Wow MyBelle,
I am just assuming you are responding to my post about my take on Michelle Stanley's video. I am amazed that out of 10 items you picked the one about public schools but I never stated it was better only that the children were receiving an appropriate education. Our local schools do not have nor have ever had weapon scanners although a student did commit suicide by gun in the foyer of the highschool some years ago while my daughter was a witness and a student. Her peers were at my house for days and days in the aftermath, discussing what they could have done to prevent this and how sad they felt for this student's state of mind.
Socialization is a huge part of learning and most of the parents that I know who home school readily admit that their children do not get the social skills they will need in the business world just from home schooling. Most of the home schooling parents I know often encourage their kids to enroll in extra-curricular activities (ie: sports, band, theatre, art, book club, etc) with similar aged peers for this very reason. Learning how to make and keep friends, take turns, keep promises, own up to mistakes, accept that friends are someone who you don't always agree with but will continue to be kind to, etc.
That kind of learning comes from those who do not live with you every day. It comes from being around people who don't think like you all the time, who challenge you to think outside of the box, and those who didn't have your experiences but bring different perspectives and stories, yet someone with whom you still can find common ground.
My little brother attended a very small Christian school (26 kids in 8 grades) together in one room. He mainstreamed to public school in 8th grade and his grades plummeted initially. He was so used to 1:1 instruction and very close supervision that he really struggled with the expectations of public school. Once he got into recognizing that he was responsible for his own behaviors, his homework and his performance - he began to do better. He never attained the "A's" that he got in the small school setting but he was a strong "B" student in public school. He went on and got his degree in engineering and he boasts he is the only engineer he knows that can't do math in his head. He had to work harder and struggle more in public school than some of his peers but he always said it was much better to do to prepare him for college.
Just my experience and my opinions - no snark intended.
