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Comment by buildbot | Hacker News Reader

Counterpoint - why don't we see defense of homeschooling at the same rate of attacks? Even if they are rare, there are several posters here that have experienced bad home schools. If they are at least 50:50, shouldn't we expect the same rate of defense? That we don't see that is telling.

Being bullied sucks and has huge negative impacts. I am glad though, that I have the tools and experience to identify that happening now that I am an adult. A homeschooled me might not, and then suffer much more in the adult sphere. Negative interactions are something kids have to learn to deal with. It's not pretty or fair or even safe, but neither is the world.

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My sense is that we do see defense at approximately the same rate as attacks (if not higher), but the attacks stand out more because negative emotions weigh more than positive ones. Even if we didn't see equal rates, that would be expected for the same reason: someone who hates that their parents homeschooled them is far more likely to get on and post a scathing comment than someone who loved the experience.

Companies have to bribe and cajole customers to leave positive reviews because otherwise the few people with disastrous experiences will be the only ones who bother to review at all. There's no equivalent pro-homeschool lobby begging people to get on and defend homeschooling on Hacker News.

This is the classic problem solved by Bayes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZGCoVF3YvM there just aren't that many homeschooled people to provide a defense.

I'm another successful homeschooled-until-college adult, but homeschooling isn't that common now and it was even less popular when I was growing up.

EDIT: unless you were mentioning defense of homeschooling given they were homeschooled. I would assume most people on HN who were homeschooled had a decent education/homeschooling experience.

Since we're simply in speculation land, perhaps happy homeschooled adults are less screen-obsessed than those who went to 'normal' school or those poorly homeschooled and thus have better things to do with their life?

> Negative interactions are something kids have to learn to deal with. It's not pretty or fair or even safe, but neither is the world.

Completely agree. If someone assaults you in real life, you should learn that you need to file charges to ensure your assaulter goes to jail. Not sit quietly in the corner while your abuser gets a talking to.

> Completely agree. If someone assaults you in real life, you should learn that you need to file charges to ensure your assaulter goes to jail. Not sit quietly in the corner while your abuser gets a talking to.

Filing charges to make sure your assaulter goes to jail is a fantasy for many people and situations. Just like in school, justice is not always going to happen. Sorry.

Also, should we through 10 year old bullies in jail? 15? What’s the line?

> If someone assaults you in real life, you should learn that you need to file charges to ensure your assaulter goes to jail.

If someone assaults me I have to become a public prosecutor?

Victims, qua victims, can file a police report. But only the state can file criminal charges, and whether they will or won't depends on, well, lots of things outside of the control of thr victim.

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