on “Socon Blogs“:
And Irony is staggering, falling to the ground and choking out a death rattle of a last breath as it goes into its final shuddering throes and expires.
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on “Socon Blogs“:
And Irony is staggering, falling to the ground and choking out a death rattle of a last breath as it goes into its final shuddering throes and expires.
unrepentant old hippie 
Bwahahahahaha….
My sides!
My wife’s brother is a “born again” and his wife (who has a Masters in Library Science) chose to do homeschooling rather than have their kids go to public school with the heathens. Well, it lasted until the oldest two (now 16 and 15) started highschool. They didn’t have very good science education and had social skills deficiencies – they rarely interacted with other kids in a school setting, except their family.
Luckily, my sister-in-law “saw the light” and now all her kids are in public school, though the oldest might not go to University because of his marks.
Frankly, get the socon morons away from my kids. Further the better.
*headdesk*
It’s called hunkering down when you know you’re losing it and breeding the next generation of ignorance because you couldn’t even get stupid right the first time.
Brucie needs more coffee.
awwwwww i didn’t need to know about soconblogs. There goes my day.
What a bunch of morans!
Is our children learning?
Mike – I’ve heard similar horror stories about homeschooled kids who try to enter high school, and just can’t make it.
Teachers actually are professionals who know how to *teach* and do it better than most parents could do it at home. The socialization aspect of things is something else again.
But hey, it’s all good as long as they’re kept from learning about diversity, right? /sarcasm
chet – 😆 Sorry!
Bruce –
Hey, that’s not bad. I like it.
Geekwad – What? Soconblogs is an endless source of entertainment. Not recommended for those with delicate stomachs, though. 😉
Dr. Dawg – And crutons!
Dr. Prole –
Not the ones that are being homeschooled, obviously.
Yeeheehee! That’s too funny.
This is from the article you linked to:
“Homeschooling participants are affected by more than just the person who sit at the homeschool table.”
A homeschooling (but non-religious) friend of mine just enrolled her kid in school today. She simply couldn’t take it anymore, after 3 years of trying to motivate him to actually do schoolwork.
Other “homeschooled” kids I know are just staying home doing who knows what while their mum sits at the computer blogging about homeschooling or renovates the house. But as long as they know how to be submissive to mum and dad and any other adult, then everything’s A-OK.
Other “homeschooled” kids I know are just staying home doing who knows what while their mum sits at the computer blogging about homeschooling
Awesome. In a really horrifying way, of course.
What always gets to me about socons is their pride in their ignorance whenever it comes to anything that does not match their narrow dogmatic perspective of reality. There was a time not so long ago when intelligence and being well informed was a badge of pride, even among those of deep religious convictions, but the last generation or so of socons have perverted that into pride of ignorance and wearing it as a badge of pride. Is it any wonder that these folks are so difficult to interact with outside of their narrow circle of like minded people? Is it any wonder that the rest of us that prefer to live in the reality where facts are facts even when you don’t like them and/or their implications have to laugh at these people because it is either that or weep at such a dangerous mentality? After all, their ignorance just isn’t a threat to them it is a threat to all those around them, much like someone that insists on driving a car when they need glasses with a very strong prescription yet do not because they don’t like the way they look wearing them.
I know I prefer to live in the world where reality is what it is proven to be even when I would have it otherwise if I could. It may be more stressful at times but at least I can actually figure out what to expect and plan accordingly in my life instead of being literally blindsided by that which I refuse to see because it does not suit a narrow dogmatic perspective. Not to mention reduce my placing others in harms way because I refuse to see the harm that plainly exists and/or is a direct consequence of that blindness.
P.S. Yes, I am trying to return to blogging again JJ, I hope to be able to stick around for a while this time, it has felt very strange being essentially absent for the past 10 months or so. I hope you are well JJ and I look forward to reading your blog regularly again. Take care and be well.
They must think they live in Ameirca…
OT – what are the kittehs up to?
