She was tall and skinny and had those tiny lines around her mouth from freezing it into an awkwardly tight smile. When she spoke, she got strangly in my space, forcing me to gaze up at her from my 9 year-old height, slack jawed and dopey eyed."I've always just felt like homeschooled children don't get enough socialization," she said.
Ah, the magic words. The words I learned to hate at an early age still cause my fists to clench and teeth to grind today. These words prove that stereotypes are nothing but the complete lack of creativity in a human mind, that original thought is an illusion, that independent reasoning is non-existant.
Homeschooled students grow up with these words pounding in their ears, a steady thumping rythm that's ever present no matter where they go, how far they travel, what they accomplish. They're dangerous words, because as a student grows, changes, graduates and moves through life, he or she must choose the effects of those words.
The next few posts will discuss the most common ways homeschool students and graduates deal with the thick glass of a stereotype that surrounds their childhood like a fishbowl.
