Another fun article by Mr Stoddard insulting Home Schoolers

[ElaineJ]

Hey All, my husband found another article by Reuters "journalist" Ed Stoddard discussing Homeschoolers:

"The Huckabee machine included "homeschoolers" who volunteered for him in droves. The energy of those conservative Christians -- who as their name suggests educate their children at home in part to shield them from the secular world -- would be welcomed by the McCain camp."

http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/author/edstoddard/

http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/2008/03/05/huckabee-backs-mccain-but-will-his-followers/

Elaine

[Kelli in TN]

:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Does he not have to show this stuff to an editor?

Do other journalists use quotation marks like that? Can you imagine?

Picture articles about "children" , "doctors", "lawyers", "women", "legislators"....

[Crissy]

What part of his statement do you find insulting (outside of his punctuation, as Kelli mentioned;))?

I don't recall reading any other articles or opinions by Mr. Stoddard, so I am not familiar with his bias, but I do know a few evangelical homeschoolers who fit this brief description.

[hana]

I'm not offended as it's really not about me :p, but I do think it's a little silly that he says "'homescholers'....who as their name suggests educate their children at home." Ya think?

[JudoMom]

Hey All, my husband found another article by Reuters "journalist" Ed Stoddard discussing Homeschoolers:

"The Huckabee machine included "homeschoolers" who volunteered for him in droves. The energy of those conservative Christians -- who as their name suggests educate their children at home in part to shield them from the secular world -- would be welcomed by the McCain camp."

http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/author/edstoddard/

http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/2008/03/05/huckabee-backs-mccain-but-will-his-followers/

Elaine

I think I'd call him a "journalist" ;). He does seem bent on lumping all of us "wackos" into a specific "camp", doesn't he :p?

[Tutor]

This comment would bother me if it was intended as part of a journalism piece. Further evidence that any semblance of professional journalism is going down the toilet. (News anchors and reporters are starting to call people "guys" for goodness sake!) However, this is a blog entry run by Reuters and not an actual news story so it is really more on par with an amateur opinion piece than a news article. The fact that this man is probably paid by Reuters is sad. Their name is still on it, and many associate their name with hard-hitting, front line news stories, and blog articles like this are going to rapidly ruin their reputation.

[battlemaiden]

What part of his statement do you find insulting (outside of his punctuation, as Kelli mentioned;))?

I don't recall reading any other articles or opinions by Mr. Stoddard, so I am not familiar with his bias, but I do know a few evangelical homeschoolers who fit this brief description.

But, to assume that all homeschoolers are doing so as a protection against the secular world is an indication of his assumptions towards homeschoolers- a fact that this very board could have shown him are ridiculous:D.

Jo

[hana]

This "journalist" clearly has "diverse" "interests":

http://arts.dal.ca/Alumni%20and%20Friends/Ed_Stoddard.php

[Crissy]

But, to assume that all homeschoolers are doing so as a protection against the secular world is an indication of his assumptions towards homeschoolers- a fact that this very board could have shown him are ridiculous:D.

Jo

In the only paragraph in which he mentioned homeschoolers, he clarified the group he was talking about when he said, "The energy of those conservative Christians". He never said all homeschoolers.

I know there are those CC who school their children at home to shield them from the world. We've had conversations here from parents who name that as their primary reason for homeschooling. And judging from the "Homeschoolers for Huckabee" buttons in the blogosphere, I'd say there was certainly some energy and support there. :D

[Mrs. H.]

like the homeschoolers were fakes, plants, lol. Maybe I just have a weird sense of humor, but I found it amusing, not offensive. :rolleyes:

[battlemaiden]

In the only paragraph in which he mentioned homeschoolers, he clarified the group he was talking about when he said, "The energy of those conservative Christians". He never said all homeschoolers.

I know there are those CC who school their children at home to shield them from the world. We've had conversations here from parents who name that as their primary reason for homeschooling. And judging from the "Homeschoolers for Huckabee" buttons in the blogosphere, I'd say there was certainly some energy and support there. :D

You know some, I know some, and obviously this journalist has seen or met a few. :p

We have also had many conversations on this board with conservative Christians who do not fit the mold. I'm not offended, I expect a certain level of naivete on the part of people who have had no other exposure to the rich diversity of even the "conservative Christian" segment of the homeschooling community. They would not pick my long-haired, dark skinned surfing friends from church as conservative in their ideology or Christian in their worldview.

I hope I've learned from my time on this board, if nothing else, not to judge swaths of the population by a few outspoken voices. ;) We are all insightful, full of faults, full of opinion, and able to share our unique experience with each other in multiple situations. I love it. ----Okay so this was over and above the original topic, but I felt moved. :D Take care Crissy. I'm off to make snickerdoodles!

Jo

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

You know some, I know some, and obviously this journalist has seen or met a few. :p

We have also had many conversations on this board with conservative Christians who do not fit the mold. I'm not offended, I expect a certain level of naivete on the part of people who have had no other exposure to the rich diversity of even the "conservative Christian" segment of the homeschooling community. They would not pick my long-haired, dark skinned surfing friends from church as conservative in their ideology or Christian in their worldview.

I hope I've learned from my time on this board, if nothing else, not to judge swaths of the population by a few outspoken voices. ;) We are all insightful, full of faults, full of opinion, and able to share our unique experience with each other in multiple situations. I love it. ----Okay so this was over and above the original topic, but I felt moved. :D Take care Crissy. I'm off to make snickerdoodles!

Jo

I was annoyed in the other article when he mentioned all those Conservative Christian "homeschoolers" who "schooled" their children at home.

The scare quotes were what ticked me off. Besides, of course, the stereotyping.