Now now. Don’t be too hard on home schooling. I’ve known families doing the “my kid’s intellect is not being served well by the local system, so I’m going the extra kilometer because I have the time and ability and want to see them succeed” version, which is far different (so I observed) from “my kids are too prone to learning about the icky real world when I let them out of my sight, so they’ll just stay chained to the kitchen table for the next decade so they don’t get uppity” version.
The first version involved a lot of extra-curricular activities that mingled the kids with their age and/or intellect peers outside school hours. I have to suspect that just ain’t so with the second version, but then I also suspect the second version isn’t for the benefit of the child.
It was my understanding that home schooling was available, so long as it met the minimum requirements mandated by law for educating munchkins. Is that why some of the US states keep trying to dumb down educational requirements?
“Homeschooling Is On The Raise“???
“‘Homeschooling participants are affected by more than just the person who sit at the homeschool table.'”
I haven’t hit the link yet — I might do that later when I have more time — I just picked that last one from brebis noire’s comment.
But if those two examples are in any way related to the standard of the quality of English composition in homeschooling, we need to squash this movement as soon as possible!
brebis –
I’m with Chet, that’s awesome, in a really horrifying way. What on earth becomes of these kids?
Chimera, if you think literary standards are a problem, well, I don’t even know where to go from there.
If the old adage holds true that those who can do, and those who can’t teach, then we have a small army of frustrated parents who failed in their own lives and have taken it upon themselves to ensure that their children are better at disseminating their hate than they were.
The good thing about kids is that eventually they make up their own minds.
Chet – It’s actually terrifying to think that, in the right conditions (ie. an extremely conservative government) some of these people could end up running things (through cronyism, not merit).
I noticed at ProgBlogs someone else spotted this one also, and said something like: “This is why we can’t let conservatives be in charge”. 😆
Hi Scotian! Good to see you back!
Pride in ignorance was on the increase among conservatives before Bush, but it really escalated with his administration. Although the worst offenders are the religious right, even a lot of non-religious conservatives seem to pride themselves in being pig-ignorant dumbfucks — climate change denial being a prime example. But socons certainly take the prize. On just about any topic you could name, their view of is anti-science, anti-progress, anti-factual and anti-reason.
PS – Hope all’s well with you and I welcome your return to the keyboard!
JAB – Kitteh pictures to come… it is Caturday, after all 😉
Niles – I am sure that there are parents out there who actually do quality home-schooling, and make sure the kids get socialized with things like being in hockey or soccer etc.
However, when one of these socons talks about homeschooling, you know they’re talking about “the second kind”. Plus their reasons for wanting to homeschool are suspect — they just don’t want their kids to be learning about diversity, or sex ed, or for that matter, evolution. They want to make sure their kids carry on the grand old traditions of ignorance, bigotry and religious authoritarianism.
My hat’s off to parents who do the first kind of homeschooling — it takes a real skill to be an effective teacher. But those who home school just to keep their kids ignorant I hold in nothing but contempt.
JJ:
No, I’d say it really started in the late 70s and started to take off under Reagan, grew stronger during the GOP stranglehold on Congress in the 90s, and reached its peak under GWB where they truly came out into the open for all to see. As for the other conservatives following suit, I think that was more because of how powerful a faction within the GOP the socons had become by the time GWB came into the picture. I remember back under Reagan and Bush the elder those conservatives thinking they were still the true power in the GOP with the socons just being a helpful source of votes but not a faction able to shape fundamental party policy. Under Gingrich/Hastert/Delay though in the Congress the socon influence on GOP party policy and institutions grew stronger and stronger, and by the time GWB came onto the scene they had managed to take control of the GOP policy infrastructure and the more rational conservatives had to choose either to follow alongside the socons or lose power, and guess which way most of them chose. There were a few conservatives within the GOP that refused to do so, but not many, and thus we got what we saw under GWB.
