Monday, August 28, 2006

Stupid eBay

Many of you have probably heard about this, but I'd like to raise awareness, so here goes anyway. Please read this article.
Then react as you feel moved to do. Personally, if I used eBay, which I don't, I would immediately register a complaint and then stop using the site. Honestly, this is ridiculous. Parents have a right to choose how and where and when their children are educated. Period. End of story. If I have children you bet they'll be homeschooled. Not their whole school career probably, but they will be homeschooled or I'll move somewhere where I can homeschool them. And every homeschooling parent has the right to any resource available to helpt their child learn. In the end, eBay's policy only hurts the children because it denies them their fundamental right to learn. I think someone should sue.

3 comments:

pilgrimchick said...

Although this truly is unfair on many levels, eBay has a right to "it's" own opinion on the matter just like everyone else is. If eBay isn't a good bag for what is needed, well, there are other outlets for that, too, so there isn't a lack of options. Homeschooling has its positives but its drawbacks as well. Although parents have every right to teach their children as they choose to do so, many run into the difficulty of imposing a lot of narrow-minded ideas upon their children whether they realize it or not. Instead of enlightening them beyond the abilities of the public school system, they end up closing them off from differences of faith, opinion, or idea, and perhaps, this is subconsciously done on purpose. If growth is important, homeschooling parents should think of ways to get their children socialized outside of their households and into the wider world that their children will inevitably have to interact with.

MaureenE said...

eBay has a right to "it's" own opinion on the matter just like everyone else is.

I agree, however I don't think that their reasoning is valid, nor do I believe that they went about it the right way.

I was homeschooled myself. I know many homeschoolers. Many of them say that they never felt left out of the social scene. I myself had, I believe the best of both worlds in that I was homeschooled and also attended public school.

It is true that homeschooling may create a situation where parents teach their children a certain set of moral values or principles. Many parents choose homeschooling precisely because they want to be able to do that. For myself, I am grateful for that. It has given me a good foundation. I am also grateful that I entered public school. It has broadened my horizons. But at the same time, the grounding I received in homeschooling has allowed me to remain myself, true to what I actually believe.

Thank you for your comment.

Anonymous said...

I don't think that ebay intentionally is discrimination against homeschool parents. I think the broader effort is to discourage non-homeschooled students from getting their hands on teacher's manuals. Since ebay cannot control who buys the material their choice to not allow manuals at all is the only one.

Frustrating, I'm sure, but I see ebay's point of view. This is coming from a future homeschooling parent.