"Tim Tebow" Bill Could Offer Much to Communities

You don’t need to follow sports to know that there is something different about Tim Tebow. He wears his faith on his face, he shows it at his games, and the world tweets his name constantly during football games.

The typical athlete model goes like this:  start young, play in high school and then college, and finally climb the ranks to big leagues of professional sports. Tim Tebow followed that path with a twist, he didn’t actually attend high school. Tebow and his siblings were all home schooled.   

More than half the states in this country allow for home schooled students to play for school teams. Currently, Virginia does not.  While the Commonwealth has set laws in place for home schooled children, there are a lot of differences from district to district on how these students are handled and what they can participate in.

Enter H. B. 947, or the “Tim Tebow Bill”. This bill, which passed the House of Delegates, would allow students studying at home to participate in school activities just like its namesake. Home schooling is on the rise, some colleges and universities court students studying at home, and many such students look to Tebow as an example.

There is a lot of flack on the part of educational organizations in regards to this bill, including the Virginia High School League. Questions about academic performance aside, opening things like sports to non-students opens a can of worms such as more competition for team positions.

For home schooled families, it opens students to opportunities they otherwise miss out on. Opponents cite “socialization” as a major drawback to a home school however this gives a social outlet to teenagers. Many home schooled children come from single income homes which makes affording college all the harder for their family making a chance for sports scholarships just as welcome as for a public schooled teen. Finally, home schooling families could feel a better part of the local community instead of disenfranchised as their tax dollars go to support something they get no return from.

Schools can benefit as well. Imagine the loss to Tebow’s high school football team if they barred him from playing. Welcoming home schooled students can help showcase to students the different choices people face, serve as an excellent way to teach about government, and perhaps bring in that star athlete that just might take the team to Nationals.

The greatest benefit, however, could come with simply bridging that divide against brick and mortar schools and the home school.  The two educational models want the same thing, the best education for the children of this Commonwealth, they just go about it in two different ways. Bridging that divide could do away with the animosity and instead allow for the two models to work hand in hand in shaping the future generations.