This is a portion of an interview from May 2007. I was interviewed by a college student for her paper comparing homeschooling benefits to traditional schooling benefits.
Interview Question #1:
How has homeschooling affected your children’s social life? Would you say that they don’t have as many friends as they would have in a school situation?
My Answer:
They might not have as many acquaintances, but I am confident that the quality of their friendships is superior. They have never had any trouble making friends and have never expressed a desire for more associations than they have. We have moved quite a bit, and they diligently keep in contact with their friends in various places as well as making friends at church and home school activities everywhere we live. School is not the only way to meet people. Actually, school separates young people into age groups and is not natural. Our children actually have a wider range in their social life. They have many opportunities to relate to all age groups: babies, toddlers, young children, young adults, parents & adults, as well as older people. They are not separated out from the mix of people, but enjoy sharing activities and being with all kinds and ages of people. In school, young people almost exclusively have their friends from their own age group & grade. This just doesn’t promote good social skills. It rather promotes peer pressure (which usually has negative effects) and a lack of understanding of people from other age groups. A definite advantage of their “social life” is that they began relating to the adult world at an early age, desiring to be mature. They generally did not relate to the adolescent angst, but rather related to their parents, family, and church.
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