But how come no fun after school?, 14 March 2008, Buffalo News, Buffalo, New York
According to the law, the 18,000 children in New York State who are instructed at home are barred from participating in interscholastic athletics, although school districts can allow them to join other activities.
Most of the estimated 3,000 home-schooled children in Western New York do not participate in extracurricular activities, but Grand Island school leaders are weighing whether to grant the request of the Wynne family and change a district policy that would open the door for 67 home-schooled children.
…
Home schooling was characterized from the start as wanting nothing to do with institutional education, Ogilvie said. “Then, little by little, enthusiasm has to give way to expertise and the need for resources,” he said, “but they don’t want to give up any of the freedoms or the latitude they have.”
There is a concern that granting extracurricular privileges could evolve into granting other requests, leading to home schools’ achieving the status of registered schools, he said; the clubs are an outgrowth of school culture, and the school benefits from the clubs.
In the United States, clubs for children often are an “outgrowth of school culture,” but this isn’t a universal constant. Elsewhere, school is school and social activities for children are separated from it. There is no intrinsic human need for social activities to be tied to schools. Still, in the United States, this is the model and many people find it convenient, or beneficial to the school.
From a homeschooling perspective, the headline of the story also niggles. Perhaps its a viewpoint gained from organized schooling, but the idea of “fun after school” more closely characterizes the feelings of children in some kind of organized school rather than many children who are homeschooled.
The opinion of Superintendent Ogilvie that, “enthusiasm has to give way to expertise” in that homeschoolers must eventually return to the school system for support is also not a universal experience. People start their own organizations and, as the organization grows, the group accrues experience and a history. Larger groups usually develop a need for organization and rules (which is another topic homeschoolers can discuss), so even homeschoolers’ groups can take on hoops and bars to jump through and over.
Other information on New York homeschooled kids participating in sports is at:
- NYHEN: Current New York State Government Issues
- Diary of a Mad Sportswriter: SRAA’s Mohawk Homeschool allowed in
- Kids Out and About: Rochester area homeschooling groups and resources
posted by Valerie