...but homeschool kids are bully-free, right?

Lately, I've been hearing and seeing a lot of people comment about how they wished they could homeschool their kids to avoid the bullies and bullying that plagues the public schools.

As a public school teacher turned homeschool mom, I will admit, on a day to day basis, bullying is usually not at the top of the list of things homeschoolers worry about. However, this notion that it doesn't exist in homeschool or that homeschool kids don't experience bullying is complete nonsense!

This idea that many public school parents have that we can totally protect our kids from bullying or bullies by homeschooling them is wildly fictitious.  

I'm not sure if people think we live in bubbles or under rocks or if all homeschoolers are somehow immune to being bullies or to being bullied, but I assure you, this is not the case. If your kids are involved in sports, dance, extracurricular activities, church activities, or even *gasp* homeschool groups, they WILL experience bullying from time to time.

This has been the toughest year so far for my kids in dealing with bullies and being bullied. Entering the dreaded middle school years also has something to do with it. Hormones are running crazy and kids are trying to cope with them as well as greater independence and less parental dependence. Sadly, I also see many parents start to take a backseat at this age. Kids still need our guidance! To me, this is when they need us the most. We don't need to micromanage their lives, but when we see our kids developing habits contrary to what they have been taught, we need to step in and redirect and remind our kids of those values.

 Just my thoughts on this dreary morning about bullying that others apparently think does not exist in homeschool :/