What if they want to go to school?

Got into a discussion with Tim tonight, and he said he thinks we should let the boys attend school, IF we move to a nice neighborhood, and IF they ask to go. I disagree, wholeheartedly.

Sure, I'd like to leave it up to them, and trust that they will make the right choice in the end. But I just can't see myself ever sending them off to school. Here's what I was trying to explain to Tim.

It's easy to follow the expected path in life. Most people find it very difficult to break out of the "norm". So difficult in fact, that they get offended when they see other people do it. But that's what I want for my boys. I want them to break away from the main path, and do the unexpected. Carve their own road, and live the lives that make them happy. By not attending school, so many other paths open up before them. They will have so much more time to follow their passions. Volunteer if they want. Go straight into the working world, or maybe even start their own businesses.

Tim is mostly concerned with the social aspects that will be lost, by not attending high school. I can agree that I spent way more time socializing in school than I ever did learning. But it's not as though they will be locked in the basement. They will have other social opportunities that will leave them with lasting memories.

Ok, so I know some might argue that by going to school they would be breaking away from the path I expect them to follow, and you'd be right. We could go round and round for hours, but in the end I just don't see how sitting in school, eight hours a day, can bring about anything except the most narrow view of the world. Unless my boys can come up with a compelling argument, I don't see myself ever consenting for them to enroll in school.