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pcCoder wrote:A family member of mine has come under a bit of a problem. I don't know if it is due to depression or other issues, but he has missed so much school lately, only in high school now, that he may not pass. He gets good grades and all and understands the material very well. But there is some talk of possibly home schooling him. Now in this situation I see it as a very bad thing for several reasons:

1. His mother seems to be stressed or depressed a lot of the times herself, and spends most of the time asleep. While it would be her job to do the schooling, I simply don't think she will go through with it or be very motivated to do so.
2. The stuff kids learn these days is much more complete than what they have learned. A lot of the stuff would be more complex than what they would be able to teach. Even the classes he is in now are already over their heads, and his older sister can't even help out her child with her maths and her child is only in middle school.
3. It is a bit crazy and high-stressed at his home. If he home schools, he will be around that all the time.

I'd like to strongly advise him not to home school, maybe to see a psychologist or something. Going to public school is a win-win situation for him: he gets a break from home life, the teachers actually know and understand the material, and it won't depend on his mother schooling him whenever she is feeling motivated enough for it.

I am somewhat concerned though, as if things keep going the way they have been, I think he may end up dropping out of school. And if he home schools he still may never graduate because of the above. But having a diploma is rather important, unless he wants to flip burgers all his life, and there isn't any guarantee that in the future such jobs may be phased somehow or start requiring diplomas for them as well.