I want to go to high school! but my parents say no?

Question

This year I'll be going into 10th grade, and I really want to go to high school, I want the experience of it all. But the catch is I've been home schooled since I was little, and they said staying home is the best thing for me.

But when I look at it, I think I'm an independent person who can handle all the ups and downs of a public school.

They said that if I had a plan, like if a school would help me further where I wanted to go with a career then they'd consider it, but I don't really know what I want to do. And I personally think going to school might help me out with that.

I know I either want to be a cosmetologist, chef, or work for a fashion magazine, but I don't know how I can use that to help me convince them.

ugh I need help

Answer 1

Your parents are just scared to let you go; you're their little girl.

And actually, staying home really is not the best thing for you. You need to get out in the world instead of being sheltered at home all your life. They can't homeschool you for college, and you really do need to get out and meet new people your own age.

Highschool is all about finding yourself and finding out what you really wanna do. If you concentrate yourself too early, you may find, after you've already been in that field for a while, that there's something else you really really like a whole lot better.

The point of highschool is to give you a foundation so that you have knowledge that you can apply almost anywhere you may find you want to go in life.

Plus, I think it's just cruel of your parents to try and keep you at home, away from people your own age. They also sound kind of like the really traditional type of parents who want you to get married and give them grandchildren. And how are you supposed to meet a guy if you stay at home all the time?

Teenagers need friends, girl. Tell them, in the most melodramatic way possible, that you will be permanently, tragically socially crippled for the rest of your life if you don't get out and get into a public highschool. Besides, friends are a powerful emotional support base. I have one friend who I swear makes better decisions for me than I do. And I met her in highschool.

Also tell them that you'll never learn to deal with people if they try to keep you at home all your life. They only want what they think is best for you because they love you and trust me, parents HATE to see their kids growing up and becoming independent, they feel like they're losing control. I have that issue majorly with my mother; she won't let go. But I'm graduating next year, and she'll just have to grow up and deal with it.

Tell them that you want to go to highschool to discover what you really wanna do for the rest of your life, that if you specialize yourself too early you'll probably find something you like a lot better after it's too late.

Be melodramatic about it. Not over the top, but pretty dramatic. If you can, cry. Parents can't stand to see their kids cry. Unless your parents are the type that get tougher when you cry, then keep your cool.

Answer 2

I have an alternate suggestion for you.

Find a way to get an apprenticeship (e.g. part time job) in one of the areas in which you are interested.

Cosmetology requires a license - but you should be able to be a helper.

Chef - get a job working in a restaurant kitchen or for a catering business.

Fashion Magazine - this one may be a bit more difficult but not un-doable.  Start your own teen fashion website.  Submit some of your best articles for publication in print magazines.

If your primary motivation is career exploration, if you get a little creative, you have more opportunity to do this as a homeschooler.

Look up the cosmetology licensing requirements for your state (goodle: "cosmetology license myState") and that should get you right to a myState.gov site with the regulations for your state.  You might be able to attend a cosmetology school now.

Answer 3

being a chef isnt glamorus to let you know.  its not like on tv its hardcore

Answer 4

First of all, you are their dependent so you must comply.  Second, you should argue your case better if you want them to allow you to make such an important choice.  Write it out, try explaining it in an essay and maybe they will allow you to try it if you cover all of their worries with common sense answers.  Perhaps sign a contract that states you will be a model student, know your limits, will get no less than B's or whatever they wish.  Afterall, if you have never been and already have a solid foundation in morality, family values, self-respect, than you should be able to make it.  Its those kids that have grown up in the system that can't get out.  You can always go back to homeschooling if it is so horrid, and I'm saying this knowing that I won't send my kids back, at least to the local schools.  Honor your mother and your father!  You can do this in public school but you will be surrounded by kids who's lives aren't as rosey as yours who will try to change you.  What do you expect to get there and what will you do with it?   Best of luck.

Answer 5

What do you think the "experience" of high school is?  Honestly, you couldn't pay me enough to go back - and that was over 15 years ago.  Today, you couldn't pay me enough to enter one.

I'm sure you can handle the ups and downs of high school, but your parents are responsible for making that decision for you.  Is it possible that your parents have more experience in this area, and that they really are looking out for you?  This time in your life is about more than an "experience" - it's about getting you ready for your future.  It's about finding your strengths and skills; it's about figuring out what you want to do with your life.

How would a public high school help you do that?  Well, if your future includes having to pass through a metal detector every day on the way to work, that would provide you with the necessary experience, I guess...and if your career is going to involve being caught up with who's dating whom, who was dumped, and who's going to beat someone up in the hallway, I guess high school would give you the experience for that as well.

Let's see: you would be subject to all sorts of standardized tests that you don't have to do right now, simply so that your teachers can keep their jobs (yeah, they hate that part, too); if you don't understand something that is taught, they move on without you, and if you pick it up the first time, you still have to go through all the review assignments - even if you're bored silly.  Sorry, can't think of how that would help you, but I'll work on it.  Oh, hey, you will get to meet up with really cynical teachers like Trinity - I'm sure that would be helpful to your attitude.  Or not.

