[Fwd: Tom Danehy article]
Joel Hawthorne
Copy of my letter re: Tom Danehy article.
I tried to find a more appropriate address to send my comments regarding
an article by Tom Danehy in the Tucson Weekly.
The article, "Poor Sports" was filled with many highly charged negative
references to homeschooling. Having failed to find an address for
"letters to the editor" I thought I would pass my comments on to you
with the hope that you would know to whom they should be forwarded.
I suppose controversy is a sign of success, but be that as it may, I
think some corrective information would be useful to provide a more
balanced view.
Mr. Danehy makes many generalizations about who would homeschool and the
(from his point of view) nefarious motivations that drive such
families. Mostly he seems to be concerned about narrow mindedness and
bigotry being the driving forces behind homeschooling. This ironic
observation would seem to be a case of projection on the part of Mr.
Danehy or perhaps simple ignorance.
The homeschooling "movement" such as it is contains a wide spectrum of
individuals with an equally wide spectrum of views. Yes there are
people who choose to homeschool because they are threatened by diversity
and seek to preserve their own insular world view for themselves and
their children. I personally think that they are entitled to their view
and so long as they don't make me and mine conform to it they are
welcome to it.
However Mr. Danehy's ignorance of the homeschooling/ unschooling
movement are revealed by his focus on what I believe is the minority
(though a significant one) of homeschooling families.
I would suggest that he visit
http://www.holtgws.com/index.htm
which is a preeminent site for the growing without schools point of
view. It is sponsored by a foundation established by John Holt who was
probably the leading critic of the educational system of the last fifty
years.
The community of homeschoolers with whom my family associates is
motivated by a dislike of the bland, superficial, prejudiced,
authoritarian, consumerist orientation of schools everywhere.
I would also suggest a small collection of essays "Deschooling Our
Lives" edited by Matt Hern, "Deschooling Society" by Ivan Illich and any
of the many books by John Holt as an antidote to the profound ignorance
displayed by Mr. Danehy's shallow, thoughtless and bigoted remarks.
Thank you for your attention to this. I hope you are able to fwd my
comments to either "letters to the editor" or a similar appropriate
address.
--
best wishes
Joel
For a wonderful gift possibility and to support a great cause check out:
http://www.naturalchild.com/calendar_pictures.html
All children behave as well as they are treated. The Natural Child
Project http://naturalchild.com/home/
I tried to find a more appropriate address to send my comments regarding
an article by Tom Danehy in the Tucson Weekly.
The article, "Poor Sports" was filled with many highly charged negative
references to homeschooling. Having failed to find an address for
"letters to the editor" I thought I would pass my comments on to you
with the hope that you would know to whom they should be forwarded.
I suppose controversy is a sign of success, but be that as it may, I
think some corrective information would be useful to provide a more
balanced view.
Mr. Danehy makes many generalizations about who would homeschool and the
(from his point of view) nefarious motivations that drive such
families. Mostly he seems to be concerned about narrow mindedness and
bigotry being the driving forces behind homeschooling. This ironic
observation would seem to be a case of projection on the part of Mr.
Danehy or perhaps simple ignorance.
The homeschooling "movement" such as it is contains a wide spectrum of
individuals with an equally wide spectrum of views. Yes there are
people who choose to homeschool because they are threatened by diversity
and seek to preserve their own insular world view for themselves and
their children. I personally think that they are entitled to their view
and so long as they don't make me and mine conform to it they are
welcome to it.
However Mr. Danehy's ignorance of the homeschooling/ unschooling
movement are revealed by his focus on what I believe is the minority
(though a significant one) of homeschooling families.
I would suggest that he visit
http://www.holtgws.com/index.htm
which is a preeminent site for the growing without schools point of
view. It is sponsored by a foundation established by John Holt who was
probably the leading critic of the educational system of the last fifty
years.
The community of homeschoolers with whom my family associates is
motivated by a dislike of the bland, superficial, prejudiced,
authoritarian, consumerist orientation of schools everywhere.
I would also suggest a small collection of essays "Deschooling Our
Lives" edited by Matt Hern, "Deschooling Society" by Ivan Illich and any
of the many books by John Holt as an antidote to the profound ignorance
displayed by Mr. Danehy's shallow, thoughtless and bigoted remarks.
Thank you for your attention to this. I hope you are able to fwd my
comments to either "letters to the editor" or a similar appropriate
address.
--
best wishes
Joel
For a wonderful gift possibility and to support a great cause check out:
http://www.naturalchild.com/calendar_pictures.html
All children behave as well as they are treated. The Natural Child
Project http://naturalchild.com/home/