The public school experience v. homeschool

There are so many benefits of homeschooling.  For our family the flexibility in scheduling has been so important as we traversed the United States.  We have also enjoyed the flexibility in choosing literature, social studies and science topics that are relevant to what is going on in our lives and the world.  There are many great resources out there and we have drawn upon many curricula to ensure our kids are caught up to, or beyond, their grade levels.  As one example we read The Giver and liked it so much that we continued with the quartet even though we didn't have a curriculum for the other three books.  However we really enjoyed reading and talking about the books together.  

Beyond flexibility in scheduling and curricula are the many intangible benefits of having your kids around for all the messy parts of adulting (solving problems, working through issues, being frustrated with fixing things, cleaning, organizing....).  When your kids are with you they learn from you in everyday activities, commentaries, etc.  They also do chores - Brother does all of the dishes (we have never had a dishwasher) and Sister puts the dishes away and matches socks.  They do these chores every day when they need to be done.  They take care of the cat and help with the RV when we are traveling.  Keeping the kids home also gives us more of an opportunity to be with them during these fleeting years between birth and late adolescents.  We purposely reduced our expenses and reduced the number of hours we needed to work so that we could devote our time to our kids.  It has been wonderful on many levels.

The downside is that our kids end up being isolated from people who don't think like us.  They also have few opportunities to solve their own problems away from us.  As Brother approached 7th grade I started to think about the young man he was becoming and the skills he was strong in and those where he needed opportunities to develop.  It is true that kids will not develop their own set of problem-solving skills with other people without practice.  For a middle-schooler this is increasingly important - for each person has to decide how they will approach and deal with the world.  Also, let's not kid ourselves, the 20-21 school year was lonely for many kids.  Our homeschooled kids, who looked forward to social outings and friend-dates, were more isolated with us than ever.  They need some friends their own age.  We can be parents and teachers, but it is really not in me to play at a 7-year-old or 11-year-old level (nor do I think that it would be beneficial for them).  

So at the end of their 6th grade and 1st grade years we started talking about whether they would be interested in going to school.  The timing was right for our family on another level.  Husband graduated with his software engineering degree in May and he wanted to put the degree to use and re-enter the workforce.  With him taking a full-time job and me working from home it would have been possible, but difficult, to continue to homeschool.  Thankfully the kids were keen on the idea....but public schools bring their own set of challenges and though we are on the third week, I feel I have run a marathon of stress and worry about the whole thing.

First, we are attending a small K-8 school, census is around 170 students.  It is a frontier area (very rural) and I knew the area was conservative.  I reached out to the school to ask about COVID precautions and explained my background and education in public health.  The administrator was very approachable and asked me to speak at the assembly on the first day of school and to write an educational letter to parents about masks.  In AZ the governor has banned mask mandates.  Small schools really have no choice but to follow the governor's guidance so masks are optional at our school.  I did write the letter and I did speak on the first day.  It didn't matter.  My kids are the only ones in their classes wearing masks and they are sick.  Sister became sick a week ago and I took her for strep and COVID testing at that time (both negative).  Since then Brother became sick so we went back for testing again today mainly because we were notified yesterday that there is a confirmed COVID case in the school.  It's so infuriating to send them into such an unsanitary environment every day when this disease can be prevented with minor planning and masking.  It is only because I teach statistics and understand the risk of the illness in kids that I send them (risk to kids is still small).  There shouldn't be a school in the nation without a mask mandate in place during these times.  

Secondly you would not believe the shit people say in that school.  Teachers talk about conspiracy theories with the kids like they are talking about the weather.  The most common is that Biden "stole the election" from Trump.  I went to a Lutheran K-8 so I am used to teachers spreading unverifiable claims, but I thought public schools were supposed to remain focused on approved curricula!  I am so proud of Brother.  The goal of this experience was for him to engage with people who think differently - that has been a mission accomplished!  

There are some benefits - the school has an excellent music teacher and Brother is learning viola and ukulele this year.  Sister will learn violin!  Certainly this is beyond what I could manage in homeschooling.  The school provides free breakfast and lunch to all kids everyday.  This is certainly convenient for me.  The kids have small class sizes - Brother has 13 students in his and Sister has 18.  Small class sizes facilitate more engagement with peers and the teachers.  We learned that we have neighbors with kids (one the same age as Sister) and they ride the bus together. We wouldn't have known about the kids on the homestead off in the distance.  

