That’s a very interesting question! I think Dylan would have definitely been more intellectually engaged with homeschooling in which subjects could be elevated to a level that would be challenging and interesting enough to hold his attention. Part of the problem with public school is that cookie cutter curriculum which is geared towards the median average for each grade. Dylan was gifted and surpassed the level of your average Columbine student. So, he was way under challenged and pretty much bored with the way subjects were so uninspiringly taught.

Everything must have seemed so plodding and easy. He’d finish reading assignments weeks before the report was due, he was so disengaged from subjects being taught which he already knew, so he’d goof off. He’d procrastinate to the last minute on completing calculus homework, read other books not class-related and got in trouble for it or just nodded off from sheer boredom..and, well, also from staying up too late playing Quake with Zack then stumbling out of bed at 5 am for morning bowling.

Homeschooling might have been a way to educate Dylan in an unconventional manner so that it would keep him engaged, interested and so. motivated enough to work that much harder because he was getting something out of it personally. As a result of that, his better grades would just be the icing the cake. Though, this style of education is quite a commitment for parents. Dylan’s parents worked full-time: his dad worked real estate from home and his mom at the local community college miles away. There would need to be sacrifices made on either or both of his parent’s part to be present and involved along side their son, to be mutually engaged in his academics whether it be through online learning programs or some combination method. They would also have to brush up on subjects they were perhaps rusty on and know enough themselves in a variety of subjects so they could be primed for the task of working with him each step of the way and also a couple steps in front of him which would be no easy feat. Optionally, they might have been able to acquire a homeschooling tutor for Dylan if that was a financial possibility. These days, you can do the entire classroom thing online with various instructors that keep in touch and closely connected with parents to monitor their kids educational progress. However, I’m going to say that online education options were likely much more limited if not non-existent in the nineties.

While, homeschooling might have kept Dylan more stimulated, engaged and much more intellectually satisfied, the drawback would be that it would keep him within a sheltered environment of the homestead. In CHIPS, Dylan was interacting with a bunch of kids much like himself, with that commonality of being gifted, however, being home schooled would mean he’d have well, pretty much no one to relate to or compare notes with. Again, with the online learning now, it’s very effortless to interact online with other students but again online interaction is just not quite the same thing as being in the company of other people. Schooled at home, Dylan could completely bypass the risk factor of exposure to any toxic bullying that is the regularly hazing in the social hierarchy of your average public middle/high school. In theory, not dealing with bullying might have helped to keep his self esteem higher for not having to experience the sense of being ostracized or degraded socially by snobs, jocks and such.  Given that Dylan was shy and sensitive from a very early age yet not having the opportunity to experience much of any social experiences, the good as well as the bad, come cause him to become more socially stunted and inept.

Homeschooling would absolutely have to provide the opportunity of field trips – small ones to museums or historical locations or even cross-country for some subject he was researching. This would give Dylan the opportunity to expand his universe and broaden his horizons while being given opportunity to interact with people within the realm of his learning so not only is their an intellectual learning process but also a connection with others being made. Both combined would’ve really helped him soar on many levels.

Dylan might have been happier and more comfortable avoiding experiences that would expose him to both positive and negative social anxiety reactions – and yet, I think part of what made him so depressed was that sense of isolation from the world and feeling separate from people in general. Just think of his large, uniquely-unusual home which is very sequestered away from the close-knit neighborhoods/communities of his friends and classmates.  It symbolically represents how physically separated and distanced he was on many levels in his existence. 

Ultimately, unfortunately, I tend to think that the type of homeschooling available to Dylan back then have him cooped up at home that much more and staying in his little bubble of his bedroom even more than he already did after his day in a public school setting.  Being home constantly equates to not being exposed to as many potential friends his own age to share commonalities with or the opportunity to learn socialization period. So, he might have receded into deeper shyness with even more insecurity around people because of having less experience with them. Homeschooling would make him feel academically confident and quite intellectually capable as evinced by his consistently high AP grades.  Unlike at Columbine, where he was struggling with C’s and D’s, he would feel more superior in his performance and more in control of all that realm.

As for the rest, the building of social skills and emotional intelligence would suffer as a result of schooling individually at his parents or a tutors side. So, the more isolated Dylan would become in a home-schooled environment, it would seem that he might be even more inclined towards chronic, deep depression take a foothold on him. I tend to think, too, that Dylan had some sort of genetic disposition, somewhere along his family lineage, for depression. Though, homeschooling seems like it might be the perfect solution to circumvent Dylan’s exposure to unpleasant experiences at run-of-the-mill public schooling, ironically, it seems an individual-based schooling method might possibly have only exacerbate his tendency toward depression by underscoring his sense of loneliness and the lack of opportunities for building human connection.