I wish we still had recess...

Imagine you’re back in middle school, but not your ordinary school—your fantasy school. That’s right. Imagine not waking up until you feel like waking up, trudging to class in your pajamas where your mom awaits you with fresh eggs and OJ. These are a few of the perks of home schooling. And after you’ve had enough school for the day, you can just grumble at your mother and she’ll feel sorry for you and send you out to play. I was homeschooled as a child, and to be honest, I’m missing the lax environment right about now. I wish I could tell Dr. Van Cantfort that I’ve just worked too hard today and I need to take a nap. The same persuasions that worked on your mother don’t work so well on college professors.
That’s the problem with the fantasy home-school. It’s a fantasy. In my experience homeschooling was void of the real-world lessons that are so important to maturing. Imagine if you were completing your undergraduate degree completely through online courses. You’d miss out on the discussion-based classes you enjoy here, and you’d never get a chance to know your professors. You’d never learn that Monday night probably isn’t the best time for a toga party, or that you can only bullshit so much before you get caught with smelly hands. The interaction and life-lessons that we cherish in college are just as important in K-12. Homeschool didn’t provide me that.
So when I entered the public school system in 7th grade, I was fresh meat. I don’t know if you remember, but 7th grade is vicious. To this day I am more scared of middleschoolers than venomous snakes. In middle school kids start fighting for their position on the social hierarchy. I started out on the bottom, and my bowl cut, freckles and shy demeanor didn’t help any. I was officially a dork.
Today, I am still a dork. Thank God. Somewhere along the line, probably in my first few years of college, I have gained a confidence in myself which borders on cockiness. I still have the remnants of my bowl cut and every one of my freckles. I’m in theatre and my biggest idol is Shakespeare. When I’m not comfortable, I’m just as shy as I was in 7th grade. And yet I still got over it. My comfort today came out of the struggle I faced to fit in all throughout my public school experience. If I hadn’t been homeschooled, I doubt I would be the same person I am today. Homeschool doesn’t equip you with social skills you need to survive in middle-school and beyond, but like my first Monday night toga party, that can be a life lesson in itself. Therefore, I can’t just flat out say that homeschooling is bad. It is never the circumstances that define an outcome, but rather the reaction.

Homeschooled Students Ready to Succeed in College

With the extremely flexible hours of a homeschooled environment and the absence of peer pressure/pressure to conform, homeschooled students have a unique and rare advantage over those brought up in a public-schooled environment. Students can work at a pace that's comfortable for them, while spending more time on things of special interest or having the opportunity to travel.
Autumn Lee of Ithaca College (who received options of completing her Bachelor degree in just two years at age 18), said "I didn't miss out on anything--missed prom, but that's not a big deal. I learned more in ninth grade at home than I did in two years at the community college." In 2003, 0.6% of the students who took the ACTs were homeschooled, which has risen from 0.2% in 1997. And, the average score for homeschooled students on the ACT was 1.7 points higher than the overall average score. So why are they being discriminated against (ie. Monroe Community College in Rochester, N.Y.), and just exactly how? The admission process for homeschooled students has been complicated by individual colleges across the nation and recently, Congress issued new legislation against it. Contained therein, Congress encourages colleges and universities receiving government funding to discontinue their discrimination against homeschoolers. The House Report specifically recommends that colleges and universities change any admissions policies which force homeschooled students to take additional tests beyond what is required of traditionally schooled students, including taking the GED and SAT II exams in lieu of a transcript/diploma from an accredited high school. Also in the report: The Committee believes that college admissions should be determined based on academic ability of the student and not the accreditation status of the school in which he or she received secondary education.
Colleges are being asked, or rather told, by Congress to stop discriminating against homeschoolers who essentially do better at standardized tests than those in a public school system.
It seems as though the children of "picked on" or teased parents are reaping the repercussions. A lot of parents who've been very successful in life (professors, etc.), and have chosen to homeschool their children, were picked on and taunted through the majority if not all of their time in a public school system. These parents have done everything in their power to protect their children from the discrimination they so heavily endured. It saddens me to know that educational institutions are the ones now inflicting this discrimination Harvard has no problem accepting homeschooled students with an essay, a recommendation letter from a teacher and one from a counselor. Yet community colleges put these students through unneeded and scrupulous testing. I'm not seeing a connection here. I'm glad Congress has stepped in to help.
In my readings, I've found that some believe high schools waste time or do not use time as effectively as they could. My high school was extremely effective with high curriculum levels. For two out of the four years I was in high school, I had a college professor of 13 years as my engish teacher. I'd not trade that for anything in the world, as it is the solid foundation for the basis of my writing. If not for him, I would not possess the ability to structure my thoughts, as complex as they are, into the flowing pieces of art they've become today. So, I cannot say I would've rather been homeschooled; besides, I didn't really have a choice. My mother was a single mom and a hairdresser, who quit school in the 6th grade. Homeschooling was not a possibility for me. And, even though I was ridiculed incessantly as a child, I'd do it all over again for the experiences I had in high school. Above all else, I believe that our individual experiences serve as a common ground on which both sides may meet.