If going to public school really would help you, then go for it; however, I think you're looking for some romanticized version of what you think public school is.  Do you really want to go through the reality of ps, just to say that you did it?  Or do you want to be out in society, learning the things that you'll need to help you succeed?  As a homeschooled high schooler, you can take college classes, get an internship, and participate in things that ps kids just plain don't have time for.  Do you really want to give that up for an "experience" that may well leave you with regrets and a wasted year?

I'd really suggest going for concurrent enrollment in a local college instead - it will give you the "college experience", which will help you, and it will get some credits on your transcript at a lower tuition.  It'll also help you get on the track to being a cosmetologist, chef, or fashion mag worker a lot quicker than ps will.

Anyway...just my 2 cents!

Answer 6

That sucks!

Answer 7

That does sound frustrating.  I have teenage daughters and they haven't wanted to go to public school, but if they did, I would think that it would be okay with me.  

Maybe if you tell your parents that you will homeschool if high school doesn't work out.  

I don't see how you can convince them high school will help with a career.  There are more opportunities through homeschooling toward any profession, so it's unlikely you will find a way to impress them from that angle.  It may be that they gave you an impossible task to detour you.

You could go to cosmetology as part of your high school, or finish high school quickly and start there.  

Good luck :D

Answer 8

Ask your parents if they would go with you to meet with the counselor at the school you want to attend. That way you and your parents can find out what programs the school offers and what they have in the way of college prep classes. This will help all of you with making the right decision for you.

Answer 9

Well, you can do those things without going to school, but I know what cha mean....

I wish I can take back time, and not be homeschooled, and as screwed up, and miserable as I am....

Answer 10

sit down with ur parents and explain ur situation and tell them ur not happy because u want to go to school and they are holding u back. but just think they are just trying to protect u. a lot of nasty things can happen at school.

Answer 11

I am home schooled to and I am going to the 10th grade to. I wanna go to public school again(this was my first year being homeschooled) I am going to tell them I am going back to school either here or I move in with my dad there!  So tell them and explian why you don;t want to stay homeschooled.

Answer 12

I'm a senior in a public school and I take cosmetology...I get my professional license next month. To be any of the things that you want to be you HAVE GOT TO DEAL WITH PEOPLE. Being homeschooled doesn't offer that kind of interaction. My little cousin is homeschooled and she's 9 and she's too smart for her own good. She's hard to get along with and she doesn't really talk because her mother shelters her. Thats what your parents are doing sheltering you. I'm not trying to sound mean but if you've been homeschooled this long with no friends and you go into a public school yeah, people may think you're weird for a while just because you do things different. It'll wear off after a while and after you get used to the people. Just talk to your parents and make them hear you out. Its def. whats best for you =]

Answer 13

I totally agree, you should go to high school and you have that right, but things will be smoother if you get your parents to go to the school with you and meet with a counselor who can guide you in the right direction and also (hopefully) put your parents' minds at ease...also they can feel they are included so your Independence is less of a personal threat.

Answer 14

First of all, do consider the flip side to this: many students are in high school and want to homeschool but their parents say no. In both cases, parents--older and usually wiser--are going with what they feel is best for their kids. You are 14-16 years old--it's very different from the outlook of a parent, isn't it?

Second, I'm not sure why you think going to school will help you with career decisions. You are told your requirements for graduation and may or may not have room beyond that to explore other areas. You'll have to do math and history and english and science... How is that different from what you are doing at home? How is school going to help you with cosmetology, cooking or fashion? Seems to me that an ideal thing would be to stay in homeschooling and start spending some of your time "shadowing" people in the fields you are interested in.

You haven't really said why you want to go to school beyond "I want the experience of all that". That's not really a valid enough reason to do something. People do all kinds of stupid things because "they want the experience". You have to think beyond that. It looks like you tried, but as I said, I really don't see how school is going to help you, especially when you've got the opportunity while homeschooling to start getting exposure in REAL LIFE cosmetology/cooking/fashion venues rather than potentially learning about it in a school classroom. Let's say 3 years down the road you've applied to a culinary school and it comes down between you and another applicant. Who are they more likely to choose? The person who's cooking experience is limited to home and school or the one who has seen a restaurant or other kitchen in action?

In the end, which set of experiences are going to benefit you most: the superficial artificial social stuff of high school that I'm guessing you want or the real life exposure and learning?

Answer 15

IF YOUR A GOOD STUDENT AND HAVE NEVER

GIVEN YOUR PARENTS ANY TROUBLE, THEN I

THINK YOU SHOULD GO.  IN HIGH SCHOOL THERE

ARE GUIDANCE COUNSELORS THAT CAN HELP YOU

IN DECIDING A CAREER.  IF YOU DECIDE YOU DONT'T LIKE IT YOU CAN ALWAYS GO BACK TO HOME SCHOOLING.  GOOD LUCK!