical.

More than 20 years ago, while doing some paper work as a lawyer for a couple of sailors from Canada that needed assistance, I had the chance to be more than an attorney then. While sitting on deck, they told me about their particular way of seeing life. They told me that they were homeschooling their 2 children on board. For them it was the only logical choice to get a proper education. Their goal was to spend 3 years on Caribbean waters. I met them on their first year of their voyage. The mother opened a drawer by the navigation center and took out a handful of books, history, math, biology, they had everything. Elle (the mother) was a teacher back in Canada, she knows how to give them what they need according to their age. “Our children with be the children of the world” she said. She has nothing against the regular system, it was just a convenient way of keeping on following their dream. That was an eye opener experience for me to say the least. But it was not my first.

While in school, I had another friend, a freckled, skinny, redhead boy that started classes with me in 5th grade. He spoke funny, he was born in Ireland, his family crossed the Atlantic on their tiny sailboat to finally decide to stay in my city. They homeschooled him for almost two years prior to put him on regular school. Even though he was mostly educated by his parents onboard, he was one of us, not a stranger. I guess those experiences are the ones that forge our character, as you can guess, his story fueled my imagination for years to come.

On those two examples, readers can witness that boating life-style is more than an image of a beautiful lady lying on deck with a cocktail in hand with an idyllic sunset as background.

Those were stories of sacrifice, hard work and dedication. To make the decision of educating your kids on your own is not as crazy as it might seem. Those kids had a different way of seeing the world, for them, every day was an adventure.

I do consider that if the parents know what they are doing, there’s no problem at all in homeschooling their children. We are living in turbulent times, incited by hatred and despair. Everybody is connected, but no one is present. The world is becoming heartless and dangerous; pitifully we’re the only ones to blame.