- Question
- Should children be homeschooled?
They miss out on a free opportunity to play sports with their peers.
The argument
On this view the case against homeschooling does not rest only on academics. Organized sport is one of the more durable benefits of a conventional schooling, and the argument is that it is precisely the benefit a homeschooled child cannot replicate. Sports keep children active during the years when habits are formed, and proponents argue that those good habits carry on into adulthood rather than ending with the final season. They also supply something the classroom does not: a unique competitive social environment, in which a child learns to train with a team, to be measured against others, and to handle winning and losing in public. That experience can benefit a child's college career later on. The scale of what is forgone is, on this account, the point. Approximately 50 per cent of high school students in the United States play a sport, so this is not a marginal activity but a normal part of adolescence for about half the age group. Most high schools do not allow homeschoolers to participate in their teams. Nor is there a straightforward substitute: participation is typically free for enrolled students, whereas a homeschooled child seeking the same experience must look outside the school system and pay a fee for it. The opportunity is therefore withdrawn twice over, first by exclusion and then by cost. Public school, by contrast, provides a wide enough variety of sports that a child can find the one that suits them and discover how they like to exercise, rather than being limited to whatever a parent can arrange or afford. Because that is a real and lasting good, proponents conclude, children should go to public school rather than be homeschooled.
Premises
Counter-arguments
Sports are not for everyone. One should not be deterred from homeschooling simply based on the availability of sports. In fact, very good athletes are often homeschooled so that they can spend more time focusing on their athletics. They have the ability to work with a specialized coach during school hours. Public school kids would not be able to do this.
Rejecting the premises
[Rejecting P2] Homeschooled children can still participate in sports in they desire, and if they cannot this is not the end of the world.