Socialización

          Según el diccionario, socialización "es el acto de percibir los cambios sociales y manipularlos.  Un proceso por el cual los seres humanos aprenden e interiorizan las normas y valores de una determinada sociedad y cultura especifica".

          Para muchas personas, los que no asisten a una escuela están "faltos de socialización".  La falta de socialización en los niños y jóvenes  homeschoolers es un mito.  La experiencia mostrada en la mayoría de los educados en el hogar, es que demuestran facilidad para interactuar en cualquier lugar y con cualquier grupo de edad.  Comienzan relacionándose con adultos (sus padres, tíos, abuelos etc.) y con otros menores (hermanos, primos, vecinos u otros) en diferentes ambientes. 

          En los grupos de apoyo y en otras actividades extracurriculares, se interelacionan con pares y en ambientes positivos, sin tener que utilizar violencia para poder sobrevivir.  Así entonces, interactúan en un ambiente más adecuado de lo que ofrece la escuela tradicional.

          Los estudiantes educados en el hogar (que practican el "homeschooling"), se acostumbran a colaborar con las tareas del cuidado del hogar, en el núcleo familiar contribuyen a tomar decisiones, estableciendo una sana relación y crean conciencia para establecer prioridades así como otras destrezas de vida y sobre todo, con una base de valores cristianos sin temor, lo que les permite decidir entre lo bueno y lo malo. 

          Los educados en el hogar o "homeschoolers", en su mayoría no se enfrentan a la presión de sus semejantes y sabemos que esto es uno de los factores asociados a conducta de riesgo.  No es que no tengan la capacidad para enfrentarlas sino, que no necesitan sentirse aceptado por sus pares.

Investigación:

“Stought (1992), viendo particularmente a la socialización, ha comparado 30 familias que educan en casa y 32 familias convencionales que atienden escuelas públicas; familias con niños de 7 a 14 años de edad.   De acuerdo con los resultados, los niños que son educados en casa obtuvieron las herramientas, el conocimiento, y las actitudes necesarias para funcionar en sociedad…al mismo nivel que sus contrapartes que asistieron a escuelas públicas.”  El investigador no encontró ninguna diferencia en el concepto de si mismos en ninguno de los dos grupos de niños.  Stough mantiene que, “hasta ahora, el concepto de si mismo es un reflejo de la socialización, y parece que pocos de los niños educados en casa son socialmente desfavorecidos, y que existe suficiente evidencia que indica que algunos de los niños educados en casa tienen un nivel más alto del concepto de si mismos, que sus contrapartes que atendieron a escuelas convencionales.”  — Lee Stough, Universidad de Virginia del Oeste, M.S. Tésis

“In 1992, el profesor Larry Shyers  hizo una valoración para ver si los niños educados en casa sufrían de retraso y desarrollo social.  El estudio observo niños jugando libremente y en actividades de interacciones en grupo.  Shyers encontró que los niños en escuelas públicas tenían problemas de comportamiento más significantes que los niños educados en casa.  Posiblemente esto se debió a que los modelos principales de comportamiento de los niños educados en casa son sus padres, mientras que los modelos de los niños en escuelas públicas son otros niños del mismo nivel y edad.  Syers concluye que no hay una diferencia significante entre niños que son educados en casa y los que son educados en escuelas públicas en términos del concepto de sí mismos o de afirmación personal.”  (Shyers 1992).

 

Washington Times Op-ed—Socialization not a Problem

by J. Michael Smith
HSLDA President

One of the most persistent criticisms of homeschooling is the accusation that homeschoolers will not be able to fully participate in society because they lack “socialization.” It’s a challenge that reaches right to the heart of homeschooling, because if a child isn’t properly socialized, how will that child be able to contribute to society?

Since the re-emergence of the homeschool movement in the late 1970s, critics of homeschooling have perpetuated two myths. The first concerns the ability of parents to adequately teach their own children at home; the second is whether homeschooled children will be well-adjusted socially.

Proving academic success is relatively straightforward. Today, it is accepted that homeschoolers, on average, outperform their public school peers. The most recent study, “Homeschool Progress Report 2009,” conducted by Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute, surveyed more than 11,000 homeschooled students. It showed that the average homeschooler scored 37 percentile points higher on standardized achievement tests than the public school average.

The second myth, however, is more difficult to address because children who were homeschooled in appreciable numbers in the late 1980s and early 1990s are only now coming of age and in a position to demonstrate they can succeed as adults.

Homeschool families across the nation knew criticisms about adequate socialization were ill-founded—they had the evidence right in their own homes. In part to address this question from a research perspective, the Home School Legal Defense Association commissioned a study in 2003 titled “Homeschooling Grows Up,” conducted by Mr. Ray, to discover how homeschoolers were faring as adults. The news was good for homeschooling. In all areas of life, from gaining employment, to being satisfied with their homeschooling, to participating in community activities, to voting, homeschoolers were more active and involved than their public school counterparts.

Until recently, “Homeschooling Grows Up” was the only study that addressed the socialization of home-schooled adults. Now we have a new longitudinal study titled “Fifteen Years Later: Home-Educated Canadian Adults” from the Canadian Centre for Home Education. This study surveyed homeschooled students whose parents participated in a comprehensive study on home education in 1994. The study compared homeschoolers who are now adults with their peers. The results are astounding.

When measured against the average Canadians ages 15 to 34 years old, home-educated Canadian adults ages 15 to 34 were more socially engaged (69 percent participated in organized activities at least once per week, compared with 48 percent of the comparable population). Average income for homeschoolers also was higher, but perhaps more significantly, while 11 percent of Canadians ages 15 to 34 rely on welfare, there were no cases of government support as the primary source of income for homeschoolers. Homeschoolers also were happier; 67.3 percent described themselves as very happy, compared with 43.8 percent of the comparable population. Almost all of the homeschoolers—96 percent—thought homeschooling had prepared them well for life.

This new study should cause many critics to rethink their position on the issue of socialization. Not only are homeschoolers actively engaged in civic life, they also are succeeding in all walks of life. Many critics believed, and some parents feared, that homeschoolers would not be able to compete in the job market. But the new study shows homeschoolers are found in a wide variety of professions. Being homeschooled has not closed doors on career choices.

The results are a great encouragement to all homeschooling families and to parents thinking about homeschooling. Homeschoolers, typically identified as being high academic achievers, also can make the grade in society.

Both “Homeschooling Grows Up” and “Fifteen Years Later” amply demonstrate homeschool graduates are active, involved, productive citizens. Homeschool families are leading the way in Canadian and American education, and this new study clearly demonstrates homeschool parents are on the right path.