Ignorance and Prejudice
Last year Bryan from Sympathy Pain decided to rant about home schoolers. After a little back and forth I thought we cleared his misconceptions up, apparently not. I can’t begin to express how disgusted by his comment I am.
We have not stuck our fingers in our ears…at least not all of us. You keep saying these Stereotypes keep coming back…It’s because stereotypes exist for a reason. There are homeschooled persons out there, if you want to admit it or not, who continue to fit the stereotypes, end even create more negative images every day. Example: We had a young homeschooled girl come to our house and sell us magazines. She was socially inept and just plan annoying, but we helped her out despite herself…and never received the magazines. She told us some story about the death of a pet by a family member…while trying to sell us magazines and petting our dog. Then, on top of everything else, we have individuals like yourself who keep shout…”No, we are not like that and if you don’t agree, your ignorant and prejudicetic.” Great front people for the cause. If you want to change the stereotypes…ask yourself why they still exist instead of just saying “your wrong.”
I admit, I was so angry I was shaking.
Bryan there are stereotypes for a good reason, because people who are prejudiced like to show examples of one extreme situation and claim it is the norm. I never said there are not some home schoolers who do fit the stereotype, but that is not the norm. Just like not all black people are lazy and stupid, not all feminists hate men, and not all Christians are conservative. Yet those are the stereotypes people use. And yes, there are a vocal few in each category. I’m sure I could tell you a few stories about people who fit in neatly to those stereotypes. In any other instance I would look to my own prejudice and see where I was placing my own internal issues onto another person or group of people. However, when it comes to home schoolers you seem to be lacking that ability. Personally, I find that disgusting and I can’t help but wonder where else in your life you cast people into labeled boxes because it is easier for you to write them off then explore your own issues.
Finding one example, of something that I’ve seen a dozen times with public schoolers, and claiming that it represents all home schoolers only makes yourself look ignorant. Why does every child that is taught at home have to be an example of what all home schoolers are? Because people like you make it so. There are kids in public schools who are shy, anti-social, lie, are conservative Christians, never talk to anyone, and any other example you want to say. That does not make them examples of what all public school kids are, rational people can clearly see that each child only represents themselves.
Why do these stereotypes keep coming back. Bryan look in the mirror, there’s your answer. Because people like you won’t let them drop. Because people like you keep bringing them back up over and over again. Because people like you never learned to look at people as individuals with individual strengths and weaknesses rather than parts of the whole.
Frankly Bryan, people like you aren’t worth the pixels this comment used.
May 16th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
[...] the above quote was one a commenter wrote at my home school blog. Followed by an example of 1 girl who the writer says is socially inept and therefore an example of [...]
May 16th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
I do not care what Bryan thinks of home education, but he should at least think about using spellcheck before submitting comments.
May 16th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
For the record…the words are spelled correctly, I just used the wrong ones…therefore…spell check wouldn’t help. Dam publik schul.
May 16th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Some folks’ minds are closed so tight you’d need a crowbar to open them.
May 16th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Bravo!
I didn’t read this before replying to Bryan’s ignorant comment in the original thread.
You and I are on the same page.
And Bryan, just for the record, “prejudicetic” is not a word.
Praise my home education.
May 16th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
A quick note. Trolls or anyone using Godwin’s Law will be deleted.
May 16th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
If one were to use the latest headlines to define young female public school teachers, they would all be categorized as child-molesting nymphomaniacs. But we know not to define a group of people by what the media considers newsworthy, or we really would believe that all blondes are dumb, all blacks are violent, and all country folk are stupid.
Because home educators are such a diverse lot, comprised of various family lifestyles, religious beliefs, and ethnic groups, it is inconceivable that one could assume that any stereotype is accurate.
The behaviors that are proposed as being descriptive of homeschoolers are inherent in humans, not just home educators. There are many folks in jails and mental institutions all across America who attended public schools. So… what does that prove?
Regardless of what educational method one chooses, one’s character will become evident, and each person is responsible for their own actions- not public schools or homeschooling or drinking Diet Pepsi.
BTW- there are public school kids who come around quite often, raising money for band or their senior trip or new uniforms. Some are nice, some are rude. Pretty much what you’d expect from carbon-based life forms.
May 16th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
I have to laugh at Brian’s post. Perhaps his spelling/grammar is exemplary of the failing public school system?
I think the problem lies in the numbers. The percentage of people who are well acquainted with more than a handfull of people that homeschool is so small that they can hardly come up with a verifiable sample group.
I am a former school teacher who initially knew nothing of homeschooling. It was just by chance that I came to know a few homeschoolers, and then a few more. While there are some that I think are odd, there are many that I was very impressed with. And guess what? The same thing happens with people who don’t homeschool. There are some odd ones and some that seem to have it together.
We’re homeschooling one of our children right now. If I lined her up with the kids in our neighborhood (she’s the only one that homeschools) I’d be confident to say that you’d find her socially adept and quite ahead of the kids her age. She has always been a little that way - but homeschooling her this year has accentuated that even more. I am one that is SOOOO glad to have discovered the homeschooling option. We most likely won’t homeschool for our children’s entire school career - but I’m sure that the option has been there when we needed it.
May 17th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Obviously there are a lot of people in this world who think they are better than everyone else. I only hope that I, nor my family, will ever be that ignorant.
May 17th, 2008 at 10:41 am
Sorry, I was up all night with fifteen Girl Scouts at a lock-in (locking kids in - homeschool stereotype), otherwise I would have something brilliant and insightful to tell you. I can’t comment this afternoon, either. After I nap, Butterfly is selling her homemade yarn dolls at a craft fair, and we have to “woman the booth.” So much for learning how to function in the real world.
(All of this socializing - it’s giving me hives. You know how we homeschoolers hate to socialize!)
Good night, ladies.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:55 am
I have no problem admitting there are some homeschoolers who fit Bryan’s stereotype. Should that stereotype be used to judge the entire lot of us? Of course not. Any educated person knows that stereotypes are short-hand used by the intellectually lazy to dismiss entire groups as a whole rather than to see the members of that group as unique individuals.
As Nigerian novelest Chinua Achebe wrote: The whole idea of a stereotype is to simplify. Instead of going through the problem of all this great diversity - that it’s this or maybe that - you have just one large statement; It is this.
So I guess I don’t understand why you continue to argue with him, Summer: Bryan’s repeatedly demonstrated that seeing homeschoolers as a group composed of unique individuals — some good, some bad — is too challenging for him.
Fine. Let him continue to prove his intellectual laziness by doing so: those who aren’t equally lazy will see his stereotyping for what it is. And those who share it? Well, they’ll have already bought into Bryan’s views, anyway.
May 21st, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Brian, dude, there were guys in my public elementary school class when i was a kid that sexually assaulted the girls in the class….i saw it….huh. i’m going to bet you don’t want us to paint all public school boys with the same brush….did you go to public school, Brian? sorry, but i’m on a bit of a short fuse today
hey Summer. awesome blog - found you through you finding me - can’t wait to read more….