By 2024, more than 3.3 million U.S. students were enrolled in some form of structured homeschool or accredited online program — a figure that has more than tripled since 2007, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Among the voices who have publicly questioned the direction of government-run schools and cautiously endorsed parental control over education is Jordan B. Peterson, the Canadian psychologist, author, and lecturer. His remarks on homeschooling — drawn from a live Q&A — remain widely shared among parents navigating this decision. Below is that exchange in full, followed by context that answers the questions Peterson’s answer raises.
What Did Jordan Peterson Actually Say About Homeschooling?
Peterson’s response was not a straight endorsement. He opened by noting that his prior skepticism toward homeschool families — something he would have expressed fifteen years earlier — had softened considerably. The shift was driven by what he observed happening inside public institutions: curriculum materials he considered inappropriate for the grade levels involved, teacher federation documents he read as ideological blueprints, and a growing pattern of schools functioning less as academic bodies and more as vehicles for social conditioning.
But Peterson added a counterweight. His concern was not only with bad schools — it was with what he called the “pathological mother” who might use the failures of public education as cover to isolate her children under her own control. He was direct: homeschooling done in isolation, without external accountability structures, carries its own risks. His advice was to build a board of advisers, establish clear educational aims, and not attempt it alone.
Why Is Peterson Skeptical of Public School Curriculum?
Peterson pointed to two specific examples. The first was a poster in a junior high school recommending a film he considered inappropriate for twelve-year-olds. The second was the Ontario elementary teachers’ federation’s published guidelines, which he characterized as a structured program to produce students committed to social justice frameworks beginning in kindergarten.
His objection was not to education itself — it was to what he perceived as the replacement of critical thinking with doctrinal content. Peterson’s broader framework, developed in 12 Rules for Life and Maps of Meaning, holds that children need genuine challenge and the development of independent judgment. A curriculum built to produce consensus outcomes, in his view, works against that goal regardless of the ideological direction it pushes.
These concerns are not unique to Peterson. A 2023 survey by the National Home Education Research Institute found that 64% of homeschool families cited concern over the school environment and curriculum direction as a primary reason for their choice — up from 51% in 2016.
What Are the Risks Peterson Warned Parents About?
Peterson’s most pointed warning was about the parent, not the institution. His argument: the same pathologies that make certain public schools harmful can appear in a home setting, amplified by the absence of any external check. A parent who chooses homeschooling for the wrong reasons — control rather than education — may produce worse outcomes than an imperfect school system where at least some degree of social accountability operates.
He recommended that homeschooling families build accountability structures into their approach: a board of advisers, clear academic aims, regular external evaluation. This is not hypothetical counsel — it maps directly onto how accredited online programs operate. Accreditation through bodies like NAPS (National Association of Private Schools) provides the external structure Peterson identified as essential: standardized curricula, credentialed instruction, and academic records recognized for college admission.
How Does Accredited Online Homeschool Address Peterson’s Concerns?
The model Peterson implicitly endorsed — structured, externally accountable, not parent-alone — is precisely what accredited online programs provide. A program operating under NAPS accreditation issues diplomas recognized by colleges and universities, delivers instruction through trained teachers, and follows a defined academic scope and sequence from K through 12.
This is meaningfully different from curriculum boxes or parent-taught co-ops. The student’s academic record is maintained institutionally. Transcripts are generated by the school, not assembled by a parent. Graduation requirements are defined by an accredited body. The “board of advisers” Peterson described exists — it is the school itself.
For families who share Peterson’s concerns about public school direction but also take seriously his warning about isolated parent-run education, accredited online schooling is the structural answer. See the full comparison in our homeschool guide reference, including how to evaluate accreditation claims before enrolling.
Is Online Accredited Homeschool Better Than Public School?
The data on academic outcomes for homeschooled students is favorable in aggregate, though the variance is wide. Studies by Brian Ray at NHERI consistently show homeschool students performing 15 to 30 percentile points above public school peers on standardized assessments. Those gains are most consistent in structured, accredited programs where curriculum oversight exists.
Peterson’s framing — “what makes you think you can do it better?” — is the right question. The answer is not that parents are uniformly superior educators. The answer is that a well-constructed accredited program delivers instruction through trained teachers across every subject, with external academic standards, while also preserving the family’s ability to shape values and environment. That combination is not available in most public schools.
Explore what accredited homeschool curriculum looks like in practice, including how a full K–12 program runs from kindergarten through 12th grade with a diploma recognized for college admission.
