Hello,

I am happy to see another article in the 'mainstream' media on home education. I am writing an article on tertiary entrance options and procedures for homeschoolers to be published in Education Choices Magazine. http://www.educationchoices.com.au

I have homeschooled for a decade and my son is now a university student (previously distance courses now seeking on campus place). Our story was recently featured in Sunday Life Magazine. The article I am currently writing for Education Choices has a short deadline and I am seeking to hear from homeschoolers who intend to go to TAFE or uni, who are currently enrolled or have previously studied at this level. For more information could you please visit the following url where you can read more about the intended article.
http://rosiereal.blogspot.com/2005/12/tafe-uni-entrance-for-homeschoolers.html

http://rosiereal.blogspot.com/2005/12/university-entrance-for-home-educated.html
This is a good opportunity for homeschoolers to let the tertiary education sector know how they can improve their admission information and procedures for home educated students. These institutions will be contacted for research purposes for this article.
Thanks
Rosie Williams
BA (Sociology)

What a simplistic view of life you have Bosk. Sadly in the real world the streamlined simplified approach that you espouse does not happen, and even if it did would not be effective as most bullying goes undetected.
Your views on the problems with home education tend to display a common ignorance. Home educated children do not mix only with their parents. Home educators mix in large groups on a weekly basis, the groups are extremely diverse as many come to home education for a variety of reasons. Additionally most home educated children are actively involved in their local communities. Many also do activities such as sport, ballet, art, etc. They mix with a large variety of people on a daily basis. They are exposed to a far greater diversity of opinion than children stuck in a classroom with one teacher and 25 same age peers

Our daughter is a happy, loving, giving, child. She displays compassion, empathy and caring traits to all and everyone. She is forgiving and tolerant, but will not accept any wrongdoing towards any person and will take appropriate measures to ward off anti-social behaviour from others and to protect those being bullied. She has high self-esteem and believes that she is a worthwhile person and has a lot to give to society. She has a brilliant sense of humour and is highly artistic. Our daughter was diagnosed with ADHD, ODD, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder when she was attending school. Her school reports were full of comments along the lines of “….. is a disruptive and negative influence on the classroom….” “… will not conform to the rules of the classroom …” “cannot sit still and be quiet…” . Her teachers informed us that she was a target for the bullies. At the end of 3 years of schooling (both public and private), she could not read, write or count. For her fourth year of school, she was still to be in Grade 1, having spent 2 years in Preps and one year in Grade 1 already. The “system” had failed our daughter totally and completely. This is one of the reasons that we home-educate our child. The other reason for our home-education is bullying. Our daughter was bullied in 2 different schools, and to a great degree. She would come home from school in tears, with physical and mental injuries. After three years, two schools and “Anti-Bullying Policies” our dauther was spiralling into suicidal depression, for which she was seeing a child pyschologist on a weekly basis, this tipped our decision in favour of home-education. Our daughter is free to learn at home, and in the community, without fear of ridicule, without fear of reprimand and without fear of her safety. Our daughter is able to interact socially with her all members of society – regardless of age, class, race or creed – without prejudice. Our daughter is alive, which is something that we believe is totally due to her home-education.

claddagh. My youngest son is very sensitive and he cannot cope at school at all, he is on Distant Education at the moment on psychological and medical grounds. It’s not just when he is bullied and/or treated unfairly that is the problem, but also when other children are targeted – he cares so much. He found school so stressful and depressing, he became sick. He says that the teachers do nothing and many are psychological bullies especially to the students that they don’t particularly like. There is a lot of favoritism and discrimination going on. Students with ADHD and the like are targeted as are those of certain ethnic backgrounds. Children like mine who stand up for themselves and publicly complain, even though they know that they will be victimized and bullied for it, and who cannot sit back and do nothing are also targeted. My children have been to 5 different schools and the younger one says that it isn't getting better - it is getting markedly worse.

