Is skateboarding a good enough reason to be homeschooled?

Question

I'm 14 and i want to skateboard for my life but my parents disagree to homeschooling because they say there is no education involved but i was wondering if anyone had anything to help me persuade my parents because they say its a rediculous reason for homeschooling

Answer 1

Your parents are right. I'm all for having a passionate interest, but skateboarding isn't much of a career choice. You need a back-up plan... A REAL, USEFUL back-up. And you can only get that back-up plan if you're educated enough to enter another field as an adult. I'm not saying you can't get that education as a homeschooler. Anyone who has read my comments on here knows I am very much pro-homeschooling, but homeschooling simply because you want to skate all day long is not a very good reason for it.

Answer 2

There are two issues here.

1. Do your parents support you ambition in the sport of skateboarding?

You are going to have to get them behind you on that first. If so, then yes, homeschool could be helpful to you in that you could travel more freely for competitions.

2. Homeschool is what you make it. It can be an excellent educational opportunity, but only if you and your folks make it so. This is important. I am not going to downplay your dream of pro-skating. But, I am going to remind you that you cannot forget your academic pursuits either. Hopefully, if you succeed in this sport you will have business opportunities and endorsements later in life. If that happens, you will have to be pretty sharp if you don't want to be taken advantage of in business. I always think of Ted Nuggent who was a fine musician, but not a shrewd business man back in his glory days. His accountants spent his fortune and he did not know enough about what was happening to stop them. You don't want that to happen to you. So keep skating, but not at the expense of your education. If you homeschool, do it like your future depends on it, because it does.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

There is no career or job market for skateboarding, if they is you better start showing that you can me more $$$ per year doing that than you parents do at a regular job.

Then you would have an argument for intense training in your field.

All you gotta do is win a $10K cash prize and show the potential for endorsements, videos, internatinal aclaim.

Then as with a gymnast, ice skater or olympic hopefull you can justify 6 hours of training per day with 6 hours of homeschool at night.

Do understand every football player has a college degree and they can fall back on that when they get a metal rod in their leg due to a severe broken bone and can no longer skateboard forever or play football.

What will you do with no HS diploma and a metal rod in your knee.

And by the way, it costs about $50K in surgery to get such a knee fixed.

Hope you and your parents have the insurance

All you gotta do is land wrong from a 10 foot spill.

Answer 4

Homeschooling can help you learn just like in public schools if not better, but you need to have more reasons then you needing a easy to change schedule for competitions to start homeschooling. It is a big time investment for your parents.

Answer 5

Depends how good you are. Don't listen to that first answer. Because here's the thing, if you can make it to the pros, your set. If you can't, you're screwed. Also just because 30 is old in the sport doesn't mean they still can't do it. I'm sure Phil Sims can still throw a football. I'm sure Nolan Ryan can still throw a baseball. Just like 20 years Tony Hawk will be able to skateboard, just not at the level he does now. Wow, people are inept.

Answer 6

I agree skateboarding isnt a good reason to home school stay in school work hard graduate and then skateboard

Answer 7

Depends, but I have to say, that definitely is not the most ridiculous reason I have heard. :)

Would homeschooling allow you the flexibility to take classes or attend special camps, workshops or programs to increase your skill level, or are you just looking at wanting more board time during the day instead of "wasting" your time in a classroom?

I know many families that homeschool so their children can pursue careers: acting, modeling, ice skating, hockey, baseball, dancing....so skate boarding doesn't sound unusual to me at all.

My husband's nephew is 35 and he still skates every day. :)

One thing to keep in mind, if your parents agree to allow you to homeschool to allow you to turn your passion in to a career, please understand you will NOT be left without any alternatives. Homeschooling, when done correctly will leave you with an outstanding education and may even give you MORE oppotunities and open doors than you could possibly have otherwise.

Do your reasearch, present your case, then respect your parents' decision.

And remember, if you want it bad enough, you can make it happen no matter where you receive your education.

Answer 8

It is a pretty poor reason and sounds like you need schooling if you are really set on being homeschooled there needs to be some sort of problem why you are not learning what you need to learn at school. Good luck is all I can say. Stay is school lets say you go pro at 15 fall and are paralyzed at 16 what do you have then?

