Alumni Activism – Page 3 – Homeschoolers Anonymous

An Open Letter to My Siblings (And Other Kids Like Us): Summer’s Thoughts

January 14, 2015May 11, 2020HA Editorial TeamLeave a comment

HA note: Summer shared this open letter with us and said, “I wrote this open letter to my siblings, and other kids like us, months ago but when I saw your posting for your series on siblings, I felt it was applicable. I hope to write more on the subject, as my siblings are a place of great hope for me.”

To my siblings and the kids like us:

Well done, you brave soul.

You have warred your entire life and you’re still here. No one could have blamed you for giving up, I know I have thought about it many times. We have warred against our parents, against each other, and against ourselves.

You were ignored at an early point. Disappointed at every corner and torn down whenever things looked positive. Lord knows high school was hell as you realized that this isn’t how home is supposed to feel. And the day you realized there was nothing in childhood to feel nostalgic for burned.

Where did we find the courage to keep looking forward?

We are the bravest people I know. As adults we’ve all become different people, not the same kids I argued with for years. We may not see eye-to-eye on much but we are all successful in our own ways. And we are here. And we’re still moving forward.

That is something to be acknowledged.

So. To the only people who share my demons and understand my scars, well done.

Announcing the 2015 HARO Alumni Scholarship for Women in STEM Fields

January 7, 2015May 11, 2020HA Editorial Team2 Comments

Homeschool Alumni Reaching Out (HARO) is thrilled to announce our very first scholarship opportunity! Two generous members of our community have pledged the funding for a homeschool alumni scholarship for women pursuing a STEM field (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) in post-secondary education.

What:

• One-time, $500 scholarship to be dispensed on March 31, 2015.

Qualifications:

• At least 18 years old.

• Homeschooled for 4 or more years (including at least 2 years in high school) in a conservative Christian environment,

• Identifies as female.

• Enrolled for the Spring 2015 term in a post-secondary institution in a STEM field (science, technology, engineering, math). Enrollment can be in a university, community college, or technical program.

10 Things (Former) Homeschoolers Wish Their Parents Knew While Homeschooling

January 4, 2015May 11, 2020HA Editorial Team18 Comments

Introduction by Nicholas Ducote, HA Community Coordinator; list is a group effort by numerous members of the HA community.

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UPDATE, 01/05/2015: The title of this piece is, “10 Things Homeschoolers Wish Their Parents Knew While Homeschooling.” It is based on members of the HA community finding the “10 Things” in a homeschool parent’s article similar to statements they commonly heard growing up. The similarity proved too close for comfort. Thus these community members are expressing their reactions to those statements from their own experiences. This list represents the experiences of those contributors; it does not claim to be the universal homeschooling experience.

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Two days ago, this post came across my Facebook feed titled “10 Things Homeschool Moms Wish You Knew.” The blog post is generally about defenses of their homeschooling methods, especially in regards to math education, socialization, grade-level, and comparisons with kids who attend public schools. Her second “Thing” disturbed me greatly because, like her son, I could plan a Bible study (about math!) at age 15, but I still struggle with basic high school math.

“2. Our kids are behind in school.

It’s true. My daughter can’t spell “were” to save her life. She’s 13, for goodness sakes. My son hasn’t opened his math book in…well, let’s just say, it’s been a while. They are behind in some subjects. But, let me let you in on a little secret…your kids are behind too. Now, before you start arguing with me that your child just made principal’s honor roll, let me ask you this: Can your 17 year old change the brakes on a car? No? What have you been teaching him? Can your 13 year old plan a Bible lesson and teach a whole room full of students? No? What has she been studying?? Mine can do that and more.”

While changing the brakes on your car will save you some money on occasion, missing out on a fundamental math education will substantially limit your capabilities as an adult. Not every child is gifted in math, but that doesn’t mean you give up or don’t keep at it.

So in the spirit of viral counter-lists, our survivor community has compiled their own:

10 Things Homeschoolers Wish Their Parents Knew While Homeschooling

1. Your choice to homeschool was never about us. It was about control, it was about you. It was about creating little robots that mimicked your beliefs and did what they were told so that you could show off how superior we were to the whole world. It wasn’t the best decision for us, sometimes it was a really bad decision. But that didn’t matter because your belief that homeschooling would save your kids and make them Super Christians matter more than our individual needs.

2. Some of us were behind in school and are now behind in life. This is not a good thing.

Don’t assume real-life experience and book-learnin’ are mutually exclusive…. and don’t assume that we got either one. Our parents phrased it as this tradeoff existed between “well, your kids are up to grade level, but MINE have life skills,” but often, it didn’t work that way at all. We didn’t get the education we should have had, but we also did’nt learn most of the things that would have helped us in the “real world” later on. Bills? Checkbooks? Banking? Insurance? Credit cards? Managing money, being self-supporting, holding down a job, driving, etc etc etc? Nah.

