I’ve been looking over the blogs I’ve posted recently and noticed how many of them center around defending the choice to homeschool. I have to chuckle a little – if you were to take these by themselves, I’d look pretty paranoid. No, I don’t believe the entire world is out to get homeschoolers in general and me in particular. There are days when it feels that way, but I’m definitely not making this a drama. Fact is, it’s something we deal with, but it’s not unique to homeschool.
Every person who makes a life decision that is contrary to the “norm” will encounter opposition. It doesn’t matter the area – religion, education, career choice, clothing preferences, the list goes on and on—if those choices are unusual, the person who makes the choice will come up against some opposition. I’m not sure why we are that way, as humans. But we all seem to have our minds set on how things should be, and when things aren’t that way, we question it. Do we feel insecure? Are we curious? Do we feel defensive about our own choices? I don’t know why we do it, but for some reason, when we see someone who is different from ourselves, we struggle to accept it.
Be that as it may, every one of us has the right to choose how to live, regardless of what others may think. We don’t have to constrain ourselves to stick to what society deems as “acceptable.” Along with that choice comes the responsibility to stick up for ourselves, which is what I’ve addressed many times, and it also comes with the responsibility to kindly educate others who would like to know more about our choices.
Yes, I think we sometimes do feel a little bit paranoid. We get used to being scrutinized and we just automatically assume that everyone wants to poke and pry. But it’s not all we think about, and it’s not something we sit and stew about for hours on end. We do understand that by and large, those around us are merely curious. But we probably always will have our radars out for those who would be a little more aggressive in their opposition. We want to protect our kids from anything that would be hurtful to them, just as any parent would.
Related Blogs:
Are Homeschooled Children Sheltered?
Watch Out for Those Paranoid Feelings!