Is Home Schooling
the Solution to Bullying?

When a parent decides to home school a child, an often cited reason is that the child is being bullied. While the subject of bullying is discussed more often nowadays and most schools have a policy on how to deal with bullies, many parents still feel that not enough is done when bullying is reported.

In research carried out in 2003 by Thomas Coram Research on behalf of Childline, just over half (51%) of pupils in Year 5 reported that they had been bullied during the term, and just over a quarter (28%) of pupils in Year 8 said that they had experienced bullying. If bullying is still this prevalent it is perhaps no surprise that the numbers of children being home schooled is rising; according to home-education.org.uk, 50,000 children were being home schooled in 2005 and it estimates that this figure will grow at over 10% per annum.

Aquila is a magazine aimed at bright children which aims to encourage high achievement by offering a mixture of extension material - encouraging broader views rather than specialisation. Many of their readers are home schooled and their letters to the magazine throw a fascinating light on the subject.

Not all letters are in favour of home schooling as the solution to bullying; some children speak up for schools and one even lauds boarding school! Clearly a magazine aimed at bright children will expect to receive articulate and thought-provoking responses, and most readers recognise there are arguments for institutional schooling too with comments such as 'Every person should be able to choose his or her schooling method', 'It is sometimes best to go to school, because you meet people and learn lots of social skills'.

However the home schooled children clearly feel they are outperforming their contemporaries: 'I am way ahead of the children I was at school with' and 'I have one-to-one teaching which means I learn much faster'. They also dispute that home schooling isolates them: 'It is very sociable because we can mix with people of all ages', 'I have lots of friends because I go to a home education group every week' and 'we know lots of home educated families and we go on trips with them regularly'.

Many of Aquila's readers are home schooled because of bullying, along with academic problems. One said 'I was getting bullied very badly on top of all the problems with my dyslexia'. Another comments 'time is not wasted on registration, travel from class to class and travel to and from school'.

It is impossible to judge how this first substantial generation of home schooled children will cope if confronted by bullying in the workplace, but if their letters are any measure, they will be more than ready to speak up for themselves.

Aquila magazine is a subscription publication for children aged 8 - 13 which aims not only to entertain, but also to develop thinking skills that contribute to real educational achievement. For more information or to subscribe visit www.aquila.co.uk

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