Taking High School Classes, Online?

AtariDatacenter asks: "I have a teenage family member who has left the formal education system and we're wanting to enroll him into an accredited online high school curriculum. Happily, this is his wish as well. There seems to be a few services available online, but it is hard to tell very much about them from the outside. What should we be looking for? Are there any good deals (as far as quality or cost) out there?"

Comments

Re:Well..

[quantax]

I know two people who have done this, one was socially inept and the other was 'normal' for a geek. The socially inept one was not a very nice person IMO, and treated other people with contempt and was generally apathetic towards others. The online schooling sure did not help this as he only got worst (I hung out with the individuals in an IRC channel) with time. The other guy is fine and is currently going to a university.

I definitely see your point and agree with it, but it depends largely upon the person involved, whether they have the mental maturity to get something out of it. Even though I hated HS and most of the people in it, it has helped me deal with people in college (who, guess what, come from HS, its the same deal), and thus the real world. If this is being use as an emotional shield, that is unhealthy and could screw you in the long run, regardless of educational benefits. The best way to deal with the 'real world' is to experience it as soon as possible and realize how it works. Those who jump in after a life of non-interaction usually end up screwed in some way, whether it be drug binging or in general just not being able to make any friends.

Thought for other posters....

[TibbonZero]

I know that some of you are going to give useless answers such as:
Shouldn't you kid get the social experiences of High School?
Don't do that, get your kid back in High School.
Teach him yourself, don't use online stuff
etc...

This is the worst thing that I can see about Slashdot. People think that those asking questions want life advice, instead of a simple answer. But really, they just want a simple answer. Too often I see questions of "How can I implement this in my school" or something liek that, and people go and just try to convince them that it's not a good idea, instead of answering the question that they asked. If they wanna use Linux in elemetary schools, let them- if they wanna have their kid go through High School online, let them; and give them good advice on how to do it- let them device whether it's the best thing to do. They didn't ask your opinion whether they should...
I am sure that everyone here knows what I am talking about...