Sticks and Stones...

Saturday, March 24, 2012




...May break my bones, but words will never hurt me.


We've all heard it, and it's possibly one of the biggest lies since humanity invented lies. 


Yesterday, an unschooled friend of mine commented on a YouTube video about Unschooling vs. Homeschooling vs. Formal Education. And while I did not watch the entire video because I got the gist of it, the entire thing seemed to be about proving how 'ignorant and unprepared' unschoolers are. Homeschooling was barely mentioned, I will note.

 She was understandably offended by this, but one user had the nerve to say things such as that she would have been able to respond better -and her comments were very well written- if she'd had a formal education and that her dream of writing a book was 'low class' and easy. Now, any writer worth their salt -channels Delores Umbridge- knows this is. a. lie. He also made comments that she basically couldn't learn when it was time and that her definition of success was reserved for people who are failures or who never amount to anything. This in response to when she said that as long as you're happy with what you do, money doesn't completely matter.

 My friend kidded that she would become an engineer if he wrote a successful book. He replied that he didn't have anything to prove, but she did and that her wanting to write a book was wherein the problem lies:  

Why do i need to write a book? i have nothing to prove. YOU, on the other hand have something to. I make good money and have a skillset that can be productive....you on the other hand want to write a book. No, see, here is the problem. You have no reading comprehension. Where did I say that? Did I say I hated what I do? No. 

No, it means you'll never amount to anything other than having an easy profession, like book writing. And your point is blatantly wrong, had you a proper education you'd realize that. Working hard is one thing, but certain people are simply not fit for certain jobs, be it physically or mentally. 

You cant become an engineer anyway, by your own admission. Is this what your "unducation" teachers you? Tell 1 person you couldnt become an engineer without an education, then tell me you can without one? Like I said, anyone can write a book, you are on the same level of sarah palin, congrats. 

Now, a moment of silence for this to soak in. 

Okay, moment over. Let's see... this person has horrible grammar and spelling at some points, a narrow minded, ignorant point of view and no knowledge of the person he is stereotyping besides the fact she is unschooled. 

Wow.

Even if I didn't know her, I would be offended. First, she is in fact one of the brightest, smartest people I know, an amazing writer and a great friend. Second, I don't favor Sarah Palin, and find this user comparing her writing (or her ghost writer's) to my friend's insulting. It's also very laughable that this person is going on about reading comprehension when he can't even bother to capitalize his Is or properly punctuate. Go figure.  


Did you know Thomas Alva Edison, inventor of the almighty light bulb, was unschooled? His mother taught him math, reading and writing without text books. He learned everything else he knew by himself. It is generally acknowledged that he was a pretty smart person. And did I mention he has revolutionized the way we live, work and play beyond what we could have ever imagined before? 

Chew on that next time you turn on a light.

6 comments :

  1. Very well written blog post. I 100% agree with you. I saw the comments he made to her this morning and honestly it offended me (though i was public schooled). I couldn't let it slide and voiced my opinion about them attacking her that way. It was completly unneccessary. Not to mention they implied they were adults with careers and here they are attacking a young teenage girl. that is sad in more ways then one. Great post. God bless

    ReplyDelete
  2. I shall not say anything. As all I can do is spit cuss words at that P'Tak. (Klingon word meaning filth). I shall go punch a pillow and pretend it's that stupid. A**.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I heard about this and it is truly horrible. He didn't spell correctly at all and I saw a few times that his words ran together. Plus, talent isn't something you learn, it's something your born with; you just have to work at your talent to get good at it and that is what she is doing. And getting compared to Sarah Palin? *shudders*
    Plus a grown up should NEVER attack a child like that, especially online.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great post Pinky. ;) I agree. I felt SSOOOOOOO bad for our friend when I saw that happen. I read the comments, and I was offended, not only because she is my friend, but because these people are stupid and judgmental.
    She is one of the sweetest, smartest, best writers I know, and for someone to pass judgement on someone who I care about hurts me too. :(

    That person was rude and stupid to even waste time bothering some young teenage girl. It drives me crazy.

    Love you,
    Fal <3

    ReplyDelete
  5. You know, I thought I could blow off things like that, but I've changed my mind. It frustrates me to no end when people act like that. They think that just because we homeschoolers and unschoolers learn unconventionally, we don't learn at all. It's ridiculous and narrow minded. And the most frustrating part is that they're so set in their stereotyped beliefs that you know you won't be able to change their minds, even if you try.

    My mom says that the best way to deal with that sort of thing is to just live by example, and I agree with her. The only way we're going to be able to change common stereotypes about homeschooling and unschooling is if we show that, hey, I'm home/unschooled and I'm smart. I'm not completely unprepared for life!

    And saying that a dream of writing a book is "low class" and "easy" just shows how little that person knows about how much time and effort goes into writing a book, NOT TO MENTION all of the time and effort needed to get said book published! To use a Nerdfighter term, he sounds like a typical Giant Squid of Anger.

    I just love that so many great historical figures were homeschooled and unschooled. They make such great examples. :)

    Thanks for this post, Annika!

    ReplyDelete
  6. *clapping* Yes, thank you for this post. Thank you, that's all I can think of to say.

    ReplyDelete

comments make me smile. :)