Taking the Subway
No, this is not about Free-Range Children; this is about the recent homeschool community furor over the Subway contest Every Sandwich Tells a Story.
Here’s how to anger a lot of people:
Contest is open only to legal
My take on this is Who Cares? Why are some people who homeschool so angry about their children being purposefully excluded from a corporate promotion giving away some stuff in an attempt to gain some publicity? Why do some people who homeschool demand being in league with the institutionalized education? Why do some people who homeschool think that the homeschooling community as I so freely place all people who homeschool their children under that single umbrella would operate as a cohesive conglomerate any more than atheists would.
There is no central tenet to which homeschoolers attribute their practices. There is no core grouping of homeschoolers. There is no compelling reason any person or company must recognize individuals when their contest is for members of a certain group. Homeschooling children do not have the kind of government oversight that children who are eligible to participate do, and perhaps this is the matter: lack of state accountability and control.
The real question in my mind is why would Subway and Scholastic, the contest’s other sponsor, need to explicitly exclude homeschoolers? Whatever the reason, I take it as a sign of recognition that homeschooling is a viable alternative to institutionalized schooling – and that’s a good thing.
Comments
Could this be a motive?
I feel so German when I run those words together (home + school), but really, shouldn't it be a word in its own right? I'll have to do some research on that subject.