I have to wonder though if it would have been quite so extreme/blatant if 9/11/01 had not happened and given the extra imprimatur of authority to GWB which he used to create a “crusade” mindset, but the basic form would still have been there, just possibly not quite as pervasive and blatant as we saw. It is going to be a long time before America recovers from this level of stupidity/ignorance at this level of government, and in terms of recovering reputation that I don’t think will ever happen, at least not within the next standard lifetime. The damage has been so extreme in my opinion that some of it can never be truly regained in terms of moral authority and intellectual credibility and as for being a nation motivated/governed by scientific research and such it will take decades at the minimum before they can regain what they had even as recently as a decade ago in that respect I’d say.
Things are reasonably well with me, at least for the moment, and I am hoping I can manage to stick around a bit this time around, we shall see. Believe me, I am glad to be back, and it is heartwarming to see how many people apparently missed my comments given that I am one of the really wordy writers around the blogs I frequent.
Chimera
As Niles points out, there are some home schooling programs that are actually pretty good, it’s just that you usually hear about it from the idiot fringe.
I actually think that kids shouldn’t have to go to school (ie, legislated) — the parents should be able to choose. But having said that, even though they have the right to take a pass on public education, the parents are then responsible for actually educating the kids, not just turning them into morons. So, while I don’t think home schooling is a good idea overall, parents should have the right to do it if they choose. We can only hope they do it well.
Bruce – Back when I went to school, and probably even when you did, that old adage had some truth to it. But I was really shocked when I started following what my niece & nephew were doing in school — the level of creativity and energy the teachers put into the courses is astonishing. They made some of the stuff seem so interesting I was almost wishing I was back in school just so I could take these courses over again. That was when I came to realize that teaching really is an exceptional profession and a talent and a skill, and for the most part, teachers do an amazingly good job at it. I am impressed by them, anyway.
The homeschool variety of deliberate ignorance is encouraged in the US through colleges like Patrick Henry where they attempt to funnel kids through into becoming Supreme Court somebodies and White House interns. It worked during the Bush regime (government by idiots, incompetents and evil overlords), but I don’t think it’ll have such a privileged relationship during Obama’s administration. http://www.phc.edu/parentsmain.php
But in the US, the public system is in such (again, deliberate) disarray that I can understand why parents would homeschool there.
Scotian – I forgot all about the Moral Majority, which I guess is where the downward spiral of stupid really started.
You’re right on the money about 9/11 — religiosity was suddenly front and centre, and the new crusade was on. The fundies loved it of course — already being strong supporters of Israel since it has to exist for the rapture to happen, an endless war against Muslims was just what they wanted. And still is.
(Re long comments: You’re one of the few people who can get away with long comments because what you write is always interesting and well written. Good long-comment-writing is a science and an art, and you’ve got it down! Keep up the good work.)
brebis – It’ll be interesting to see how many Bush Admin goodies start getting dumped after next week. I can’t wait!!! While I don’t think Obama will be the deliverer of all things hopey-changey that some might want, I’m positive he’ll be putting a stop to the more idiotic and destructive policies that came about over the last 8 years.
JJ, that’s not what I was talking about, I was talking about the parents as teachers, not real teachers. As much as school bored me to tears, there were some good teachers there.
Ah, okay, I get it. D’oh! (No I wasn’t homeskooled.)
Schooling is only as good as the teachers. No matter where the kid is. Chances are, though, that the teacher with the training is going to be better at it than someone who thinks the Bible should be believed as a piece of historical, literal, truth.
Schooling is only as good as the teachers.
I would tend to agree. For the most part. However, sometimes it can be the individual student.
My absolute favourite high school teacher, someone who made the subject interesting, engaging and made come it alive, is also my sister’s least favourite. I should add, though, that this particular sister, 15 months younger than I, is also somewhat deluded about a number of things concerning our high school years.
I used to know a family that homeschooled all of their 7 children. I felt sorry for those kids, stuck with their mother all day, and for the mother, stuck with her kids all day, and for the father, who came home at the end of the day to a family that had been together all day, day after day….
