Apples and Oranges

What is the real purpose of school? I believe it is just Government babysitting and controlling the masses, dumbing down at it's finest. So why do people new to unschooling or not so new for that matter want to see proof that unschooling produces competent, thriving, successful adults?

How many incompetent, wandering aimlessly, sitting on welfare, can't learn how to get a life kind of people come out of public school? You know as many as I do, really. There is no guarantee on life and unschooling doesn't guarantee anything that looks like schooling. We don't want to look like school we are separated from schoolish ways and thoughts and results.

Unschooling produces free thinking people who know how to learn, people who follow their interests and people who are productive in society. You can argue that so does school, look at all of us, are we incompetent dumb asses? No we saw through the crap and we did what we had to but we, well I, don't give school any credit for my brains or success.

Success is in the eye of the beholder, it means different things to different people. My hope for my kids is that they grow up happy and free to choose what they want to do with their life. I hope that they will find something they love to do that makes them a living. They can do anything they set their mind to because they have been allowed the freedom to find out WHO they are and WHAT they want and they KNOW HOW TO LEARN.

There is no reason to compare schooled kids with unschooled kids, we don't even have the same goals, apparantly we don't even speak the same language. Actually it seems that many homeschoolers speak the public school language and do have the same schoolish goals.
You know I'm not trying to be divisive but it's pretty hard not to. My friend just told me that her son was invited to a sleep over with other homeschoolers and was told to bring his homework. WTF???

If that makes any sense then please enlighten me so I can gag... How utterly ridiculous that homeschoolers are doing this. They leave the school system but they just recreate it with school at home and co-ops and all sorts of other ways, trust me, they do it here too, I'm just not interested and not even close to participating.

If your goal is to produce products of public education then save us and them the heartache and just put them in school.

If you want happy, productive, free thinking people who know how to learn what they need when they need it then unschool. Don't try it, don't toy with it JUST DO IT, your kids are young once and don't have the luxury of a do over.

You know what, who cares if they don't learn long division or the times tables, or whatever your hang up is until they are 18. Does it really matter?

All of these kids are sitting in school for 12 years of their life getting shit crammed into them that they have no interest in or use for. Why not learn things when you are actually interested and have a real need for? I gave my teachers a run for their money with my questions and attitude. It is so easy to memorize facts, take a test and forget it. I have learned so much as an adult and as a result of my kids interests. I promptly forgot whatever facts they taught in school, what purpose did they have in MY life?? NONE!
I won't even get started on all the classes I HAD to take and college too that is another topic.

My point is either unschool or don't it's really that simple. Many people are drawn to unschooling but don't fully deschool themselves and allow the freedom and joy that comes with learning.