What Should Parents Evaluate Before Choosing Homeschool?
Peterson’s practical advice translates into five questions every parent should answer before committing to a homeschool model:
- What are your educational aims? Define specific academic outcomes, not just values. What should your child be able to do at 18 that a conventional path would not produce?
- Who provides external accountability? Is the program accredited? By whom? What does that accreditation actually mean for college admission and transcript recognition?
- How is instruction delivered? Are you teaching every subject yourself, or is credentialed instruction provided? What happens in subjects outside your competence?
- How does the child engage with the broader world? Peterson’s concern about isolation is real. A school-based online model provides structured social engagement without the problems of a failing physical school.
- What does the academic record look like to a college admissions office? A parent-generated transcript is not equivalent to an institutionally issued one. Accreditation resolves this.
Our complete homeschool curriculum guide walks through each of these questions with specific program comparisons, accreditation standards, and what to look for in a K–12 online school before enrolling.
Show full video transcript
The following transcript was taken from a lecture by renowned author, speaker, and psychologist, Jordan B. Peterson.
During the Q&A portion, Peterson answers a question on homeschooling:
AUDIENCE-MEMBER QUESTION: “I don’t want my young children indoctrinated with dangerous ideas and as time marches on I trust public education less and less I know that you have strong thoughts on the danger of the devouring Oedipal mother who harms her child by protecting them and that’s certainly not what I aspire to. I wonder if in spite of your idea that kids need to become tough and learn to slay dragons if you have anything good to say about the idea of homeschooling.”
JORDAN B. PETERSON: “Well, I don’t have anything bad to say about it I do know that the Quebec government has recently taken moves to make it much more difficult for people to homeschool their children and it’s not like five years — I mean 15 years ago I would have presumed that the vast majority of people who were homeschooling their children were to be viewed with skepticism initially. I’m not, so sure about that anymore you, know for example I was sent a poster today someone sent me this link that they found in a local junior high school and one of the media pieces that were recommended on this poster was a movie called hedwig and the angry inch now, I thought that was a terrible movie even though I’m perfectly capable of enjoying bizarre movies But, so it’s a bizarre movie that’s for sure but I also thought it was a terrible, bitter movie terrible and bitter those are separate a movie can be bitter and be quite great but it was a terrible movie and it was a bitter movie but I can tell you one bloody thing about that movie it’s not required viewing for twelve-year-old kids that’s for sure so I think you have increasing reason to be skeptical of the public education system I also looked at the elementary teachers federation of Ontario’s guidelines for education from kindergarten to grade eight and what that is in essence and I think I will do a video about it in the relatively near future is a blueprint for transforming children into social justice warriors it basically says that It’s like you don’t have to be a conspiracy theory to read that I mean we have social justice tribunals in Ontario and so the idea is well if you’re going to get your children if you’re gonna get people to what would you say favor equity properly well then you better start teaching them while they’re young it’s like maybe not So now you you asked that question properly because you say well the terrible education system the wonderful mother homeschooling right that’s the danger it’s like no because it might not be the wonderful mother homeschooling it might be the pathological mother using the pathology of the education system as a excuse to get her talons into her children right because that’s certainly Equally possible or perhaps even more possible because at least in the public education system there’s some necessity for consensus so that’s something that you have to be very Aware of, and work to prevent right and so i would say if you’re going to do that probably best not to do it on your own.
And you need it’s like you need a board of advisers or something like that and so maybe it can’t just be you and you have to figure out well what what is the aim and how are you going to manage that and what makes you think you can do it even if it’s being done badly publicly what makes you think you could do it better I mean my general advice is and people have asked me this in fact I Had a conversation with the guy who was tiling my backyard this morning about something his son had said to him that he was taught At school recently which really made the tiler who had come from a rather authoritarian country step back on his heels and think I’m not so sure i should be sending my kid to public school anymore and maybe I shouldn’t be living in Toronto even you know but my general advice is keep an eye on your kids and discuss with them what they’re learning and and help equip them with the tools to not only to articulate their own viewpoint in Response to what they’re being taught now with the problem is you might not have the time nor the ability To do that that’s no simple thing and increasingly if you’re unwilling to have your children participate in what is increasingly indoctrination and not education thanks to in no small part, to the Ontario institute of the studies on education which is an institution that I particularly despise because I think that all it does is almost all it does now is produce indoctrinators of children It’s not an easy it’s not an easily easy problem to solve so more more power to you wanting to put your children in a situation where they’re not being indoctrinated but the alternative is very very complicated and difficult.”
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