Is It Necessary to Expose Kids to Mean People?

In my continued debate (internal and external) on whether to home-school Marshal I'm having many conversations with different people. Almost everyone is against it, except one of my friends who I highly value.

Marshal with his friend Maddie - being home schooled with her three older siblings.

It's not that I don't value other people's opinions, but if you have never home schooled before how can you really have an informed opinion? My friend is successfully homeschooling four little tykes...well, only one is really "little"...ages 3 to 13. Or maybe the oldest is 12. And by successful I mean that they are grades above where they'd be in public school.

I was talking recently with Marshal's child care provider - who loves him like a grandma and has watched him since he was three months old - about the fact that my friend is inviting us over to "home school" a couple of hours a week to get a feel for it and see what it's all about.

Her response was that kids need to be exposed to the "bad" people. Life is hard and they need to have the experiences with liars, bullies, etc. so they know how to deal with them in the future.

Really? Is that REALLY necessary?

Why do I want to subject my young child to other people's bad behavior? How does seeing other people behaving badly teach him how to behave properly? This about sums up the logic...(my emphasis)

"...public school children are confined to a classroom for at least 180 days each year with little opportunity to be exposed to the workplace or to go on field trips. The children are trapped with a group of children their own age with little chance to relate to children of other ages or adults. They learn in a vacuum where there are no absolute standards. They are given little to no responsibility, and everything is provided for them. The opportunity to pursue their interests and to apply their unique talents is stifled. Actions by public students rarely have consequences, as discipline is lax and passing from grade to grade is automatic. The students are not really prepared to operate in the home (family) or the workplace, which comprise a major part of the "real world" after graduation.

Homeschoolers, on the other hand, do not have the above problems. They are completely prepared for the "real world" of the workplace and the home. They relate regularly with adults and follow their examples rather than the examples of foolish peers. They learn based on "hands on" experiences and early apprenticeship training. In fact, the only "socialization" or aspect of the "real world" which they miss out on by not attending the public school is unhealthy peer pressure, crime, and immorality. Of course, the average homeschooler wisely learns about these things from afar instead of being personally involved in crime or immorality or perhaps from being a victim."

To me...it's a big duh.

I remember my secondary education vividly from third grade forward...starting in fourth or fifth grade I was a bully. I had bully friends. We were horrible. And I didn't start off as a bully...I learned how to be a bully by watching my friends.


He's a smart kid already...I'd rather nurture his intellect and coach him through tough times directly rather than trying to guess what's going on in a classroom. Or trying to un-teach bad habits picked up from other kids.