The Real World?

What is this?

I was at the doctor's office with B leafing through a recent Mcleans Magazine article while we waited to be called in.

The article was about how a survey conducted by UK National Trust, a conservation agency, revealed that of 1,651 children aged 10 to 12, half could not tell the difference between a bee and a wasp, and only 47 per cent could recognize a barn owl.

Only 53 per cent were able to recognize an oak leaf. But what could they recognize easily? Nine out of 10 could identify Star Wars characters like Yoda and Jar Jar Binks. It's just as bad over here in North America, the article went on. A study showed that kids were cognizant of up to 1000 corporate logos but couldn't even identify 10 common backyard plant and animals.

And to think, some people get all uptight about home educated kids because "how will they manage in the real world?"

The real world being ..what? Corporate America? Let's just say that world is not the real world folks. Wrong. The real world is the world that we stand on; that we breath in, that we eat from. This real world is fast becoming inhabitable for many of the real inhabitants (animals, plants and people) because of the very real nasty things we do to it. That's the world we need to attend to.

Yes, home educated kids do get inundated with corporate culture and its artificially created desires, wants and needs. No one is safe from that far reaching and damaging grasp.
All we can do is continue working hard to keep the real world Earth in full view.