Isn't it a little pathetic that some people only know how to interact with others in a school setting?

I hear a lot of people on here talk about how if you're home schooled, you don't *ever* get to interact with new people, experience new situations, and make friends. Knowing that the opposite is true, this makes me kind of sad. It really implies that people who attend public or private schools are rendered absolutely incapable of socializing and interacting with others outside the school environment. What do they do in the summer? Are they just starved socially for 2 or 3 months? What about after school hours and on weekends? And for heavens sake, how do they expect to survive when school is no longer a part of their lives? It strikes me as... kind of pathetic that a person would find it that difficult to grasp the concept of a world existing outside their school, or that there are more places in the world than just their school and their house. And it seems like this is a lot more sheltering and harmful to a child than simply letting them to socialize in real-life settings like most (not all, but most) home schoolers do.Isn't it a little pathetic that some people only know how to interact with others in a school setting?
Some people never learn how to be social no matter how they go to school. They are the ones who have to say they are better; that their way of schooling, or not, is better for everyone, because that means others are inferior. People who compare themselves to others and find faults in others are almost always not as skilled socially as they think. Some people just have better social skills than others. Others simply *think* they have better social and coping skills, even when they don't. It's all about insecurity no matter who says it. Schooled people who say this are trying to prove how they are better. They aren't. The people with the best social skills aren't worried about other people not being well equipped.Isn't it a little pathetic that some people only know how to interact with others in a school setting?
As a non-traditional college student, I find it interesting that some of the same points you bring up for home schooled students also seem to be assumed for most non-traditional students in upper education.



I think that any time people with very different backgrounds come together, there will be some clash of ideas, but I've learned one of the best ways to overcome the differences is to interact.



If I may, I'd like to use myself as an example. On our university solar car design team (which I got into to meet some new people, not in my field of study), Not only was I the oldest student on the team, but the only one old enough to drink. Any joke I had about alcohol was moot, and that still makes me sad. One odd thing I did see was although utterly clueless on all things electrical, I was often the one asked for final say on things I knew nothing about. In the case of the solar design team, I was given more credit than due on some things, simply because of my age and experience.



Now let's play the ';Stereotype game';

I wish I was good at math

Asians are good at math!

I wish I were Asian

Asians are short and my girlfriend is tall...

I don't want to be short, I like my girlfriend

Africans are tall!

I don't want to be too tall

My back would get hurt because my girlfriend is only tallish...

I want to be British because women love British men!

A: British men have bad teeth

B: British men are pale because of all the fog

Scratch that, I want to be an Aussie guy!

Aussies smell bad because they're a little too rough and rugged

I don't want to smell bad, because my Girlfriend wouldn't like it...

I could be French, the ladies love the french

French guys are gay!

Perhaps Russian, cloaked by mystery, and with an undefined passion

... such as alcoholism...



Everyone has at least one stereotype, It's getting over them that can be difficult, but well worth it.
I graduated from public school and work in the public high school. It is sad to remember graduating and feeling so lost without the routine. It is sad to watch our 12th graders as they are looking toward their future without the security of the public school nest.



We have some great kids at our school but they are missing out on so much by not having the experience of planning their own future, guiding their own education, and being able to stretch beyond the four walls of the classroom experience.



The neat thing is that public high schools are realizing that there are other ways to get an education and are trying to find solutions. No, it will never be as good as a true home school experience but it is opening the doors to many young people who have parents who don't think outside the box and still trust the government to do the right thing for their children.
I too, have wondered about many of the posters here who seem to believe that no one can learn how to function in a social society without experiencing classroom school attendance. But rather than calling them 'pathetic,' I see them as brain-washed.



I never saw wide-spread acceptance of others who were different happening at public school. I saw the opposite. I saw kids form into tight cliques and dutifully take their place in the school's social strata. Other than bullying incidents, there was almost no natural intermingling.



Very few teachers assigned group projects because they were hard to grade fairly; and besides, those few who did often let us choose our own partners. Except for learning contempt for slackers, no valuable 'learning about others' happened under those conditions of forced contact.



I know that the posters who blindly insist their socializing is not just better but is necessary have not learned much tolerance at their school...



I have seen a lot of public schooled kids struggle in life their first year out of high school. They had become really dependent on the school structure and were at a loss without it. Merging into real life and adult society is a far more seamless process for homeschoolers.
ITA with the OP. I would like to address the rest of my post the the misconceptions in cathrl69 post.



You are under the false impression that homeschoolers get to hand pick who is involved in all the activities that their children are involved in. You are wrong. do you really think someone can walk into a church, martial studio, homeschool co-op, scout troop, book club etc and demand that they only allow the people you have hand picked?



However when you chose public school you have actually pigeonholed your child into only attending classes with kids who live within the same district that you live in. In many areas this limits their exposure to a diverse group. Face it. people tend to live near those who are similar to them. You don't have $500K homes next to low income apartments etc. Public school then further limits a child's social Integration by segregating children by age and ability.



When you step back and look at the facts, it is clear that public schools are actually more limiting in their social interaction.
I don't think that they think that they can't do anything outside school. They think that they learn some different social skills at school. That might be true, but it isn't the only place to learn social skills. The homeschooled kids I know from my outside activities are cool. I've never heard anyone who thought that the only place they could socialize was at school. The kids I know do things outside of school and have friends from other schools through church, karate, soccer, dance, whatever. With all the time you are spending thinking about your homeschooling experiences, I think you came to this conclusion about schooled kids. I don't think schooled kids are better or that homeschooled kids are better.



Edit: Maybe because it's the internet, where people love to p*ss each other off. You can't take anything too seriously that a 13 year-old on the internet says.
I think you've missed the point they are making.



At school, you don't get a choice about who you socialise with. You have to learn to get on with a wide range of people, some of whom you have nothing in common with and some of whom you actively dislike. This is an important life skill. Yes, really.



Now some homeschoolers do this too. But how many times do you see people on here saying ';oh yes, my kids get LOTS of socialisation. We go to church, we go to homeschool groups, we have lots of friends...'; All lots of nice children and adults with the same beliefs and values as they have, I'm sure. And a complete lack of learning how to get on with people who don't share your beliefs and values.



Will this be important in the real world? Only if you want to actually be employable outside a narrow little world of people who are just like you. Not everyone shares your religious beliefs. You may still have to share an office with them. Not everyone thinks education matters. You may still have to deal amicably with them if they live next door.



I don't know any kids at a bricks and mortar school who only socialise within their school and family. But I do know a lot of homeschooled (and private schooled) kids who only socialise within their own family and families who are just like them.