A Note...

Dear Readers,

Some of you may be wondering why I - a homeschooler - would write a satire on homeschooling. Am I struggling with self esteem issues, or what? In truth, this topic of homeschoolers and the real, social world has been an interest of mine for the past few years. In a world that bases much of its value on how you interact socially, are homeschoolers doomed to be outcasts, weirdos, and clanspeople? Or can we adapt and interact? In my experience, that latter is very much true. I can't tell you how many people have been stunned and visibly shocked when I told them that I, normal ol'Keegs, was a homeschoolers. Reaction vary from stuttering, spasms of spitting, to incomprehensible mutterings of "wh..wha..why?"

Truth is, this generation of homeschoolers is almost identical to our modern day public schoolers - most equipped with Cell Phones, Texting plans, Facebooks, and Twitters. Most follow the newest TV shows and fads, as well as listening to a wide variety of musical selections. 

Why then would I write a short story that emphasizes the differences of homeschoolers? For one, the reality of homeschoolers being "normal people" has not been accepted by the world community. If you happen to walk up to someone on the street and tell them that you are a homeschooler, most will immediately dock you in the category of conservative traditionalists, who only wear out of date clothing and drive around huge buses. Whether or not this is fair and true, they immediately assume you to be Christians and that you know next to nothing about the world around you. 

The world still believes us to be the homeschoolers of the past - ones that carved all their toys out of sticks, spent most of their lives with their siblings. They assume we don't listen to "real" music - Pop music is real? - but prefer instead "Beethoven's 6th Symphony". Not that all this was, or is, something to be ashamed of, it just isn't socially "in". Homeschoolers have come a long way though - a really long way. Yet the world still associates current homeschoolers with their previous stereotypes. Worse, because homeschoolers are different, they won't be able to function in the real world. They protest that we don't have the experience, the training, or the guts to be able to succeed in the vicious world around us.

This is the reason I wrote this short story. My point, in a way, is making fun at how the world views homeschoolers - showing how unrealistic and truly silly it is. Not only this, but I'm showing that even IF homeschoolers were still so conservative, traditional, and "strange" - which they aren't - that they would still be able to function. Basically, instead of the world making their judgements of homeschoolers based on how they interact socially, they need to base them solely on how they function. But I don't want to spoil the story too much. In short, don't think I'm trying to bash homeschoolers with this story - I'm actually trying to do the opposite. 

I hope you enjoy the read!