ta
ease. She had never heard of any of our sources of anti-immunization informaEion; she asked us to bring in a
hoops that are typically involved, nevertheless vrants Eo do whaE Ehe educaEors do, is probably going to make
too. You have to say, l,m qualified because I love rhesl childien. because Irm a smart person, I know what they need, I'm a reflective person, I'm not going to be imposing myself on Ehem, etc. They might be looking for your degrees and certificates, but you have Eo say Ehat's not Ehe right definiCion of qualificaEions. SS: tlhat abouE Dublic reaction to homeschooLing?
feel pretty resentful, regardless of how well qualified that somebody might be. Second, mosE of the folks from whom Ehe hostilicy comes have lived their professional lives Ehe choices facing us: fulI vaccines, in a highly bureaucratized setting, no vaccines, just cercain ones. Over and when confronted with somebody who Ehe nexE few weeks we read, re-read, doesn't have Ehat burden, the resulE chought and talked about all Ehe is thaE peopLe get preEEy upseE. Mayreasons and situaEions in which to be Ehis cuEs to the core of somevaccinaEe Lauren or noE. We finally body's professional identiEy even decided to give Lauren Ewo of the SA: The minor key in lhe Dublic more than Ehe training thing does. four shoEs: fenanus and Ehe Sabin reacEion to horieschooiing is, these ( dead virus ) ool io vacc i ne . Another answer is strictly a finanpeopLe are underdogs, iE's a David cial one. I think Ehat without parEic- and Goliath type of siEuaEion. I can coirplain abouE informaEion Some justificacion good some supergive ularly in Eo iE, overload, buE I wonrt people have a "favor Ehe underdog" Ietting believe by a intendents Ehat the It is r,,re rarho musE sift Ehrough actitude, so Ehese people will be few peopLe educace cheir kids at home melange of information and decide preEty supportive of homeschooling Eheyrre going to be opening the flood- families. But I Ehink mosE of the-rewhat is Che truEh to act upon. Once gaEes, as if everybody could or wanEwe cave in and sEop examining our action on Ehe part of the public is a rnay be a paranoid feelings and thoughts about a parEicu- ed to, That fear hostile one, because iE's Limilar to f car - hrrl- i r 'l eads them to see Ehe Lar issue and allow someone else Eo what the superinCendenEs feel, thaE funds Ieaving wiEh the students. sift through Ehe facts and choose the if the home educating family thinks truth for us, vJe abdicate our freedom that school isnrt good enough for SS: We always encourage families and a Dart of our mind to someone Eheir kids, well,6icher th6y're to suggest a cooperat ive relat i onshi p righE - in which case what else. Ehe heLl with the school, Eo offer to leE the The jury I was on had its am I doing with my kids in school, beschool carry them on their records momenEs when members yelled and were cause my kids are certainLy as good curt with each ocher. We examined the and stiLl receive sEaEe aid in exas your kids - or homeschoolers are use of resourchange for Ehe family's evidence, speculated on what sort of wrong, and they are jusE attacking it seems that if that were person Ehe defendanE was, argued ces, so something Ehat Ehe rest real1y their sole fear, more superin- found to be acceptable. of us have about who correcEly remembered certhat. Eo would agree about the Eendants tain cestimony, complained attorneys and what we wanEed to hear SS: I notice thaE sometimes our SA: In a sense, if you agree to them ask. We reached our guilty vercritics don't like Eo hear examples dict in abouE ninety minutes and sent someEhing like that, you admit that of single working mothers homesthooliE was che finances in the first Ehe person to prison. When we went ing, and so on we Eake the position place Ehat led you Eo be reLuctant to that anyone who- really wants Eo, can, back Eo Ehe jury room for our persondo it, so I don't think a smart super- ano not everyone seems Eo wanl to aL items some peopLe said they hoped intendent. and most of them are they wouldn'E have Eo serve on hear thaL. preEEy smarE when iE comes Eo things another jury again, buE not me. It certainLy was noE fun Eo announce our like this, is going to buy anything SA: You're throwing down Ehe guilty verdicE and send a stranger up like that. gauntlet when you do that. What are the proverbial river, but it was a Ehey going to say? I don't really SS: If schools don'E Like familively, enlightening process Eo love my kids? No, they have to siy lies acting as Ehough they can do arrive at a verdicE we aLl believed thaE Ehe school is ok. whar the school peopLe have been in. professionally trained to do, should Our legaL system assures our SS: In your book you also Ealk palaver to debate and based on right chat aEfecE the way a family wriEes a about the deeDer American confLict the principle thaf a person can learn proposaL? Should Ehey take their Life between individuaLism and instituand understand something complex wiEh- experience and rurn that into qualifi- t ions . cations, or should they play up whatout going to school; we can bear this in mind while we Learn alongside our ever degrees they do have? SA: I think Ehat's a sreat ambichildren and patienEly encourage Ehem valence in the American chfracEer. to become good jurors of their own SA: I wouldn'E say-that a family We're all Erying very hard Eo be indilives. - PATRICK FARENGA EhaErs trying to esEablish a coopera- viduals, buc at the same time we live tive relationship ought to pretend co in a totaLly instituEionalized socibe like the orofessionals - that dis- ety. Most of us spend most of our tracts you fiom whaE you're real ly Eime in instiEutions, The main skill TALK WITH STEPHEN ARONS all about and you run the risk of thaf lre have learn, ofEen the main getting sucked inEo doing it in a way skill peopLe Eo ISS: ] Stephen Arons is a profesLearn in school, is how sor of legal studies and author of EhaE isn't really you. I think that, to survive in and maniDulaEe a burCOMPELLING BELIEF: THE CULTURE OF as wiEh the whole business of deeaucracy. So homeschooiers come along AMERICAN SCHOOLING, a book abouE the kind that you fining the of education and make a declaraEion of their indeconf licEs beEween instiEutional and your kids are seeking, you have pendence from Ehat enEire fabric. and schools and individual dissenters. to take oossession of the definition Ehis provokes Ehat ambivalenE feeling John HolE took a great interest in this book when iE was first DubIished, and now Chat it is available in paperback we are happy Eo add iE OUR Christopher Became A Math Whiz to our catalogue (8.95 + post. ). One Iong secEion of the book looks specAnd YOUR CHILD Can Too!! ifically at homeschooling, and in preparation for writing it SEephen Arons with conducted exEensive interviews with THE HOME homeschooling families and superinEenSCHOOL dents. In September I spoke with him in his office aE Ehe University of . the ultimate whole number arithmetic learning system book on the Eopic, Ehen said she hooed for Lauren's sake Ehat we would dei:lde Eo immunize. We caLked Eo many friends about
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Massachusetts, Amhersc :
SUSANNAH SHEFFER: Why
does
a
school feel Ehreatened when a family
asks permission to homeschool?
STEPHEN ARONS: There's Drobablv three or four differenE answbrs co that. In my judgment, probably aE Ehe Eop of Ehe List is thaE the schools really pride themselves on being professional, The idea thaE somebody not trained in educaEion, someone who didn'E have Co jump through all Ehe GROt.lING t.llTHOUT SCHOOLING #53
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