Clearing Our Throats: Dichotomy Debunked
On August 15, 2004, an article titled "Reading, Writing, and Right Wing Politics" ran in the "Ideas" section of The Boston Globe. The story, written by reporter Steve Grove, picked up on recent national press about the political activism of the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) and its offshoots, Generation Joshua and Patrick Henry College. Grove writes: "As 'George Bush's secret army' (as The Economist recently dubbed conservative homeschoolers) girds itself for battle, it's worth asking why an equal and opposing army of liberal homeschoolers hasn't risen up to meet them."

By imagining that homeschoolers fall into the simple political dichotomy of conservative and liberal, Grove perpetuates a myth that plagues the homeschooling movement. He does rightly point out that with approximately 81,000 members, HSLDA represents fewer than 10 percent of homeschoolers. (Additionally, it's not a certainty that all those members espouse the religious and political views of HSLDA; there is no way to know how many people pay HSLDA solely for what they incorrectly believe is "legal insurance.")

In his discussion of the composition of the homeschooling movement, Grove points out that the US Department of Education reports that the majority of people choosing to homeschool do not do so for religious reasons. Yet he goes on to cast doubt on that by stating that "other studies have estimated that evangelicals make up as much as 70 percent of all homeschoolers." Unfortunately, he fails to cite these studies, note who conducted them, or examine how the data were collected. Grove also quotes author Mitchell Stevens, whose 2001 book Kingdom of Children says about homeschooling that, "one would be hard-pressed to find a social movement peopled by a wider spectrum of faiths and philosophies." But alas, even Stevens chooses to divide homeschoolers into two camps: The conservative Christian group he terms the "believers," and the rest he calls "inclusives." Thus he relegates Catholics, Muslims, Jews, pagans, atheists, agnostics, left liberals, moderate liberals, moderate conservatives, Native Americans, libertarians, many Christians, and the many other types of people who comprise the homeschooling movement into one single group.

Despite the inconclusive information about the distribution of religious practices among homeschoolers, there are some things we can know for sure. HSLDA, through its political activism and connections, and through its creation of programs like Generation Joshua and its launching of Patrick Henry College, has a great deal of political influence. It has also, especially of late, received much media coverage, coloring the perception of homeschooling for people who don't personally know any homeschoolers. Thus the bias in reporting coverage of HSLDA may have contributed to a public perception that most homeschoolers are conservative Christians--even in the face of a statistic stating that HSLDA actually represents fewer than 10 percent of homeschoolers. By focusing on HSLDA so heavily, Grove's article may contribute to the misperception that most homeschoolers are right-wing conservatives willing to use homeschooling to further their political viewpoints.

There is no doubt that this is true of HSLDA. Grove quotes HSLDA President Michael Farris: "We believe that some day homeschooled young people will help reverse Roe v. Wade [and] stop same-sex marriage . . ." Generation Joshua is an HSLDA-created program that sends homeschooled students on the campaign trail in support of conservative candidates. Patrick Henry College in Virginia aims to place its mostly homeschooled students and graduates in political positions in Washington. The tendency of the media and authors to portray HSLDA as an entire faction of the homeschooling movement, rather than a hierarchical organization, can even lead to the false notion that all Christian homeschoolers support their agenda, and that no diversity of opinion exists among Christian homeschoolers. Retta Dunlap of Vermont is only one conservative Christian homeschooler quoted in the Grove article who disagrees with bringing her political views on non-homeschooling issues into her homeschooling activism, but undoubtedly there are others.

Grove wonders why a liberal counterpart to HSLDA hasn't sprung up in the homeschooling movement. Perhaps the answer lies in the simple fact that homeschooling has nothing to do with the issues HSLDA has connected it to, such as gay marriage and abortion. Most politically active homeschoolers, regardless of their religious or political views, stick to issues that have to do with homeschooling. Because homeschooling is a matter for each individual state, this doesn't happen often on a national level. The nitty-gritty work being done by state homeschooling groups to preserve homeschooling freedoms and address homeschooling issues is significant, but not very attractive to the media.

While Grove points out Stevens's argument that the "inclusives" find it difficult to organize politically because of their ideas about autonomy and grassroots democracy, he fails to understand that it is these very ideas, and the fact that they prefer not to mix causes, that keeps most homeschoolers from wanting to organize politically in the way HSLDA does. As a rule, homeschoolers organize politically when the need arises to protect homeschooling freedoms. In that capacity, the "inclusives" are very effective.
Out in the world, there are hundreds of thousands of homeschooled students engaging in activities too numerous to list. While Generation Joshua homeschoolers make news for hitting the campaign trail, the much larger majority of homeschooled students are engaged in enriching lives, making contributions to society, and participating in civic activities in their own communities through jobs and volunteerism that cut a wide swath across political, religious, social, and academic spectrums. These actions may not be sensationalistic, but here, in the voices of homeschooled young people, inspiring and fascinating stories could be found were the media to look.

By jumping on the media bandwagon following HSLDA, Grove fails to give equal time to the work that other homeschooling groups and other homeschoolers have done and are doing. By focusing on HSLDA, he may perpetuate in some people's minds the misconception that most homeschoolers are conservative Christians looking to push a political agenda, and he leaves the vast majority of the homeschooling movement an undefined, undescribed, unrepresented population in the public mind.

Let us remember that homeschoolers are more than just "believers" and "inclusives." As parents, we are a tremendously diverse group of people with one commonality: we are all exercising and protecting our individual right to educate our own children. As children and young adults, we are pursuing individual paths to becoming educated, responsible, and contributing citizens. Under these circumstances, the media's generalizing, a practice sometimes necessary for discussion but always to be undertaken with care, cannot productively address deeper issues of homeschooling. When faced with questions about the nature of homeschoolers, we must emphasize the political, religious, philosophical, and social diversity that characterizes the movement. We must encourage media portrayals of homeschoolers that accurately reflect our diversity. And we must maintain our group strength by focusing on homeschooling, the commonality we all share, and not involve homeschooling in political issues that have nothing to do with homeschooling.

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