High School Culture

I watched an episode of Dr Phil last evening that discussed education choices: traditional, homeschooling, unschooling.  Okay-I confess...I watched the last 20 minutes of the show.  But the last guest was a young lady (26 years old) who was a former homeschooler who has made it her life's mission to speak out against homeschooling and to tell her story of why she hated it and wished she never had been homeschooled.  She said she felt like a 'social retard' and attributed it to homeschooling.

When asked what she felt like she missed out on, her reply (paraphrased) was something like this:

"I hear people talking about football games, the prom, cheerleading tryouts.   I feel like I don't have anything to talk about in these conversations.  I don't 'fit in'. I wish I would have had the opportunity to do those things."

Okay...first of all, if you are 26, and you are hanging out with people still talking about prom and football games, either your friends are way too young or you hang out with a bunch of high school has-beens.  I went to 3 proms...no offense to any of my dates, but they were not that spectacular.  Football games were fun. But when I was 26, I don't believe I reminisced about them to that extent.  Never tried out for cheerleading in high school. 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news for this young lady and her friends, but if high school was the BEST time of your life...that means everything that happens after is chopped liver.  Did I have some fun times in high school?  Absolutely!  Was it the BEST time of my life?  Absolutely not.

Seems today there is this huge culture centered around high school...High School Musical, iCarly...every where you turn, youth are being whammied with how much Fun and how Exciting high school is.  You hang out with your Cool Friends and Goof Off everyday.  You get into Hijinks and Adventures with your Cool Friends, so much so you may even break into a song and dance in the middle of PE class.

Really?

Are the youth of America really supposed to believe that?  Heck, I *went* to public high school, I  feel gypped because I wasn't experiencing all the glitter and hype!

The young lady who feels like she was missing out, when asked what activities she participated in, mentioned that she was very active in her church.

While I love church activities, I do see where she missed out if that is the only social outlet she had.  There are so many options for homeschoolers to get out and mingle with others. 

But through this whole discussion, I keep thinking back to the 'Old Days'.  Did George Washington feel left out because he didn't go to football games?  Did Thomas Jefferson pine away because he didn't go to the prom?