Well, whaddaya know… 😆
I went to that link to take a look and leave a comment, and guess what?
It’s gone!
😆
Chimera – LOL, down the memory hole! But it’s back – with a new & improved title, so my efforts to promote better living through good spelling & grammar weren’t for naught! You’re welcome, Stand Your Ground!
Luna – I think there are probably some parents out there who are just as capable of teaching their kids as the pros, however, it’s a tiny minority that have this kind of natural skill. For the most part, it’s substandard teaching generally resulting in epic scholastic fail.
FF
This is where the public school system can fail a bit — with a class of 35 it’s hard to address the learning needs of individual students that aren’t motivated by what motivates the majority. But that’s where tutoring, summer school etc come in.
calgal
You’ve just described my vision of HELL.
I’ve just gotta say here that I’ve known a number of people who’ve homeschooled and it has not turned out to be a disaster, at least not in terms of the kids’ academic abilities. I know of several of these kids now who are in university and doing very well. In fact, I believe they’re more literate than the average kid going through the system these days. One is working on her Masters degree and is also becoming known as an artist. However:
1) NONE of the parents were or are religious nutcases. Not into religion at all. No way. One woman nearly left her husband when he tried to entice their little boys into going to the local Catholic school.
2) In the region where I live there are no democratic schools at all, so parents who don’t want their kids taught in the authoritarian school system (however watered down it may be) only have the choice of homeschooling.
3) At least a dozen or maybe twice as many households in my very rural area homeschooled around the same time, and the parents organized to get all the kids together as a group for lots of outings and field trips. Different parents were involved with these trips at different times, and other helpful adults with stuff to teach were involved, too, so the kids saw other kids from unrelated families, were not always with their own parents, and got a sense of community that went beyond their own little families.
The homeschooling thing is complicated and deserves more than a quick judgement. Just saying.
I’ve tried to be balanced about homeschooling; 5 years ago I even researched and wrote an article that was mostly favourable, and I included comments and information from a university researcher who had been homeschooled and who was doing a Master’s degree in Education that included a thorough survey and study of the reasons why parents chose to homeschool. As this was in Quebec, religious reasons came in third place out of the top five – but I suspect it would be number one elsewhere in Canada.
However, in spite of my attempts to remain favourable and neutral to homeschooling, my personal contacts with people who’ve homeschooled and (when I was in college, with kids who’d been homeschooled) have not given me a positive impression. I’ve seen too many kids lose their way, unable to organise their lives and their schedules; others utterly unable to adjust to college or any structured or official environment; and others (ones who are still kids) who are great with other adults but lousy at interacting with other kids.
What I object to most about homeschooling is that it implicitly teaches kids that society and its public institutions are bad (or unworthy of your presence or sub-par) and that only the family can be trusted. Maybe some parents don’t teach that concept, either implicitly or explicitly, but I’d love to know how they do it.
orange –
Oh for sure. But when a socon brings it up, you just know it’s not about giving the kids a higher-quality learning experience, it’s about keeping them ignorant. So I don’t feel too bad about making a quick judgment call in that context. Or milking it for some cheap laughs 😛
But that’s just me!
brebis and JJ – Yep. I hear both of you.
brebis, I share your concern about the public institutions thing. You made a wonderful point. It’s as though it teaches kids that it’s not necessary for them to be involved with society and with public institutions. So there’s a sense that would seem to be lost there of being part of a public. The homeschooled kids get to remain separate from that, and grow up that way.
JJ, I totally agree that the socon thing is about keeping kids ignorant. And it’s also about keeping them separate from the public which is secular. Not that you don’t know this. I just saw lots of stuff weighing on the crazy negative side of homeschooling, and some general statements from various folks seeming to trash the whole idea out of hand, and thought I’d weigh in on the other side a bit. Is all.
Truth be told, my own family is so dysfunctional that I am horrified at the thought of any child spending every day in the presence of their parents and having their experience so controlled by them. Shudder.