An editorial by The Washington Post raises a valid question for the state of Virginia: should home-schooled students be allowed to partake in activities and sports of public high schools? The requirement for students at public high schools to be eligible to play a varsity sport is to be passing five core classes in their process of receiving a diploma. Meanwhile, if this Tebow Bill passes would only need a report from parents saying that their child has satisfactory progress in one to two subjects. I don't think that seems fair. Parents have their reasons for home-schooling their children and I respect that, but with that decision, the child is choosing to withdraw from the access to school community activities. If they want to play a sport, find a club/AAU team to play on. If they want to join a club like an art or music group, then find one in the community. At first, before reading this editorial, I had an antithesis of an opinion, but the article changed my point of view. Why should students only having to take one to two classes be allowed to play with students who have to juggle five courses?
The editorial "An unfair playing field for the home-schooled" utilizes logos, and a defined opinion. The logos is used when the author explains the political figures and controversy surrounding the Tebow Bill, along with an explanation of the bill itself for the audiences who don't know about it. the defined opinion of the authors can be found with their "no offense intended" lines to parents who choose to home-school their children, and quoting opposition against the bill. The author writes, "But this bill -- no matter the allure of Tim Tebow -- is not the answer. Being on a team or in a debate club or working on the yearbook is part of being a member of a school community," (1). After reading the editorial, I couldn't agree more.
Click here to read the article
Source: "Editorial: An unfair playing field for the home-schooled." The Washington Post 17 Feb. 2012, sec. Opinion : n. pag. The Washington Post. Web. 19 Feb. 2012.
nice post janet- but I think that home schooled students should be allowed to participate in public school activities. If the different course loads are such a big problem then maybe students who are home schooled can opt to make more classes that way their schedule is even with the other student athletes.
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