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| Denise Armstrong helps her son, Timothy, 8, pick out a book in a local library in Richmond, Va., Thursday, Dec. 1, 2005. |
Denise Armstrong decided to home school her daughter and two sons because she thought she could do a better job of instilling her values in her children than a public school could. And while she once found herself the lone black parent at home-education gatherings that usually were dominated by white Christian evangelicals, she's noticed more black parents joining the ranks.
"I've been delighted to be running into people in the African-American home-schooling community," Armstrong said.
Home-school advocates say the apparent increase in black families opting to educate their children at home reflects a wider desire among families of all races to guide their children's moralupbringing, along with growing concerns about issues such as sub-par school conditions and preserving cultural heritage.
"About 10 years ago, we started seeing more and more black families showing up at conferences and it's been steadily increasing since then," said Michael Smith, president of the Home School Legal Defense Association, a national advocacy group.
Nationwide, about 1.1 million children were home schooled in 2003, or 2.2 percent of the school-age population. That was up from about 850,000, or 1.7 percent, in 1999, according to the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics. A racialbreakdownof home-schooled students isn't yet available, the center said.
However, the Home School Legal Defense Association says the percentage of black home-schooling families has increased, though hard numbers weren't available.
The numbers are still very low because most black families lack the time or economic resources to devote to home schooling, said Michael Apple, an education professor at the University of Wisconsin who tracks home schooling. He said much of the increase is seen in cities with histories of racial tensions and where black people feel alienated and marginalized.
Some families decide to do it because public schools don't adequately teach African-American history and culture, some want to protect their children from school violence, "and for some, it's all of this and religion," Apple said.
Armstrong said she wants her children - ages 12, 10 and 7 - to have a "moral Judeo-Christian foundation" that public schools can't provide.
"I felt that my husband and I would be able to give more of a tutorial, individual learning situation than a teacher trying to address 40 kids at one time," said Armstrong.
She said she also was concerned that schools wrongly label some black boys as learning-disabled while white children with similar behavior are not.
(Agencies)
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丹尼斯·阿姆斯特朗决定让她的女儿和两个儿子在家里“上学”。因为在她看来，让孩子在家上学，可以把自己的价值观更好地灌输给孩子，而这些却是公立学校做不到的。
曾经，丹尼斯发现自己在“家庭学校”聚会上总是唯一的黑人家长，而现在，她注意到越来越多的黑人家长加入到这个一度以白人基督教信徒为主的行列中来。
阿姆斯特朗说，“在‘家庭学校’的大家庭里，能见到黑人家长的面孔，我真的很高兴。”
“家庭学校”的倡导者们说，参与“家庭学校”的黑人家庭数量有了明显增长，这说明各种族的家庭都越来越注重对子女的道德培养。此外，家长们对于学校条件是否达标以及学校能否提供文化遗产的教育等问题也越来越关注。
家庭学校法律辩护协会会长迈克尔·史密斯说，“大约在10年前，我们看到参加研讨会的黑人家庭开始多了起来，从那时起，这个数字一直在稳定增长。”家庭学校法律辩护协会是全国性的“家庭学校”倡导组织。
根据美国教育中心提供的教育数据，从全国范围看，2003年有110万儿童在家"上学"，占学龄儿童的2.2%，这比1999年有所增长，1999年在家上学的儿童有85万，占学龄儿童的1.7%。教育中心说，现在还没有关于在家上学的学生的种族分析。
然而，家庭学校法律辩护协会称，让孩子在家"上学"的黑人家庭比例有所提高，但目前还无法得到相关的确切数字。
研究“家庭学校”现象的威斯康辛大学教育学教授迈克尔·艾坡说，选择“家庭学校”的黑人家庭数量仍然处在较低水平，因为大多数的黑人家庭没有足够的时间和财力投入到"家庭学校"中去。他说，在那些有种族摩擦历史的城市，以及在黑人被疏离和排斥的地方，让孩子在家受教育的黑人家庭数量有较大的增长。
有些家庭选择“家庭学校”，是因为公立学校缺乏美洲黑人的历史和文化方面教育；而有些家庭这样做则是为了保护自己的孩子，让他们远离学校暴力。艾坡说，“对于有些家庭，选择'家庭学校'完全是出于保护孩子的考虑以及宗教方面的原因。”
阿姆斯特朗的三个孩子分别是12岁，10岁和7岁。她说，她希望培养孩子们的“犹太教和基督教共有的道德基础”，而这些是在公立学校中学不到的。
“我觉得我和丈夫能为孩子提供个别辅导，这比老师一次给40个学生上课效果会更好。”
她说她对学校将有些黑人男孩蔑称为‘低能学生’的做法很不满，而白人学生如果犯了同样的错误，则不会受到这种不公正的待遇。
(中国日报网站编译)
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Updated: 2005-12-13 09:00
