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WASHINGTON DC, The
Onion, March 29, 2010: According to a report
released Monday by the U.S. Department of Education, an
increasing number of American parents are choosing to
have their children raised at school rather than at
home.
Deputy Education Secretary Anthony W. Miller said that
many parents who school-home find U.S. households to be
frightening, overwhelming environments for their
children, and feel that they are just not conducive to
producing well-rounded members of society.
Thousands of mothers and fathers polled in the study
also believe that those running American homes cannot be
trusted to keep their kids safe.
"Every year more parents are finding that their homes
are not equipped to instill the right values in their
children," Miller said. "When it comes to important life
skills such as proper nutrition, safe sex, and even
basic socialization, a growing number of mothers and
fathers think it's better to rely on educators to guide
and nurture their kids.
"And really, who can blame them?" Miller continued.
"American homes have let down our nation's youth time
and again in almost every imaginable respect.
According to the report, children raised at home were
less likely to receive individual adult attention, and
were often subjected to ineffective and wildly
inconsistent disciplinary measures. The study also found
that many parents expressed concerns that, when at home,
their children were being teased and bullied by those
older than themselves.
In addition to providing better supervision and overall
direction, school-homing has become popular among
mothers and fathers who just want to be less involved in
the day-to-day lives of their children.
"Parents are finding creative ways to make this
increasingly common child-rearing track work," Miller
said. "Whether it's over-relying on after-school
programs and extracurricular activities, or simply gross
neglect, school-homing is becoming a widely accepted
method of bringing children up.
Despite the trend's growing popularity, Miller said that
school programs are often jeopardized or terminated
because shortsighted individuals vote against tax
increases intended to boost educational spending.
"The terrifying reality we're facing is that the
worst-equipped people you could possibly imagine may
actually be forced to take care of their children,"
Miller said.
Parents who have decided to school-home their children
have echoed many of Miller's concerns. Most said that an
alarming number of legal guardians such as themselves
lack the most basic common sense required to give
children the type of instruction they need during
crucial developmental years.
It's really a matter of who has more experience in
dealing with my child," Cincinnati- resident Kevin
Dufrense said of his decision to have his 10-year-old
son Jake, who suffers from ADHD and dyslexia,
school-homed. "These teachers are dealing with upwards
of 40 students in their classrooms at a time, so
obviously they know a lot more about children than
someone like me, who only has one son and doesn't know
where he is half the time anyway.
"Simply put, it's not the job of parents to raise these
kids," Dufrense added.
Though school-homing has proven to be an ideal solution
for millions of uninvolved parents, increasingly
overburdened public schools have recently led to a
steady upswing in the number of students being
prison-homed.
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