Discrimination in an Unmentioned Topic

Discrimination, prejudice, diversity, cultural differences – can you guess what I am talking about?

“Let’s see, he used those words, so… it has to be about race! Or gender! Or wait, maybe sexual preferences.”

Nope, keep trying.

“Is it Class? socioeconomic status? Religion? Disabilities?”

Any other ideas? No? Do you think that list covers them all? Is there nowhere else people are divided or discriminated against?

This post is about a culture that is the subject of prejudice and discrimination that millions in the USA participate in, but no one seems to realize that what they are doing is discrimination. This culture is homeschoolers.

“Homeschoolers? Is that a culture? Is that something discriminated against?”

Take a moment and think about this… Are you starting to understand what I mean? How many time have you heard – or said yourself – comments like, “that guy is so awkward, he must be a homeschooler,” or “homeschoolers are so weird,” or any one of the hundreds of such phrases that I have heard.

If you haven’t guessed already, I’ll go ahead and tell you: I’m a homeschooler. Have been since the fourth grade and up until coming to BYU. So, we’re different? Sure, I’d say we are, or at least can be. We have a different lifestyle, a different culture. But, a worse one? Really, what are the differences in the two cultures?

 Maybe a list will help:

1)      Public schoolers have to learn how to make friends – Homeschoolers have to learn how to keep the friends they have.

2)      Public schoolers learn with their peers – Homeschoolers learn with their parents/family.

3)      Public schoolers have to learn at the class’s pace – Homeschoolers learn at their own.

4)      Public schoolers interact with people their own age – Homeschoolers have to interact with people of all different ages.

5)      Public schoolers have to learn how to “fit in” with the group – Homeschoolers already fit into their group.

There are more things I could list, and of course these I do list don’t define everyone, but at least it is a start in forming a picture of what is going on.

So then, what do these differences cause? Obviously the difference causes homeschoolers to be socially awkward and inferior – right? Might as well go up to a black person and say “hey, your culture makes you poor, lazy, and dumb!” or approach a woman and say “hey, your gender makes you flighty, emotional, and weak!” Please don’t be that ignorant…

Take myself, for example. Am I socially awkward? Sometimes, yeah, but obviously not so bad that people are afraid to bash homeschoolers in front of me (I usually just silently listen, and let them continue on in their ignorance). But in exchange for my possible weaknesses in socializing with peers, I instead have become much more proficient in socializing with adults. In fact, I can usually hold a conversation with someone twice my age far better than my public schooled peers. Can I make friends as easily? Probably not, but the friendships I do make are rich and full, and are likely to last for a lifetime. Aside from these two things, my homeschooling also taught me how to self-motivate (I had to set my own time for finishing assignments long before college), I had the opportunity to spend more time with and become even closer to my family, and I learned more in my studies than almost any public schooler I meet.

Now I don’t say these things for the sake of tooting my own horn, or to say that homeschoolers are better, but I think it is important to understand that a different culture doesn’t mean a bad one. I chose to be homeschooled, and while I missed out on many aspects of a public school life, I also gained in many other areas. So, yeah, I might not fit precisely into your culture, but don’t diss mine – because I wouldn’t change it for the world.

-John Richardson