3. Fundamental schooling is more important than your religion. Forcing your beliefs down our throats at the cost of educational building blocks is immoral

4. Despite the lies you’re told, you don’t have to homeschool to be a Christian. Have a little faith in your own parenting abilities when your kids go to public school. When our parents got impatient because we couldn’t learn what they were teaching, they should’ve changed how they taught or sent us to school so we could actually learn. Not screamed or locked themselves in the bathroom.

5. Admit when you’re in over your head. It’s okay.

6. That’s legit. People should leave kids alone.

7. It would’ve been nice to know what our grades were. That way when we graduated and entered the real world, we would know whether we were good competition for our peers or woefully behind and unable to get scholarships and jobs.

8. You say we were socialized. Which actually meant that we were pretty good at talking to adults. But many of us have no idea how to relate to peers. Peers scare the crap out of us. Kids are good, we can talk to kids. But some of us still struggle to see ourselves as adults and peers of adults and struggle to relate and socialize with other adults our age. This is the product of most homeschooling socialization.

9. You worry? Did you ever stop to think those worries were legit? You say “if you can’t say anything nice about our choices, then please just don’t say anything at all.” But you also describe educational neglect and your children’s lack of basic skills. I was glad every time someone stood up to my parents – like when my grandparents fought for months for my parents to allow me to receive a newspaper subscription.

10. You said “We like being different. We are okay being different, and we hope you can appreciate us for our differences!” Do you think your kids feel the same way? Would they even tell you if they didn’t? Because my mom said the same things. But the fact was I hated being different. I hated being weird and the freak. I hated it all and was miserable because of it. So speak for yourself.

Our Top 20 Most Viewed Posts of 2014

December 19, 2014May 11, 2020HA Editorial Team2 Comments

As 2014 comes to a close, we want to look back and remember the 20 posts that received the most attention on HA this year. So here they are, our top 20 most viewed posts of 2014!

20. IBLP’s Statement Is A Disgrace — 5,186 views

19. Four Reasons Why I Believe Cynthia Jeub — 5,365 views

18. IBLP Board Places Bill Gothard on “Administrative Leave” — 5,795 views

17. Dear Michael Farris, Sexual Abuse Isn’t a “Basic Strength” That “Can Get Out of Control” — 5,855 views

16. “He Couldn’t Breathe”: Old Schoolhouse Owners Accused of Waterboarding, Child Abuse — 6,359 views

15. Melting Memory Masks: Cynthia Jeub’s Story — 7,033 views

14. Beall Phillips, Wife of Doug Phillips, Accuses HSLDA’s Michael Farris of “Gross Error,” “Bully Pulpit” — 8,416 views

13. Bill Gothard, Sexual Predator — 8,429 views

12. Here’s To Girls Who Have Been Made Ashamed Of Their Bodies: Pearl’s Story — 8,449 views

11. 11 Homeschool Celebrities Explained With GIFs — 8,865 views

10. 4 Reasons Conservatives Should Join Liberals in Opposing the Duggars — 11,599 views

9. Michelle Duggar’s Hypocrisy Regarding Sexual Predators — 12,626 views

8. Paul and Gena Suarez, Old Schoolhouse Publishers, Accused of Protecting Known Child Predators — 14,808 views

7. Bill Gothard Resigns from IBLP — 17,816 views

6. The Many Valuable Lessons I Learned in ATI: Laura’s Story — 19,336 views

5. Biblical Erotica — 21,361 views

4. When Homeschool Leaders Looked Away: The Old Schoolhouse Cover-Up — 28,814 views

3. How the Teachings of Emotional Purity and Courtship Damage Healthy Relationships — 49,191 views

2. 50 Shades of Grey or Contemporary Christian Music Lyrics? A Quiz — 87,075 views

And the most viewed HA post of 2014 was…

1. Christian Homeschool Dads Lust After 17-Year-Old Girl, Get Her Kicked Out of Prom — 190,783 views

Thank you to everyone for your support of HA in 2014! May your holidays be happy and we look forward to continuing our work in 2015.

Facing Our Fears: How the Voices of Homeschool Alumni Can Help Homeschooling

October 1, 2014May 11, 2020HA Editorial Team8 Comments

Facing Our Fears: How the Voices of Homeschool Alumni Can Help Homeschooling was originally prepared by R.L. Stollar, Executive Director of Homeschool Alumni Reaching Out (HARO) for the 2014 Great Homeschool Convention in Ontario, California. HARO’s mission is to advocate for the well-being of homeschool students and improve homeschooling communities through awareness, peer support, and resource development.

