Last night I watched WIFE SWAP. This is not a usual habbit in my home as it seems that the whole idea of the show is to make people miserable and to tell them that they are living their lives WRONG... but I was drawn in by the homeschooling issue.
I was actually pleased to see that homeschooling wasn't BASHED as it normally is... but I was concerned with the Hardin Family's reasons for doing it. The Hardin Family seemed intent on keeping their children sheltered from real life and used their religious beliefs as a reason for doing so. These poor kids had no friends other than their siblings... it seemed that they did not even socialize at Church...although that could have just have been the producer's editing.
This episode seemed to only point out what truely was wrong within each family. I loved that David told Melissa off for disrespecting him and that Steven finally got a backbone to tell Melissa off too.
And I found it very IRONIC that Melissa's business was in Romance Enhancement, yet she barely spends any time with her husband. I guess when they are together, it's really good and that's why he stays. I guess it's pretty obivious that I didn't approve of Melissa's life style. But I was glad to see in the end that she decided to spend more time with her family.
I did not see that the Hardin family will change much, other than David is much more appreciative of Kathy...of course after living with Melissa who wouldn't be?
If I saw something called Wife Swap in the TV listings... so it's not what I'm thinking?
ReplyDeleteI didn't see that one, but I hear you on the "sheltering" thing. I think it's important to experience the world with our children (within reason, of course) so that we can explain things to them and help them understand. Otherwise, the minute they leave home and find out what everyone's been thinking and doing this whole time they won't know how to handle it.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, moderate, non-crazed homeschoolers rarely make the news, and everyone thinks we're like these folks.
PS-That's wild about your brother, I had no idea! Would he clean up my house if there wasn't a crime here? Someone should...
It is true that the homeschoolers who get the most visibility are those who want to shelter their kids, and in many cases for religious reasons.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course, the majority of people are going to see how whacked (and sad) that is, because those children will have the enter the real world eventually, and will undoubtedly be completely unprepared.
But. I have been shown by many wonderful and gifted bloggers like yourself, Jen, R2K, and others... that there are indeed many homeschoolers out there that do it for good reasons, not "crazy" ones. I now believe that if homeschooling is your calling and a good fit for your family, it is a wonderful alternative. Too bad wife swap showed just another one of the crazy/sad situations.