Dr. Phil Hates Homeschoolers
October 22nd, 2006 at 12:37 pm (Unschooling Life)
Not that this comes as any big surprise. He’s a fairly mainstream kinda guy. But, after reading an account from a mother who was selected to be in the audience during the filming of his upcoming show on homeschoolers, I’m even more concerned for people who learn about homeschooling from such a dubious source. He wasn’t just ill-informed or concerned about socialization and transcripts; he and his staff were actively manipulative.
“Okay, let’s start with all the things that are wrong with how this episode was handled. Here’s what discourages me the most, and what was the most explosive. It was how the show was taped, how the homeschoolers were treated, and how we were all misled.” Read more at The Great School Debate.
I won’t be watching.
Tammy Takahashi said,
October 22, 2006 at 3:43 pm
He actually doesn’t “hate” homeschoolers. He might “hate” unschoolers, but he said on the show (and on others) that he thinks homeschooling can work until high school. He is definitely misinformed, but not completely disapproving.
But it sure is a great topic to bring out controversy and hype! Just think how much attention his show is going to get once it airs - from homeschoolers, and people who don’t like homeschooling. He certainly is smart when it comes to getting people to argue with each other.
It’s not really his perspective on homeschooling that’s an issue here - it’s his calculated manipulation of his “guests”. And using the topic of homeschooling as a way for him to make more money.
I knew that his shows were somewhat “set up”…all these shows are. But the extent of what they had to go through to get exactly what they wanted, that’s just amazing. The measures they had to take in order to get the sensational show they needed to keeep ratings up is sickening. How can anyone work there and feel good about themselves?
I’m not sure what we can take away from this whole experience, except, to use this kind of information as a shield when uncle Joe says she doesn’t like unschooling because Dr. Phil said so.
Kim said,
October 26, 2006 at 9:07 am
Well, I’m not surprised. He always seemed arrogant whenever I saw him talk.