The idea of homeschooling offers many benefits and advantages to students, especially with the current education system and its shortcomings in providing quality learning to students. However, homeschooling is not always the best option for everyone and can have negative personal and social effects on the children, parents, and other family members. In this article, we aim to evaluate and discuss the various negative effects of homeschooling on individuals and families, discussing different aspects of the pros and cons of homeschooling.
Lack of Healthy Interactions
One of the biggest drawbacks of homeschooling is that it restricts children from having the opportunity to socialize and interact with other children in a safe and secure learning environment. Socializing with other children is essential for the holistic development of a child, which includes learning the importance of communication, cooperation, respect, and responsibility.
Thus, homeschooled children might face problems when it comes to laying come cordial and effective social skills. Furthermore, aiming for excellence and proficiency in every field is an added pressure for homeschooled children and their parents, which reduces the overall fun from learning new things and encourages a robotic approach towards their studies. This increases their stress and exhausts them mentally, resulting in them losing motivation and interest in studying, even when it comes to their favorite topics.
Lastly, homeschooled students can be limited in the access to resources. Books and materials for learning, for instance, might not always be within their reach and parents often fail to provide their children with the right tools for learning that schools would do, like visit field sites to understand certain natural and biological phenomena properly. Consequently, they lack the physical presence in science classes or access to library or internet resources, hindering their learning.
Involvement of Parents
Next, the parents of homeschooling children have to take up the responsibility of providing education, which can be a demanding and exhausting job for them, as they are often not properly qualified for one. Here, the parents must prepare lesson plans, grade students for their performances, and assess their constantly. Coupled with this, is the financial burden of homeschooling.
Some of the resources and materials available for those traditional school goers are not available to those who opt for homeschooling, which leads the parents to spend more money so as to facilitate the best learning environment for their children. Moreover, some professional and extracurricular activities that could be provided in schools may not be possible during homeschooling and will incur additional costs.
Then, there is also the emotional bond. Parents, who are not familiar with the current educational system, may end up forcing extra hard work and studying on their children, leading to both physical and emotional trauma. On the other hand, parents may also get too intimate with their children and this can have an adverse effect on their ideas of independence and autonomy.
Societal Implications
Apart from personal and family implications, homeschooling can have other drastic impacts on society. For example, homeschooled children’s control over their subjects and sessions can lead to a gap in understanding certain topics compared to those in a traditional school environment. This will result in them lagging behind when it comes to innovative and creative projects, which are the foundation of a progressive society.
Since the children are not exposed to social interactions, they might also face difficulties when it comes to working in groups or with other people, ultimately hindering productivity and progress. Moreover, with homeschooling, the scope of activities and creativity is also narrowed down, as the student’s educational program is solely based on their parents’ interpretation of the subject and curriculum, hence limiting their opportunity to explore beyond what is available.
Lastly, there is also the possibility of parents using homeschooling as a method of evading certain topics in the curriculum and teach what they see as desirable and ignorable, violating religious norms and leading to a dispersion of the existing social fabric.
Conclusion
It can be said that homeschooling can both have positive and negative effects on a variety of aspects, and is not always the best option for students, even if it offers some freedom and convenience. It is also necessary to ensure that homeschoolers and their parents have the necessary skills, qualities, and resources to properly facilitate the educational ambitions of their children and follow the different guidelines established by the authorities.
Homeschooling must be done with care and planning to keep a good balance between the academic prosperity of the student and the environment they are in, which should include ample use of social and extracurricular activities to facilitate the holistic development of the child, making them better and well-rounded individuals.