by Linda Zirion

Created on: November 02, 2008

Now as I write this I am assuming that we all truly want the best for our kids and that of course we are not looking for a way to get off the hook for holding our kids accountable. If we the parents don't do our job, neither the public school system nor the home school system will have much luck educating our teens.
I don't believe our public schools should be depicted as disadvantaged, for a lot of teenagers the public school system works very well. I do believe however that the home school option can be a very good one. High school students are individual people that don't all fit into the same square hole. The more choices we have as parents the better chances of success we give to our teenage children.

I as a single working mother of four I felt the public school system was a better choice for my teenagers. The public school system worked great for two of them, thank god for home school for the other two.

My eldest daughter, Jamie, entering her junior year of high school; seemed to lose her power to think! She decided the school social life was much more important than even trying to learn. She chose to associate herself with gangs, drugs, and just generally running amuck! I noticed a difference in her immediately and went for a conference at the school. After talking with her counselor and against my better judgment I left her in the school for another month. She was invited to a party and I decided to drop in. There was nothing going on that I believed in so I physically removed her from the premises. The next day I took her to work with me, talked to my boss, and got permission to take her to work daily, went to the school and un-enrolled her. I then interviewed the three home school teachers available to us and picked the one I felt most understood what I was going thru with her. I feel strongly that had the option not been available to me I would have lost her to a gang; I did not raise her for seventeen years to lose her in a drive by shooting! This was not the high school fault however; this was the fault of the choices my daughter made. I the parent was responsible to handle it in the best way for my daughter.

My next two kids went through the public high school system wonderfully. My son, Ryan played football; while my daughter, Tia, choose soccer. They both graduated with honors!

Now it was time for my youngest daughter, Crystal, to enter high school. She wasn't getting into trouble; she was just so unhappy. She just couldn't find her nitch. Once again I found myself interviewing home school teachers. I found one that was perfect for her so once again let the home schooling begin! Now again I had permission from my boss to take her to work with me. She became the happy teenager that she deserved to be. In her junior and senior year she did two days of high school and three days of college a week. It was the perfect choice for her.

Public high school or home studies. There is no one size fits all when it comes to our young adults. We the parents need to watch over them, we need to guide and support them. We need to take the responsibility of helping them figure out how to best spread their wings and fly!

Learn more about this author, Linda Zirion.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.