> Some of my niblings have online homeschool classes with kids from all over the country, with way more diversity than they would get in their local public schools.
Is an online class with a diverse crowd a sufficient replacement for actually going out, interacting, and being next to people of various racial, ethnic, religious, and economic backgrounds?
I've spent half of my life on online communities. If I went out into the world thinking the average person I interact with online was the same as the average person outside, I'd be very stunned by the reality and very ill-equipped. The types of people I encounter on Hacker News and other communities/groups I participate in online, well, I've almost never encountered similar people outside.
Is an online class with a diverse crowd a sufficient replacement for actually going out, interacting, and being next to people of various racial, ethnic, religious, and economic backgrounds?
Probably not, but like I said, that's not an option for them, so it's not a fair comparison. The local public schools would not provide significant interaction with or proximity to people or differing racial, ethnic, religious, or economic backgrounds. Is an online class better for that purpose than a public school classroom in Fairfax, Virginia? No, absolutely not. But they don't live in Fairfax, Virginia, or in New York, or in California, or anywhere else that's reasonably diverse.
I think you vastly underestimate the diversity and types of people you'd find even in monocultural small towns. Being born in a town of 1000 people and moving all around the world, it's pretty strange the way people tend to look down on some places. There's plenty of variety within people that you'll quickly become aware of when you sit down are and expected to deal with them.
Why do you think I underestimate the diversity of places where I or other members of my family have lived, where we have gone to school, and where most of my parents generation have been school teachers?
I know there is plenty of diversity in small monocultural towns. But it is of a qualitatively different type.
Online or offline communities beyond 20 people are garbage. Being in a tight knit community is more important than the mechanism that is used for communication. It's the same reason why urban environments are so lonely. You meet way too many people.
Is an online class with a diverse crowd a sufficient replacement for actually going out, interacting, and being next to people of various racial, ethnic, religious, and economic backgrounds?
I've spent half of my life on online communities. If I went out into the world thinking the average person I interact with online was the same as the average person outside, I'd be very stunned by the reality and very ill-equipped. The types of people I encounter on Hacker News and other communities/groups I participate in online, well, I've almost never encountered similar people outside.