The other day Ashlee came home from school and asked me what rape meant.
The week before that she said she had been hearing obsceneties from some of the kids on the bus.
Then there was Jimmy, the boy who was suspended for bringing chewing tobacco to school and giving it out to kids in the form of "candy."
And yet I often hear people accuse homeschoolers of sheltering their kids.
From what?
Since when is sheltering our kids a bad thing? I would ask, which is the greater injustice?
I would rather be accused of sheltering my kids any day than be responsible for the effects of "exposing" them.
So heck yes I shelter my kids, and you should too.
We know that the world is going to get worse before it gets better. That scares me, and it should scare you too. If it doesn't, you are not opening your eyes.
Sure, all of our kids will have to learn how to deal with the world one day. But why the rush to throw them out there so soon? Should we not first give them a proper foundation? I believe they are given to us as children, while they are young and impressionable, for a reason. It is our job to teach them. We can't afford to hand our kids' childhood over to the world.
OH my gosh! Okay, so I don't want to have to answer those questions one day. How do you handle it? Do you tell her the truth or try to put it off a few more years until you can at least have "the talk" with her? I wouldn't know what to do. As far as sheltering goes, I think it's perfectly fine to protect our children, for that is why we were given stewardship over them...and when people think of home schooled kids I think they are referring more to the "socially awkward" affect that it can end up having. I look at all the homeschooled kids in our ward though and I can't think of any that are really socially awkward. We are so busy with church, church activities, moms clubs, sports, etc that I just can't see having socially awkward children without actually TRYING to make them that way. So, protecting and sheltering your children are a must. Teaching them to live in the world but not of the world is also a must, just in steps...not all at once!
ReplyDeleteThat's terrible-I'm sorry she had to hear that. Doesn't that make you angry!
ReplyDeleteI always say shelter your kids so they don't get rained on. Our public school systems are SO corrupt but private schools are SO expensive and working mothers aren't around to homeschool. Where are my options? Well, all I can say is thank goodness for the gospel principles that we are teaching our children. Hopefully that will supplement the bad influence of their school environment.
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