I'm wondering about homeschooling as a co-founder for social media use.
How do homeschooled kids fair on self-harm and suicide attempts? One limitation in trying to answer that question would be that perhaps homeschooled kids are less easy to reach -- it's harder to survey them, so the sample sizes might be too small to draw confident conclusions.
There are four categories I'm thinking of:
1. Public school, social media.
2. Public school, no social media.
3. Homeschooled, social media.
4. Homeschooled, no social media.
The second question is this: how are parents who homeschool their kids doing? Are they more or less likely to be self harming with drugs and alcohol? Are they are more or less likely to be physically abusive?
I know Ryan Burge has been doing some work on the religiousness of homeschooling parents, so it's not a monolithic community.
But I imagine that homeschooling parents tend to restrict social media usage more often than public schooling parents.
As a promoter and resource for "Self-Directed Education" (SDE), Aka, Home-Un-Schooling, it would be very useful to see research done as you outline.
I expect--hope--the results would show SDE youth more autonomous and therefore more flourishing (see Self-Determination Theory's 3 Needs: Autonomy, Relatedness, Competency).
A quick look gave me this in 2015
The Social and Emotional Health of Homeschooled Students in the United States: A Population-Based Comparison with Publicly Schooled Students Based on the National Survey of Children’s Health, 2007
“Generally, this study failed to detect statistically significant differences between both groups in the NSCH Social Competencies scales (both social skills and behavior problems subscales), in items measuring social competencies, behavior problems, or depressed mood, or in overall participation in community activities, including paid work. Thus, homeschooled students are not at risk for socialization problems in the U.S.”
Which should make us SDE persons smile.
Let us all do research on this and report it to the public.
Well presented, Mike, thanks. Interesting and useful analysis of the data.
I agree with you that the Status Quo's (Haidt, Twenge) scapegoating of Social Media is wrongheaded and misses the origin of youth depression-suicide which is where individually and collectively our focus should be.
That origin is “Child Abuse (and Neglect)” as the title of Lloyd deMause’s final book puts it: “The Origin of War [and all human violence to self and other including so-called mental illness] in Child Abuse”.
Only Peaceful Parenting that respects Autonomy, Relatedness and Competency (Self-Determination Theory) and values the person from birth as owning its Self will bring about a peaceful, mentally healthy world.
This is a personal anecdote, but as someone with life long depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts, I can say that having at least one online friend to talk with, or content creator to watch to go through my day, have always helped me in my most obscure moments.
I'm wondering about homeschooling as a co-founder for social media use.
How do homeschooled kids fair on self-harm and suicide attempts? One limitation in trying to answer that question would be that perhaps homeschooled kids are less easy to reach -- it's harder to survey them, so the sample sizes might be too small to draw confident conclusions.
There are four categories I'm thinking of:
1. Public school, social media.
2. Public school, no social media.
3. Homeschooled, social media.
4. Homeschooled, no social media.
The second question is this: how are parents who homeschool their kids doing? Are they more or less likely to be self harming with drugs and alcohol? Are they are more or less likely to be physically abusive?
I know Ryan Burge has been doing some work on the religiousness of homeschooling parents, so it's not a monolithic community.
But I imagine that homeschooling parents tend to restrict social media usage more often than public schooling parents.
Excellent proposals, DLA, thanks.
As a promoter and resource for "Self-Directed Education" (SDE), Aka, Home-Un-Schooling, it would be very useful to see research done as you outline.
I expect--hope--the results would show SDE youth more autonomous and therefore more flourishing (see Self-Determination Theory's 3 Needs: Autonomy, Relatedness, Competency).
A quick look gave me this in 2015
The Social and Emotional Health of Homeschooled Students in the United States: A Population-Based Comparison with Publicly Schooled Students Based on the National Survey of Children’s Health, 2007
https://nheri.org/home-school-researcher-the-social-and-emotional-health-of-homeschooled-students-in-the-united-states-a-population-based-comparison-with-publicly-schooled-students-based-on-the-national-survey-of-child/
Th Abstract’s conclusion:
“Generally, this study failed to detect statistically significant differences between both groups in the NSCH Social Competencies scales (both social skills and behavior problems subscales), in items measuring social competencies, behavior problems, or depressed mood, or in overall participation in community activities, including paid work. Thus, homeschooled students are not at risk for socialization problems in the U.S.”
Which should make us SDE persons smile.
Let us all do research on this and report it to the public.
Get free, stay free.
Well presented, Mike, thanks. Interesting and useful analysis of the data.
I agree with you that the Status Quo's (Haidt, Twenge) scapegoating of Social Media is wrongheaded and misses the origin of youth depression-suicide which is where individually and collectively our focus should be.
That origin is “Child Abuse (and Neglect)” as the title of Lloyd deMause’s final book puts it: “The Origin of War [and all human violence to self and other including so-called mental illness] in Child Abuse”.
https://psychohistory.com/books/the-origins-of-war-in-child-abuse/
Only Peaceful Parenting that respects Autonomy, Relatedness and Competency (Self-Determination Theory) and values the person from birth as owning its Self will bring about a peaceful, mentally healthy world.
Let us work together to help make that happen.
This is a personal anecdote, but as someone with life long depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts, I can say that having at least one online friend to talk with, or content creator to watch to go through my day, have always helped me in my most obscure moments.