The issues surrounding homeschooling and public school programs, whether academic or extracurricular, are not new, and over the years a lot has been published on this issue. A search of the archives on this blog alone has 12 pages of posts on homeschooling and sports, dating back to April 2005.

The concern about the risks of involvement with public school programs is well documented.

July-August 1997
One Problem… And One Possible Solution

November-December 1997
Hanging On To What Makes Homeschooling Distinctive

May-June 2000
Why the Question of Homeschoolers’ Playing Public School Sports Affects All Homeschoolers

The issue of homeschooling and sports is not going away, and now a new generation is wrestling with the questions and concerns.

Homeschool students belong in school sports
Rebecca Wright, The Jackson Sun, July 26th, 2009

Having been homeschooled myself for nine years in the state of Florida, which allows equal access to public school amenities for homeschooled students, I had the ability to participate in numerous public school extracurricular activities. This was very beneficial for me and many of my homeschooled peers. Participating in public school activities also gave me the rare opportunity to intermingle with and learn from my public school peers, one of whom I married.

With the number of homeschooling families on the rise, we as a state should not send the message that we (dare I use the word) discriminate against families whose only “fault” is that they exercised their right to choose their child’s education.

As Will Shaw of the VHEA stated in 1997: We recognize that some parents would want to have access. There are risks, and if legislators are going to continue to respond to their constituents, then the role of this state organization is to make sure that what happens represents the least risk to the most people. Nonetheless, our preference is for a local arrangement between the homeschooler and their school district. In this state anyway, that is achievable.

As the pressures for conformity in educational standards increase, holding onto homeschooling freedoms will not be easy.

Tags: extracurricular programs, homeschoolers and sports, homeschooling, public school programs, uniformity and conformity

This entry was posted on July 29, 2009 at 6:30 am and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.