A couple of days ago, this article appeared in the local newspaper.
Apparently, about a quarter of Mulan-aged students (in maths and science) are bullied in New Zealand schools on a weekly basis. And New Zealand is one of the worst countries in the world for bullying.
Bullying in schools has always been one (among several) of my reasons for choosing to homeschool. So, obviously, if we are to work in with our local state school, we need to be reassured that bullying is not out of control there. Is our local school any better (or worse!) than these averages cited in the report?
I simply don't know.
In our brief visits around schools in our area, I have always felt that the children are very nice, and I have seen no sign of bullying. But of course that is going to be the case. Bullying is going to happen much more subtly, in the non-observed interactions between children.
In my discussions with local homeschoolers who started with school but stopped, I have heard quite a few anecdotes from both parents and children about bullying (I hear stories from the students in the critical thinking classes I teach; I aim to create safe spaces for these children to discuss anything they want, and many are happy to talk about their school experiences).
This all leads me to wonder if it is worth the risk to send Mulan and Miya to school part time. Will the possible advantages of getting to know what schools are like outweigh the possible disadvantages of experiencing the negative aspects of school such as bullying?
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