On the one hand I had a horrendous time at school, I was bullied very badly (which included sexual harrassment) and utterly hated it - and at the time would have done anything to not go (I got very good at faking illnesses, and played truant an awful lot).
But on the other, even though my mother is actually a qualified teacher (she got the qualification, but only worked as a teacher for a couple of years, then became a minister) I really wouldn't have trusted her to have given me the education I was able to get from school. Because, despite it being full of dreadful people, it was actually a pretty good school - and the bullying generally happened between lessons, not during them, so I did learn. Whereas my mother can't do maths or science for toffee...so I'd be great at History, Geography, French and English but be crap at everything else. Dad could have done the maths and science, but he worked away from home. That's what I worry about - that parents, however well meaning, may not have the skill to provide a good enough education to realise a child's potential.
I'd also not have met my best friend, who I'm still ever so close to all these years after leaving. If parents choose to home-school I think they must provide a forum for decent social interaction, or children just don't develop the social skills which are vital for later life. Especially if they are bright enough to go to uni and have to deal with the education system from scratch.
Special needs are different, but if the government actually provided decent funding for special schools (that don't even have to be "schools" in the formal sense, just places disabled children can go in the day) there wouldn't be so much of a problem. I volunteered at a special school in Bedford, which mainly took autistic children, and children with very severe physical difficulties ~ it was one of the most wonderful places I've ever been (just thinking about it has made me tearful). The children there were so happy, and so stimulated. But it had to close down despite massive fundraising drives.
Similarly, if schools were taught how to effectively deal with bullying it would make a massive difference. The first school I went to I was physically bullied, I went to the head and within days it was sorted. I don't know what they did but it worked. Next 2 schools I was bullied and despite flagging it up bugger all happened.
Though, despite my leftie views, if I ever have kids they're going to mixed sex private school, as I just don't trust the state system!
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2010-01-08 10:40 am (UTC)On the one hand I had a horrendous time at school, I was bullied very badly (which included sexual harrassment) and utterly hated it - and at the time would have done anything to not go (I got very good at faking illnesses, and played truant an awful lot).
But on the other, even though my mother is actually a qualified teacher (she got the qualification, but only worked as a teacher for a couple of years, then became a minister) I really wouldn't have trusted her to have given me the education I was able to get from school. Because, despite it being full of dreadful people, it was actually a pretty good school - and the bullying generally happened between lessons, not during them, so I did learn. Whereas my mother can't do maths or science for toffee...so I'd be great at History, Geography, French and English but be crap at everything else. Dad could have done the maths and science, but he worked away from home. That's what I worry about - that parents, however well meaning, may not have the skill to provide a good enough education to realise a child's potential.
I'd also not have met my best friend, who I'm still ever so close to all these years after leaving.
If parents choose to home-school I think they must provide a forum for decent social interaction, or children just don't develop the social skills which are vital for later life. Especially if they are bright enough to go to uni and have to deal with the education system from scratch.
Special needs are different, but if the government actually provided decent funding for special schools (that don't even have to be "schools" in the formal sense, just places disabled children can go in the day) there wouldn't be so much of a problem. I volunteered at a special school in Bedford, which mainly took autistic children, and children with very severe physical difficulties ~ it was one of the most wonderful places I've ever been (just thinking about it has made me tearful). The children there were so happy, and so stimulated. But it had to close down despite massive fundraising drives.
Similarly, if schools were taught how to effectively deal with bullying it would make a massive difference. The first school I went to I was physically bullied, I went to the head and within days it was sorted. I don't know what they did but it worked. Next 2 schools I was bullied and despite flagging it up bugger all happened.
Though, despite my leftie views, if I ever have kids they're going to mixed sex private school, as I just don't trust the state system!