Wednesday, September 8, 2010

As Long as We're Talking about Socialization....

Over the years, I have suffered through many conversations with people who are, at best, skeptical of homeschooling and homeschoolers. Their logic is often flawed, based on a lack of information as well as a lack of...well...rational thinking.

Well, in a conversation several years ago, I found rational thinking in a very unexpected place. I was attending a homeschool convention in Wichita, Kansas, and was checking into my hotel. The desk clerk was a very pleasant, but very "interesting" looking young man. Behind the blue hair, body piercings, and tattoos, he was a VERY personable, very engaging kid.

As he checked me in, he asked a question he probably asked many times every day.
"What are you doing in Wichita?"
I replied that I had come to attend a homeschool convention.
"Oh, do you homeschool?"
"Yes, I've homeschooled my children for the last 16 years".
"Wow, that's cool. I've heard of that. Don't you worry about how your kids will get socialization?"
Honestly, it kind of cracked me up to hear that question from this particular young man, but I stifled a smile and began to give my standard answer.
"Well, I..."
He never gave me a chance to respond.
"Wait, forget I asked that." He grinned. "I'm the most socially maladjusted person I know, and I went to public school, so I guess it's kind of a dumb question isn't it?"
I think maybe I'll go get a tattoo.

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like he had a better understanding of socialization than most people who play it as an anti-homeschooling trump card.

    What were my teachers saying all through school? "You're not here to socialize!"

    ReplyDelete