Homeschooling/Due Wednesday Sept. 20th

Do you think homeschoolers are as prepared for college as other students? If you were homeschooled, you may discuss your own experiences in your answer. If not, talk to other homeschooled students. In addition, find blogs and articles that discuss the pros and cons of homeschooling. Think about social as well as academic preparation.

Censorship: Beating around the Bush

You can judge a book by its cover. I don’t think you should, but you can—and, oh boy, does it happen all the time. And judgment isn’t limited to books. People love to judge things that push the envelope, whether it’s a book, movie or play. Quite often, their conclusion is premature and bias. But what if this cover that we’re judging is just plain sick? What if it suggests that God gives people AIDS as a punishment, or that a 14-year old can have a meaningful relationship with her rapist uncle? What if it gruesomely depicts the assassination of President Bush?
Personally, I’m very concerned about the AIDS epidemic, and I don’t condone incest and rape. These are two “covers” that disturb me greatly. They are also the themes of two plays that I’ve become familiar with in my years here at Piedmont, "An Altar Boy Talks to God," and "How I Learned to Drive." They are two plays that are ultimately beautiful portrayals of life and its inherent struggles. They are—I guarantee you—two examples of the redeeming power of fiction.
These experiences have provided me with the insight to look objectively at the latest test of our tolerance, a British film that realistically depicts the assassination of President Bush. On the surface, two prejudices come into play. First, I’m not a big fan of Bush and his policies. Second, I don’t want to see him brutally killed. Where do I personally draw the line? Let’s see where others have drawn it.
The wonderful nature of the internet has given birth to the ability to post comments on news articles, and since I’m only a single lowly citizen voicing my opinion, I find some random strangers opinion just as credible. John Denton, of Who-the-hell-knows-where, USA, has this to say about the film: “The film is catharsis. Sixty percent of Americans wish Bush's ideas would die…KILL KILL KILL HIS IDEAS!” On the other hand, Suzy, of the same origin, states, “I wish that a few people had the guts to actually stand up for our President. The out of control network news and biased liberal newspapers and magazines are the cause of the divide in this country. They hate Bush…Maybe a movie should be made about killing the people who made this movie.”
I’m going to come to a conclusion now, and what a disappointment it will be—because I have no conclusion. The movie has not been released. I haven’t seen it. And how, oh, please tell me how, can you effectively judge a movie by its trailer?
About a year ago, I stood on the Piedmont stage in character, as Tim the Altar Boy, asking God to his face why he felt homosexuals should die an excruciating and diseased death from AIDS. Well, God never answered me—but I did hear the theater door slam. Someone had judged the play by its cover; it wasn’t appropriate enough on the surface. That audience member was never introduced to the hypocrisies and subtle inferences that made that play the powerful social tool that it was. Don’t be that guy.
Judge the Bush assassination video. But only after you have the balls to watch it.

Censorship Issues

View the video on cnn.com (or elsewhere on the Internet) that depicts a fictional assassination of President Bush. This video is being broadcast on British television, but not in the United States. Do you think there should be limits on what can be broadcast, or would that be censorship? Your post is due by 10am Wednesday, September 6th.