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Homeschooling Proving Good for America
Homeschoolers are impacting the political arena with
energetic
determination, focus, and success!
Gray, TN, November 29, 2010, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC
In August 2001, the cover of
Time magazine posed this question: Is Home Schooling Good for
America? "Today, as more and more
adults who were homeschooled assume positions of leadership and
service in our nation, we answerTimes
question with a resounding Yes!
Without question, the contributions of homeschoolers are
dramatically changing our political landscape.
For example, leadership courses, camps, and organizations such
as Generation Joshua, a division of the
Home School Legal Defense Association, are coming alongside
homeschooling families to train future
leaders. During the 2010 mid-term elections Generation Joshua
deployed 900 of their nearly 6,000
members to make a difference in 21 political races across the
nation, including that of Congressman DanielWebster (R-FL), a
homeschooling father.
Dr. Brian Ray, founder of the National Home Education Research
Institute, in his 2004 study of more than
7,000 homeschooled adults, showed that homeschoolers were more
likely to vote, volunteer for politicalcampaigns, and participate
in community service. Dr. Ray found that 71% of homeschool
graduates
participated in ongoing community service activities compared to
37% of U.S. adults of similar ages, and
76% of homeschool graduates (aged 1824)had voted in a national
or state election within the last 5 years,
compared to29% of non-homeschooled graduates.
In his article titled Revisiting the Common Myths About
Homeschooling, Michael Romanowski, a
professor at the Center for Teacher Education at Ohio Northern
University, stated: Homeschoolers clearly
learn about the real world, possibly more than do their public
school counterparts. While the purpose of
public education is to educate future citizens who take an
active role in improving the social, economic, andpolitical
conditions in society, Rays research indicates that public schools,
not homeschooling, should be
scrutinized for their efforts regarding citizenship
training.
When asked to comment about the recent political impact of
homeschooled adults nationwide, Paul and
Gena Suarez, homeschooling family of six children and publishers
of the premier quarterly magazine for
homeschoolers, responded that homeschoolers success only
confirms what numerous stats and studies
have already indicatedthat homeschooling is about so much more
than merely educating our children.Its about instilling in the next
generation the conviction that if good is to prevail, then it must
be advanced,
and it can be advanced only by those who embrace it.
Many homeschooling families are training their children to make
a difference by serving this nation with
integrity, not for the sake of personal ambition or monetary
gain but rather because they have learned how
to be responsible citizens. Determined, astute homeschooling
families are making their voices heardfromleadership camps to
grassroots organizations to Congress.
In January 2011, Ms. Jaime Herrera, age 32, will be sworn in as
a U.S. Representative (RWA). She will
be remembered, among other things, as the veryfirstmember of our
U.S. Congress who was ahomeschooler. She will not be the last.
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