page 262 "It's David," the principal said. She was a woman of forty. "The child you are homeschooling. Your son Jamie brought him to school for the day. "yes, to see how he did..." "And I am afraid he did not do well. On the playground he bit another child. "Oh dear." "He very nearly drew blood." "That's terrible." "We see this in home-schooled children, Mrs. Kendall. They severely lack socialization skills and inner controls. There is no substitute for daily school environment with peers." |
By the way, David the child in question is a transgenic chimp who is being passed off as a human child with Gandler-Kreukheim syndrome (which is a totally made up syndrome to explain David's appearance).
Sounds like Mr. Crichton needs to get out more and socialize with a few homeschooled children.
ReplyDeleteYou have to keep in mind this is a work of fiction and just because a character in the book expressed those views on homeschooling they may not be Crichton's own views BUT it was very troubling that homeschooling was blamed for the boy/chimps antisocial behavior.
ReplyDeleteIronically the 100% human public school kid behaved much worse. Of course no one said his behavior was because he attended public schools.