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Every generation seems to look to the next and can immediately point out the stark contrasts between the two. I am at that place now with my son, who is 13 and headed into the 8th grade.
I remember my summers being the best days. Bike rides, swimming, and sleepovers, all without cell phones or our parents having ways to get a hold of us. We knew to finish our chores before leaving the house and returning home at sundown. We had so much freedom, and the days seemed to last forever.
Starting his second week of summer, my son has already done everything I just mentioned and is on track for many more. I have done my best to tell him stories and paint him a picture of the absolute glory that my summer days were like hoping he wants to make his the same. So far, I think he is on the right track. I often joke with friends that I am raising a ’90s baby.
Although our summers might seem similar, one thing I can tell you is very different is our public school experience. Looking back, I feel like I did receive a good education. Albeit I could have certainly learned more skills and information that directly apply to daily life, I feel that I am well educated, with a significant portion of that being from formal K-12 schooling.
As for my son, I can see so many breakdowns. He rarely has homework, hardly needs to devote time to actual studying, and is losing life skills like handwriting because everything is done on a computer. He is a smart kid, and his father and I stay on top of his grades, but it makes me concerned about his overall preparation for high school and college should he choose that route.
At the end of every summer, I wrestle with sending him back to public school. I desperately want him to have a different educational experience, but I also know this is not a path his father and I will agree upon. So continued public education will remain.
If you are like me and are unsure if public school is the right option for you, I highly encourage you to look into different options. There are so many great ways to adopt an alternative schooling plan these days. Many parents are going the traditional homeschool route with a set curriculum and a more formal approach. Others are participating in micro-schools, and some are doing what’s called un-schooling. Letting kids learn from everyday experiences that they encounter naturally. I love seeing parents explore the options available to them and stepping into their power to know what type of education best suits their children and their family.
The realization I have come to is that while my child will remain in the public school system, I will do my very best to make sure that he does not succumb to the pressures of fitting into the system, but instead, he knows it is always best to stand out amongst the crowd. He has been raised to be respectful but to know that engaging in dialogue and leading by example is critical. If the gap between my generation and his is growing, I can at least do my part to ensure that he has the knowledge and courage to be a member of a generation that knows it is capable of correcting course.
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