I think that your daughter and all children who were removed from school because of these issues are very lucky to have parents who are open minded; parents should protect their children from neglect and abuse as if we don’t protect them –who will? Nothing good can come out of being in an environment where you are not treated with respect, are not validated and where you are seen as insignificant, and worse still when nobody cares enough to do anything about it.

As a parent every time my children were not happy we either moved schools or they stayed home and were home schooled until we found an alternative. My children refused to go to a school where they didn’t feel safe and where they felt they were wasting their time. They go to school to learn, not to be abused. One problem has been the attitude from other parents in relation to the moves etc. I was branded a pushy crazy mother for protecting my children and responding to their needs and we were ostrasized by the community!

Have you ever met anyone who wasn't a victim of bullying at school, or on the way to or from school? My mother's answer was to learn to ignore bullies, which I did, and this behaviour was largely successful. As a young mum I even gave this advice to my children when they encountered bullies. But it's not an answer; it's actually an appalling solution that simply perpetuates the problem.

Luckily my children, once they reached school age, rarely encountered bullies, and when they did they were in settings where they were surrounded by caring adults who quickly intervened. We weren't perfect parents, and some of us were bullies ourselves. But most of us weren't, and together as a group we were discovering and sharing with each other a new set of social skills, based on cooperation and collective as well as personal responsibility instead of competition and individualism.

The difference between the social environment we inhabited and the environment of school is that ours was voluntary: we could choose to be there at that particular time. We didn't have to be. No one, no law, forced us to associate with each other in a particular way at a particular time. Our children knew this. They knew that is was okay to walk away and ignore the bullies if they chose. They knew that if they asked for, or needed, help adults or peers would rally around and help them resolve the situation. They knew that part of that process would involve taking care of the bully's needs, as well as the victim's. They knew that all everyone really wanted was to get along, but that it's not always easy and that learning how to takes time.

I've spent twenty years fostering the development of this voluntary community: the homeschooling community. If you're interested in any aspect of homeschooling, try Googling the word "homeschool" or visit Homeschool Australia http://homeschoolaustralia.beverleypaine.com

Advance Australia Fair? Standby apathy is a cultural by-product of “structural violence”.

We clobber “whistle blowers” or anyone who does not conform to “Ocker” images, where the “mateship” archetype is in total denial. Antic’s like don’t “rock-the-boat”, “don’t-cause-trouble”…”she’ll-be-right-mate”, “I’m okay-it’s-okay” means the problems we face at community and ground levels are over ridden by a “conqueror and divide” mentality... “out of control”!

We, are a shrinking community resource, we have become a culture AFRAID to “stand-up” for the “outsider”, where the person/s found defending themselves (for what ever reason) more often are “scapegoat” because to stick-up for the “other” , who may not be “ya mate/s” means, we might get hurt as well. Don’t-get-involved-the latest impartial catch-cry!

I am sad to read Marie Bentham’s story. I pray for her family, and all those trying to survive this type of experience – single-handedly!

I believe issues in “Crime Prevention and Mental Health” are at an all time high. I believe as Australians, we have lost the meaning of “Fair-Go” and this is being “Acted-Out” in the school play ground, as a reproductive cycle of family and community violence, which reflects also; the increasing level of “structural violence” coming down from governments.

Bullying I believe is a “leadership” issue. I am not surprised to see the local Council, as quoted in this Susan Wrights article announcing, “There was nothing to raise any serious concerns”. No matter where we look in this country today… we find poor “intelligence gathering” based on refutation and cover-ups. Like the kids at school (reactive), we in society are left struggling at ground levels in a cultural conflict that discriminates wholesale against anything other than what is meant by civilized.

The culture of bullying is a serious “social ill”, an evil in transference rotating its depleted source; “anxiety, headaches, nausea, ulcers, sleeplessness, lack of confidence, isolation, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, flashes of anger and hostility”… to and fro - between victim and perpetrator.

Stand-Up Australia, we need to get back to BASICs! People need people, which is more than “crisis talks”, targeting the short lame answer.