Answer 9

I don't think it's ridiculous at all, it's no different than the Williams sisters homeschooling so they have more time to practice Tennis, or all those olympians who have home tutors so they can perfect their sport. Skateboarding, for those who don't realize, can be an exhaustive intensive sport, with a LOT of cash and incentives behind professionals.

Homeschooling can take two or three hours a day to cover completely all the work that public school offers. There is no reason why homeschooling could serve your purpose, of decreasing the amount of time wasted in mass instruction and allow you to practice skating more. I think it's more your problem that no one realizes how much work skateboards take, and how big of a business is behind it.

I wish you the best of luck, and hope you have the opportunity to seize your passion while you are young. BTW...the reason no one sees an older professional skater is because the good ones retire at 25 with their millions. Hello?! Tony Hawk is calling!

Answer 10

Skateboarding couldn't be any worse that public school.  Go for it.

I imagine you could learn quite a bit from skateboarding.  Enertia, gravity, marketing, art:  these are a few things you can learn about from skating right off the top of my head.  Not to mention first-hand experience with many medical procedures:)

As long as you read you are set.  School takes away all desire to learn.  If skating gets you motivated it's as good as school.  

Write up a plan that tells your parents what you think you could learn with a self-guided curriculum centered on skateboarding.

Answer 11

Your parents are wise.... at 14 you think skateboarding is a way of life. Well, know any 70 year old sk8ers? 60 maybe? 50?....  fact is it's a kids sport not a lifetime thing. Even pros are considered old when in their 30's.

Answer 12

It is a ridiculous reason for homeschooling. Learning disabilities, illness, having to move constantly, religion, and really bad public schools in your area are valid reasons. Skating isn't.

The person who said that you can learn a lot about "enertia" cracked me up. it's called spell check

Answer 13

I really don't think there needs to be a reason for homeschooling other than a family wants to do it-- it is a perfectly legal, perfectly legitimate option. No one needs to come up with excuses or has to justify their decision-- a family can simply do it because it's what they feel like doing.

I would disagree with your parents; of course homeschooling is about education. Homeschoolers can get a great education. It's up to the individual family.

Of course, it's not for everyone. It's really up to your parents whether to homeschool you or not. Maybe you can read up on it and offer them some books about it to look into, but ultimately, it will be up to them.

Answer 14

Your parents probably need to learn more about homeschooling. Why would there be no education involved? Homeschoolers still read books, write essays, do Algebra and all that. You maybe need to have them look at some websites about homeschooling or ask them to consider an online program.

And I have to somewhat agree with your parents. 14 is not an age where most teens are mature enough, or know enough, to have it set how they are going to live their lives. There are plenty of 14yo's who have thought whatever sport they were doing was going to be their living, but 99% of them were wrong--there's a lack of understanding about just how likely it is that they'll make it in their sport. Understand that this is what your parents will see. I also have encountered or have known of a number of skateboarding teens who really seemed to be addicted to it--it was like it was an escape from everything else. That's not actually healthy. Your parents may see the same thing or may feel that your current passion is just a phase. Teens go through phases. There's no way to prove one way or another if it is a phase. So taking you out of school is a huge risk in their eyes.

Beside that, Tony Hawk went to school--why can't you? You don't need to be homeschooled to excel in skateboarding. You do, however, need to be motivated to do well academically and need highly supportive parents for homeschooling to work out.

In the end, you've got, what, 3.5 years left of school? Keep practising your skateboarding on the side, find competitions to enter, etc., and if you haven't started earning a living by then, you'll be old enough to be on your own and can live your life as you see fit. At the moment, you are 14 and under your parents roof. They may not see skateboarding as a worthwhile career and can limit things now, but once you are 18 and out of the house, there's little they can do.

Answer 15

h**l yea it is dude i luv skatin why do you need to home school for it?

i dont think ur gonan be pro or anything close because the new age is ****** crazy good. i hang out with a 13 year old that can kick-flip 9 sets can u even do a kick-flip yet?

just stay in school cause homeschool sounds boring as h**l anyway u dont get to make fun of nerds and see b***s everyday unless u keep it in the family