SATA
Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2005
- Messages
- 995
- Reaction score
- 117
Please don't feel unsupported and insulted on this site--I don't think anyone means it that way. The vast majority of large families are just as loving and healthy as families of any size. However, there is a rare phenomenon where people have lots of kids not because they love kids and love having a big, busy family, but because they want the attention, or for other less-than-healthy reasons. (Some people *have kids in general* for the wrong reasons.) These people could be considered child hoarders because they keep having kids to fill some psychological need, similar to how some people keep getting pets they can't take care of. Not that kids are like animals, but some people treat them that way! I don't think the poster who used that term meant it to apply to all large families, but just to the dysfunctional ones.
And I doubt anyone would argue that sometimes, homeschoolers get amazing educations that far exceed those available in public or even private schools. And that most of the time it's a good thing for the families and kids involved. (I for one wish I'd homeschooled one of my kids, who was failed badly by his public schools.) But it's also true that abusers sometimes resort to homeschooling to hide their abuse. You see it a lot on Websleuths. Public school teachers are *required* to report suspected abuse, and homeschooled kids don't get that extra level of monitoring by society.
Should they? I think maybe they should--not because I think homeschooled kids are abused MORE--I don't know the statistics, but I bet they're abused less, actually--but because when they are abused, there's no one to raise the alarm.
Thank you for your balanced post.
I can see you have to tread lightly here and be careful with your words.
I did say the most large families seem to be happy ones, but that was overlooked.
I don´t feel like saying anything more - at all, really.