Posted by Wyld_Roze on August 12, 2011, 4:17 pm, in reply to "Re: Home Schooling"
+1 GIT, well said. Although there are a few more things I'd like to add.
First, that to imply the student should learn to deal with it, is like saying the victim should just be tougher or not so sensitive, thus also implying that it's the student's fault. GIT is right, kids are extremely vulnerable at this age, between hormones and having more responsibility, it being harder to fit in, etc. Also, other kids can be extremely vicious, more so in that environment than most others in the adult world. They can have a great social circle, but if the "cool kids" decide to bully them, sometimes it won't matter. They are still humiliated in front of the whole school, and for something such as not wearing the right kind of clothes, or because they are smart, etc. It also doesn't matter if they have the support at home or not, although that would help. It can still be too much. Teenage suicides are on the rise because of bullying. It's much more than the teasing that it used to be.
Also, I wasn't blaming the schools. People excel at different jobs for a reason. It's the same with learning. Some kids learn differently than others. Schools are designed to teach kids by the mass, some kids just can't excel that way. It's not the kids fault OR the schools.
My point was that there are tons of different reasons a kid could or would not do well in a typical school setting, with the kid nor the school being at fault. The problem I had was with your statement that if you do A, B, and C that you are guaranteed to do well, which is just not true. Sorry, but I can't stand blanket assumptions about anything.