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Fitting in with fools

By Callie Woodlief
web posted November 14, 2005

The September edition of WorldNetDaily.com's Whistleblower magazine described in thorough detail the negative effects today's institutional schools, particularly colleges, are inflicting on societal mores. Indeed, far too many are blind to the fact that America's future at this moment is in peril because scores of parents are spending large sums of money ostensibly so that their children can receive a decent education, when in reality their children are being indoctrinated with a socialist agenda aiming to tear down American society as we know it. And now the colleges, having largely captured the hearts and minds of many publicly schooled students, are broadening their subversive influence to capture the minds of home educated young people as well.

According to a November 11 article in LarkNews.com, Harvard University is assigning entering home educated freshmen to an all-homeschooler dormitory and forcing them to go through a program called "Fitting In" with the idea of helping them "socialize."

Jim Katrina Randalefner of Omaha, Nebraska, who drove across country to enroll his son at the university, commented: "[Harvard's policy] felt like segregation. They may as well have posted a 'whites only' sign."

For their part, Harvard maintains that the policy is an attempt to mainstream home educated students challenged in the process of blending into college life. Kathy Kushner, coordinator of freshman counseling for the school, said, "The first year is tough for homeschoolers because many come from such limited social environments. We wanted to help them get their footing in a university setting."

Ironically, Harvard university's director of admissions has previously stated that homeschoolers are "indistinguishable from the other students," and are "highly motivated, excel academically and have no unusual problems adapting to college life," according to a 2001 article in Education Next. That, mixed with the numerous studies showing that homeschool students are better socialized and display significantly lower behavioral problems than their public school counterparts, raises some interesting questions about Harvard's new policy.

Could it be that Harvard is now more interested in ensuring students fall in step with a socialist model of living and thinking than with providing a decent education? The answer from Ms. Kushner is a resounding yes: "It's pretty well known that Harvard, like most secular colleges, wants kids to have intercourse by sophomore year, to get a feel of what life's about. Homeschoolers are much slower to catch on to what their subculture deems sinful activity, and that puts them at a social disadvantage. To put it bluntly, they need to loosen up and hop in the sack."

Did you catch that? A college counselor actually admitting what good little socialists everywhere think college is all about: sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll. Hey, why study textbooks to get an education? Everything you need to learn in life can be found by smoking marijuana or participating in the latest dormitory orgy.

"This 'Fitting In' stuff is utterly risible," said Todd, Randalefner's 17-year-old son. "I consort with many types of people — Irish, Welsh, British, and many more. Just because I didn't have daily nutrition breaks or physical education in the traditional public school setting doesn't mean I need to be handled like some sort of fledgling titmouse."

Further elucidating the university's real goal, Harvard Dean James Muesten was quoted in a Vermont newspaper as saying, "Homeschooled children tend to come from white, evangelical families, and frankly, those people — I don't want to call them rubes — have a lot to learn about broader culture." Muesten later retracted the statement, commenting, "Fitting In is a great program. If you're homeschooled and you're coming to Harvard, this is the way it is."

Whatever happened to open-mindedness as part of a progressive and liberated university setting? The sad fact is, open-mindedness only extends as far as the ideological task masters of our nation's colleges allow it to. That excludes Christians, conservatives, and homeschoolers who are deemed social misfits because they aren't walking sexually transmitted disease wards. Think about it: Parents and students are plunking down tens of thousands per year for such close-minded, my-way-or-the-highway indoctrination. Parents might as well set a match to their savings. Hey, at least burning the cash would produce some heat!

Contrast that with what many home educated college students are choosing instead of traditional universities – distance education over the Internet. This allows students to pursue life in the real world through internships or jobs while working toward their degree online. And perhaps most importantly, through distance education, the university indoctrinators are denied the benefit of having students physically appear on campus. As witnessed by this latest program from Harvard, perhaps that's the best benefit of all.

Callie Woodlief is a freelance writer and professional homemaker who home-educated two children who are now political activists as adults. Her work has been featured in several online publications. Woodlief is currently working on a book promoting child advocacy. Copyright 2005 by Callie Woodlief

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