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Student Sample Essay: Cause and Effect
Riley Schmidt
Professor Sanders
ENC 1101
27 September 2016
Homeschooling Creates Less Stressed Students
Some might look back on their high school years and think of fond memories while some might
just remember their awkward teenage years. Nowadays, students avoid this entirely by homes-
chooling, or participating in online school. Homeschooling is not just the stereotypical idea of a
mother standing over her child while the child completes an assignment. Online, or virtual school,
has become a school in itself, and many high school students receive their diploma from an online
program. Homeschooling allows students to complete their school work on their time while also
being provided an up to date, certified education. With this flexibility comes both a relief of stress
from the teachers who always seem to schedule their most important tests or projects all on the
same day, and the mandatory eight hours of schooling that seems to take up most of the day.
A common factor amongst high school students in today’s age of AP classes, hundreds of
mandatory volunteer hours, jobs, clubs, and other extracurricular activities, is their stress level.
This could be caused by these time consuming, equally important activities, which make finding
time to complete homework or even finding time to relax or get a good night’s sleep, difficult.
The reason why all of these activities are equally important is because colleges look for a ’well
rounded’ student in their applicants. Some students are deciding to make the switch to home-
schooling because it allows for the student to have enough time in the day to complete all of
the extracurricular activities, and still have enough time for schoolwork. This is because most
homeschool programs combine the classwork and homework into one assignment, which cuts the
time needed for school in half. Instead of a straightforward eight-hour school day, a student
can break the hours up with other activities that they enjoy, and not have to worry about having
enough time to complete assignments. Also, the improved online option of homeschooling is more
personalized than ever. Many resources are provided for the student, including a schedule for
when assignments should be turned in, online textbooks, a group message for the students in the
course, and much more. A student may be taking a class that is based off a computer screen, but
a real teacher is always available for questions or just to remind a student of their progress on
a class. Also, other students are available for support and for every day socializing. A homes-
chool student is never all alone in a course because someone is always there to help.
138 | Composition and Grammar | Part Three
Despite the commonly held idea that homeschoolers are unsocial and do not interact with
others during the day, many homeschoolers have their own clubs and study groups. Many home-
schoolers even play sports for their local public school and this allows them to experience part
of the “normal“ high school life. Some homeschoolers do not want the normal high school experi-
ence, and instead choose to make their own kind of high school experience. In fact, some home-
school programs hold their own school dances and regional graduation ceremonies, so that no
student is deprived of any fun activity. One effect of all of these activities are that some col-
leges actually see homeschoolers as better candidates for their school. This is because these
students are seen as more independent and self-sufficient. Also, homeschool students generally
have more time to enhance the part of themselves that does not have to do with school. Some
students have trouble thinking about who they are outside of school, and when it comes time to
think about what career they would like to pursue, it can be confusing and difficult if the stu-
dent does not know what else they are interested in, or what they are good at. For the home-
school student, they have all the opportunity in the world to explore what they are interested
in, whether it be fieldtrips for younger students, or educational internship-type programs for
older students. Many younger homeschool students take “fieldtrips,“ which expose the child to
people and places outside of the typical classroom. This helps immerse the child to interact with
others, while also learning new things that cannot be learned from a textbook. Some homeschool
students have the opportunity to have a part time job during the day in a field of study they are
interested in. This helps them decide if this is truly what they would like to pursue as a career.
Overall the homeschool student will have more time to experience more of the “real world,“ and
be able to figure themselves out outside of the classroom setting, more than the normal public
school student ever will be able to.
There are many negative stereotypes brought with homeschooling about all that a child might
miss, but it could actually be better for students who want more time for the activities that are
not school related. The new generation of homeschoolers might be the ones that prove the world
wrong and show others what it is like to be independent and ready for college, and beyond. Maybe
the public school system will take a few pointers from the online programs that seem to allow a
more personalized and less stressful form of education.