With all that said I question my decision to engage with the public school every day.  I want to stick it out because the kids are happy (albeit sick right now).  I guess I will see how the COVID tests turn out and continue to play it day-by-day!

The will to annihilation

I am surrounded by a community that is anti-mask and anti-vaccine.  They think mandates in relation to masks and vaccines are a violation of individual rights despite recommendations from the medical community.  The same people who espouse these views turn to medical personnel & hospitals for their own health.  But they feel they know better in this situation.    

As I have previously mentioned my education is in public health.  What is public health? Public health is the science of disease prevention.  Regarding COVID-19 we have TWO main choices.  Best choice is get vaccinated (this will prevent you from getting severe disease) and wear a mask (to prevent the spread to those who cannot get vaccinated - such as children under 12).  

Yet here are things that have recently been said to me in person and via FB:

"I have done a lot of research on masks and they don't do anything." - neighbor

I am sure the 'research' done by my neighbor was peer reviewed, right?!?  I pointed out that there were ZERO cases of COVID-19 in the school last year when masks were required...so they probably worked, right?

"More people have died from the COVID-19 vaccine than COVID-19." -friend of a FB friend

When asked for proof they were unable to provide it - it just feels right to them.  This is absolute fiction.

"The vaccine is a way for Bill Gates to reduce the population of the globe." -friend of FB friend

?!?!?!  Asked for proof, got some lunatic video that took multiple Bill Gates interviews and cut pieces of them together in a crazy way.

"...trust your "science" and leave me alone." - friend of FB friend

My science??  The same science that you rely upon every time you have a serious medical concern?  The same science you have and continue to benefit from every day of your life?  The same science that has enabled you to rant crazy to the world through the internet?

I've tried to reason with people, I have tried to find areas of agreement.  I continue to point out that the vaccines were developed under Trump's Operation Warp Speed.  No matter - the memes and conspiracies have all the power right now.  

I will note that the above group of people are all very religious - they have faith that they will be ok.  They have more faith in memes and pseudo-science than in actual science (though I feel confident they would choose to go to a hospital if they were sick).  But underlying all of this distrust of fact is a will to annihilation.  Many religious people are actually wishing for the end of days. 

Like me many people look around and see that our systems have let us down and that it is difficult to pursue life, liberty and happiness.  Unlike me they want it all to end.  They don't give a shit about the climate, or their neighbors, or even themselves.  They know we will all die and they are fine if that death comes sooner rather than later.  They feel confident they will be rewarded for their choices in the afterlife.  But I imagine they will spend many more lives seeking to learn the lessons they failed to learn in this life.  The lesson is this - life is precious, fleeting, and wonderous and it should be valued.  We should work together to promote the health of our communities and the planet.  We should seek to act with love and compassion in our hearts, not spite and vengeance.  We are all connected.  To quote the Bible, "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." (1 Corinthians 12:27)

Their views are the antithesis of Christ's - they act out of fear and anger towards others who are different than them.  Christ washed the feet of the whore, clothed & fed the sick and needy.  He looked for ways to help those who suffer.  "...whatever you do to the least of my people you do unto me." (Matthew 25:40).  Science gives us a path to reduce suffering and they shun it.  Who are these religious people who hate knowledge, science and the reduction of suffering? .  They are acting out of a will to annihilation - their values corrupted by our greedy, consumeristic, disposable culture.  

Where conservation (conservativism) should be it is replaced with the myth of endless consumption.  Where community & family should be it is replaced with extreme individualism, xenophobia, isolation, fear and hate.  Our "Christian" culture glorifies violence when Jesus only taught love.  

Perhaps these are end days - but if they are it is because of the anti-Christ values of individualism, hate, intolerance, violence, and destruction.  Where we see opportunities to help each other we should do it.  Wearing masks is a small sacrifice for your neighbor.  If you are so firm in your belief that you don't need anyone - then please don't frequent the hospital and overburden the medical professionals when you get sick.  

Perhaps you can find some love for your fellow man and the planet that sustains you.  Perhaps you can embrace the message of Christ instead of the false gods of violence & ego.  Today, right now, you can be a different person and promote less suffering instead of willing the annihilation of yourself and those around you.