DEMOLITION CREW TO SAVE DEMOCRACY

I think I need a bit of encouragement.

Last week, I happened to run into a Mom that I hadn’t seen in probably 6 years. Our oldest children are similar aged and we knew each other from library art classes and playgroups when they were toddlers. Her daughter is now a freshman in the local high school and she told me how it is so wonderful, that the education is top notch and there are so many clubs and orchestras and sports and what not.

Then, I wanted to get out of the house one evening and I chose to attend this year’s musical theater production at the same local high school. This is in affluent suburbia and the high school building is just a few years old and was built for upwards of $80 million. Apparently, that is a bargain now because a quick search reveals that Northeast Metro Tech Vocational school in Boston is in the early building stages for $300 million and a high school in Lexington will cost at least $400 million.

I had a few minutes before the play started, and since I had never been inside the building, I decided to stroll around a bit. The cafeteria was large and airy and along the wide hallways there were display cases of various trophies, awards and class photos of prior graduating classes. Next to some office, I happened to see a Covid poster explaining all the different variants an off to the side a little note of how to “keep us all safe”. I did not see any other evidence of the current narrative, no pride flags or anything else.

The play was wonderful and upbeat, as you would expect it to be with a bunch of energetic and hormone laden 17 year olds. The amateurishness and little dance errors made it even more enchanting. All those kids seemed so good looking and confident. The written pamphlet explained their accomplishments in high school and where they were all headed: class president, National Honor society, varsity volleyball and then Yale, UMass or something in finance or data science. I kindof admired and envied those kids. I mean, I was never that confident. I had a small one liner role in my own high school play and that was it. No varsity anything either.

And then, last night, I was wondering if I am depriving my children all these opportunities. They won’t have that experience of being the lead singer in a musical theater production. Mostly, because they have no interest in it…

But I am wondering if our home education is somehow not rigorous enough. Do I not emphasize academics enough? Should they be concert cellists by now? Will they be failures in life? Or am I just projecting some sort of ideal of a human being onto them and falling into the trap or comparing them to some imaginary ideal. I mean, those kids on stage SEEMED confident. But are they? Do some of them have a drug problem? Do they feel neglected by their working successful parents? And what about those kids that weren’t up on that stage, they grey invisible shy kids? Are they happy in that $80 million building day in and day out?

In any case, to make myself feel better, I re-read this article. So I think we will continue to homeschool.