You are free to share or distribute this presentation with proper citation of its source.

To view and/or download a PDF of Facing Our Fears, click here.

We Are Not The Threat

September 17, 2014May 11, 2020HA Editorial Team9 Comments

HA note: The following is reprinted with permission from Darcy’s blog Darcy’s Heart-Stirrings. It was originally published on August 28, 2014.

There’s a new threat to homeschooling, folks! That’s right, and it isn’t the evil government or liberal feminists or Satan. The homeschooling apocalypse will be ushered in because of….*drum roll*…..

The Homeschool Alumni.

Yup. Those pesky people who just won’t keep silent about their upbringing. Who dare to tell their not-so-happy stories, the good, bad, and ugly. Who dare to paint big, bold, dark colors on the beautiful Thomas-Kincaid-like portraits of homeschooling. Who dare to stop pretending that everything in their world was beauty and light and are exposing the ugly darkness.

Their stories of abuse and neglect and confusion are apparently a threat to a way of life that is upheld as God’s Ideal Plan for all mankind. (Looks like “God’s Plan” had a few unexpected loose ends.)

What I’d like to know is this: what, exactly, are we a “threat” to?

If people telling their stories is a “threat” to your way of life, you should really re-evaluate your way of life. It says a lot about who you are and what exactly you’re trying to protect and preserve when the very people that lived as you do are merely telling their own stories and you’re quaking in your boots because of it.

If our stories of real-life experiences as homeschooled children, and the real-life effects of those experiences on us as adults, are a threat to you, then perhaps instead of trying to silence us, and instead of trying to discredit us, there should be some extreme makeover-type remodeling being considered within the homeschooling community.

Do you know who the real threat is here?

Because it isn’t me or my friends. It isn’t those of us brave enough to speak out and fight for the rights of people who have no voice. It isn’t my friends who were beaten, raped, neglected, deprived, and put down; it isn’t the victims. To point fingers at us and call us the “threat” is either extremely ignorant or extremely cruel.

The real threat is the abusers.

The self-proclaimed leaders who steal, kill, anddestroy the lives of the vulnerable. The men and women who cry “Parental rights!!” then turn around and trample on the rights of their children. Who fight tooth and nail to keep their victims powerless.

And the second greatest threat are the people that defend them, support them, and fail to call them out on their abuses.

The folks who stick their heads in the sand and deny, deny, deny. They seem to no longer care about the very real faces behind those stories, but only that the image of Almightly Homeschooling is preserved intact. Their institution has become more important than the people that comprise it. THEY are their own worse threat. THEY are doing more to cause the implosion of the homeschooling movement than anything my friends or I could say.

If you point at victims and call them “threats”, you are telling them that protecting their abusers and the environment that facilitated their abuse is more important to you than truth and healing.

Victims are only threats to the prospering and perpetuating of abuse.

Homeschooling parents, we are not your enemy. How could we be? We were once your children. We are the products of your movement. We are just no longer voiceless and if that is a threat to you, then maybe you should rethink what and who it is you’re protecting.

“An entire generation of homeschoolers have grow up and they are telling their stories, the good, bad, and ugly. Most of us have lived our whole lives under crushing standards, expectations, and facades, and we are done. So done pretending. There a lot of successes and a shitload of failures that came from the conservative homeschooling movement and we will talk about all of them. Because information is power, empowering the next generation to help avoid the awful parts of ours. They NEED to know what went wrong, from the perspective of the guinea pigs. We alone can tell that part of the story, paint that part of the picture, speak from the very darkest places in our hearts about the parts that went so desperately, terribly wrong. What do people think? That we share the worst parts of our stories to billions of strangers on the internet for the heck of it? We share because WE FREAKIN’ CARE. We care that others not go through what we did. We care and desperately want to save others from needless pain. This isn’t some joyride we all decided to take part of. This shit hurts, and the derision we experience from family and friends is daunting, but staying silent while others suffer is a far worse pain than honestly exposing our own wounds. “

~On Homeschooling, Stories, and Dismissal

FAQs About Homeschool Alumni Reaching Out

August 29, 2014May 11, 2020HA Editorial Team

What is Homeschool Alumni Reaching Out’s (HARO) vision and mission?

Our vision statement is “Renewing and transforming homeschooling from within.” Our mission is to advocate for the wellbeing of homeschool students and improve homeschooling communities through awareness, peer support, and resource development.

Is HARO anti-homeschooling?

