Should children be homeschooled?

Encyclopedia of Opinion

Question: Should children be homeschooled?
Position‹2 of 3›: No, children should not be homeschooled - they should go to public school
Argument‹4 of 4: Parents must adapt to two roles

Being both a parent and a teacher is just too much for many adults.

The argument

The argument concerns what homeschooling asks of the parent rather than what it offers the child. Being a parent is a difficult job in itself, and adding the role of teacher does not simply extend it but sets two roles alongside each other that make different and sometimes competing demands. When the role of teacher is added, some adults find themselves vastly overwhelmed and unprepared for the tasks ahead, because the preparation that qualifies someone to raise a child is not the preparation that qualifies them to design a curriculum, assess progress and sustain instruction across subjects. Proponents treat the consequences for the parent's own health as part of the case rather than as a separate concern. Anxiety disorder is common among women and men, affecting between 22 and 33 per cent of the overall population, which means the condition is already present or latent in a substantial share of any group of parents. Taking on so many jobs at once would be likely to trigger it, and to bring it to the surface in those for whom it had previously gone unexplored. The second strand concerns separation. Everyone needs time on their own, and the school day supplies it structurally: the child leaves, spends hours in another setting with other adults and other children, and returns in the evening. Proponents argue that this is not merely a convenience for the parent but a feature of the relationship itself, since a parent who is also the teacher is never off duty, and the child never encounters them in any role other than that of authority. The ability to send a child to be educated and have them return at the end of the day is therefore something to be taken advantage of rather than dispensed with. It is important to the relationship between parent and child, and homeschooling removes it, which is why proponents argue children should attend public school instead.

Premises

[P1]Parenting is already demanding, and adding the role of teacher can leave adults overwhelmed and unprepared, potentially triggering or surfacing anxiety, which affects a large share of the population. [P2] Sending a child out to be educated and welcoming them home in the evening gives both parent and child needed alone time and benefits their relationship. [C] Therefore, because parents should not have to adapt to two roles, children should go to public school rather than be homeschooled.

Counter-arguments

Not every parent has a job, and not every parent may find balancing teaching and working overwhelming. It all depends on the parent. Those with full-time jobs may not want to try homeschooling, while stay-at-home parents may find the task of educating their own children rewarding and fulfilling.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P3] While this may be true for some parents, it is not universally true.