#exposeChristianHomeschooling

Several weeks ago, in response to news that Karen Pence would be teaching at a private Christian school, the hashtag #exposeChristianSchools went viral on twitter, as graduates of Christians schools shared stories about racist instruction and subpar religious curricular materials. Another hashtag—this one just as important—soon followed: #exposeChristianHomeschooling.

I was struck by the conversation on driving.

Homeschooled students typically depend on their parents to teach them how to drive. In many cases, this isn’t a problem—my parents taught me how to drive when I was 16. Not all have it so easy, however, and this is especially true for those with parents who are neglectful or controlling. Homeschoolers, after all, don’t have access to drivers ed the way a student in public school might. In many areas of the country, if you can’t drive, you’re effectively stranded. And homeschooled teens aren’t taking a bus to high school each day.

As twitter user @QuiverfullTwee1 explains:

https://twitter.com/QuiverfullTwee1/status/1092218457469435905

https://twitter.com/QuiverfullTwee1/status/1092218469175693312

Other twitter users responded, offering similar experiences.

Homeschooled students don’t usually have access to a trusted teacher or high school guidance counselor to go to for help. In some cases, the only adults in homeschooled teens’ lives are their parents friends—who are likely to side with their parents, not them. Certainly, not every public school student has a teacher they’ve connected with, and high school guidance counselors aren’t perfect. system can fail public school students too. But there actually is a system.

Back to the hashtag, where I was also struck by the discussion of science.

All dinosaurs existed, but they all lived on earth at the same time alongside all the other animals. If I recall, they went extinct during the Flood. This is, no joke, an illustration from a science textbook I used. #ExposeChristianHomeschooling https://t.co/PE3aVp57ty pic.twitter.com/EmCy8syXdN

— @jonjones.bsky.social

Let’s not forget those who were taught religious white supremacist versions of history. Twitter user @ToriGlass, who is mixed race, was homeschooled by her white Republican mother, who taught her racist history:

I was told I needed to be grateful that my ancestors were slaves because that was why I got to live in America. “Would you rather live in Africa?!” #ExposeChristianHomeschooling

— on the other blue app @toriglass (@ToriGlass) February 2, 2019

My *science* textbooks said that God blessed western civilization (white people) with the wisdom and skill necessary to explore the natural world, and Indigenous and Muslim people were not as smart because they worshiped Satan.

There’s a lot more there, too.

https://twitter.com/edgar_a_bitch/status/1087127822227910659

When an evangelical parents homeschool, they can control not only their child’s curriculum (and what information they are exposed to) but also their social environment (and what sorts of people they have contact with). When children attend public school, parents do not control the curriculum their children are exposed to, and cannot dictate who they befriend. Public school parents also do not get to dictate which adults (i.e. teachers, support personnel) their kids have contact with.

In a very real sense, public schools are a manifestation of the idea that it “takes a village” to raise a child. We as a society create rules that govern them—their curriculum, background checks for teachers, etc. Children then come together with their peers from a variety of walks of life, have access to non-related adults who serve as mentors, and exist in a common social space. Schools also provide a source of meals for low income students, and services for students as disabilities.

Parents who homeschool opt their children out of this ready-made village (imperfect as it often is), choosing instead to create their own villages. They can control the curriculum, they can vet their children’s friends, they can dictate which adults their children have access to. Not all homeschooling parents use this power to control or to isolate, but some do.

When evangelical or fundamentalist parents homeschool, there is often a specific religious element involved—they set off intentionally to create a “greenhouse” environment for their children, where they will only come in contact with information and people that are approved. They have the ability to raise their children in an ideological bubble without access to information or people outside. This, then, is what the hashtag #exposeChristianHomeschooling is all about.

For more on the sort of homeschooling this hashtag takes on, see the Kitchen Table Cult, a podcast that has covered both this hashtag and many other topics.

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