Imagine a home school kid. What do you see? Typically you would imagine some conservative republican spawn that loves christian music and hates everything liberal. They wear outifts almost straight out of the 50s (the girls don't, they wear long skirts and no cleavage shirts) and are always neat, polite, restrained, and ready to pull out bible verses or republican propaganda at any moment right? (I DO NOT BELIEVE THIS... JUST A STEREOTYPE).
The other stereotype is a kid too stupid, too troubled, too much for public school. Home school isn't a choice, it's the only option. Neither of these stereotypes hold up... not entirely.
This week is home school week at the amusement park, and while the groups aren't as large, they are just as interesting to watch. Today I was stationed in a ticket booth at the far end of the park, so I didn't get to observe them as they rode rides and traveled around the park. I only got first impressions this time, but it was a strong first impression.
The first home school group had six people in it, two who were adults. The four students seemed to be around 14-17 and were dressed in normal attire, shirts and shorts and tennis shoes. No button down shirts or long skirts or conservative dress styles at all. No skater boy outfits or tattoos or other visible signs of a troubled youth. They look normal. Maybe theres a little less cleavage or leg than a public high school girl would show, but that's not really a bad thing. They were very polite and seemed to be very at home in each other's company. I think that may be the biggest thing I noticed. All of the home school groups seemed very comfortable around each other and almost didn't seem to care that they were out in public. They didn't have any defenses such as unfriendliness or cold shoulders toward strangers. They were very smiley, very happy. I was almost jealous.
The next home school group was a group 0f fifteen junior-senior aged students, without a chaparone. They told me of their worries that they wouldn't be able to get the discounted price, worries that they would have had to call ahead. I let them have the discounted price anyway and they were very grateful. There were a few couples in this group, but they weren't as active as other couples in the park were. There was no making out, no groping, no icky PDAness, but they did hold hand and treated each other with respect. The boys bought the girls passes and when the girls offered to pay them back, they said that they "didn't mind" and "that's what boyfriends are for." It was very sweet. They were also very joke-y. This group made fun of the fact that they were homeschooled when certain members of the group forgot their receipts making remarks such as "I guess that's why we're homeschooled" and "You'll have to forgive us, we don't get out much." These were followed by laughter all around. When all 15 wristbands were bought and placed on the right wrists, they walked off, shouting "Thank you so much" and "Have a nice day!"
These kids were so nice. And they were normal, not one bit of either stereotype held to be true. They had a great sense of comfort in each other and are able to laugh at what others would make fun of them for. I really liked these kids. They were polite, nice, and funny. A pretty good combination.
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