No. The HARO board does not stand against homeschooling as an educational method. We believe that homeschooling is a powerful, useful tool. It represents a democratic approach to educational progress, innovation, and creativity. It allows a child’s learning environment to be tailored to individual and personal needs. When homeschooling is done responsibly, it can be amazing. What we oppose is irresponsible homeschooling, where the educational method is used to create or hide abuse, isolation, and neglect.

Does HARO have any particular religious or political agenda?

No. While the majority of HARO’s board members are outspoken Christians, the board is committed to intersectionality and ecumenicity in its advocacy. We are not interested in championing any particular doctrine other than the well-being of homeschool students and graduates.

What is HARO’s position on homeschool oversight (i.e., government regulation of homeschooling)?

HARO does not advocate for or against public policy. HARO advocates for awareness and education, peer support, and resource development from within homeschooling.

What is the relationship between HARO and Homeschoolers Anonymous (HA)?

As a part of HARO, HA’s mission is to improve homeschooling for future generations through awareness and education, peer-support networks, and resource development. HA specifically implements the awareness and education aspect of HARO’s mission. The HARO board believes that knowledge is power. To that end we publish personal stories and testimonies about homeschooling experiences, historical and sociological studies of the modern homeschooling movement, and analyses of the ideologies and leaders that have shaped homeschooling in the U.S.

What is the relationship between HARO and the individual stories on HA?

The views and opinions expressed by HA’s individual contributors do not necessarily reflect those of HA as a platform or HARO as an organization.

Is HARO’s HA project named after Alcoholics Anonymous?

No. You can view our full answer here.

Is HARO’s HA project “doing anyone any good”?

That is a question for others to answer. Here is feedback we have received from homeschool alumni and parents who say yes.

What is the relationship between HARO and CRHE?

The Coalition for Responsible Home Education (CRHE) is an entirely distinct organization from HARO. While CRHE and HARO have one board member in common, CRHE takes positions on policy measures whereas HARO and HA do not.

Did CRHE arise out of the HA/HARO community?

No. Plans to create CRHE predate the HA/HARO community and were created by individuals distinct from the HA/HARO leadership.

Where is HARO at in the incorporation process?

HARO is a registered non-profit corporation in the State of California. We are still in the exploratory stages of the 501c(3) process.

Who staffs HARO?

HA and HARO are both run entirely by volunteers, who have collectively volunteered thousands of hours since March 2013.

Is there any evidence for how common child abuse, mental illness, or self-injury is among homeschool families?

Due to the absence of required registration or notification of homeschoolers, there are frankly no reliable statistics on homeschooling families in general. However, the stories that have been told on Homeschoolers Anonymous indicate that many people have experienced abuse within homeschooling. HARO wants every homeschooled student to have an excellent and, most importantly, safe homeschooling experience. So the fact that these things occur in our community at all is something we think everyone invested in the future of homeschooling should be concerned about.

Isn’t HARO’s position on LGBT* students and alumni anti-Christian?

Our LGBT* friends and peers have been hurt by a system that consistently marginalizes, ignores, or abuses them. HARO unequivocally supports these individuals. Given that Jesus consistently identified with and demonstrated compassion towards the marginalized, ignored, and abused, we believe our principles are consistent with Christian values.

Would HARO’s board members ever think about homeschooling their (future) children?

If and when we have children, we would all put our children’s wellbeing first and foremost and equally consider homeschooling, private schooling, or public schooling (or even a combination thereof) to see what best suits each individual child.

I have a question about your recent survey, the 2014 Survey of Adult Alumni of the Modern Christian Homeschool Movement. Do you have a FAQs page for it?

Yes, you can view it here.

Statement By HARO On WORLD Magazine’s “Homeschool Debate”

August 22, 2014May 11, 2020HA Editorial Team20 Comments

August 22, 2014 Statement by the Board of Homeschool Alumni Reaching Out:

We are grateful to both WORLD Magazine and Daniel James Devine for the opportunity to be interviewed for their recent “Homeschool debate” article. Abuse and neglect in homeschooling are serious and pressing issues that need to be addressed for both the sake of children and alumni as well as the health of the homeschooling movement in general. There has been a severe lack of coverage of abuse and neglect in homeschooling by Christian news sources. We commend WORLD and Mr. Devine for shedding some light on these situations.

We do, however, grieve the statements made by HSLDA and their attorneys in the article. Mr. Devine wrote that, “Both Smith and Darren Jones, a staff attorney at [HSLDA], agreed that abuse and neglect cases do exist within some homeschooling families, but argue their number is small. HSLDA staffers call them ‘fake homeschoolers.’” This rhetoric is unacceptable. By calling these homeschoolers “fake,” it allows HSLDA to distance themselves from these uncomfortable situations rather than confront the issue. Additionally, HSLDA’s choice to refer to both current victims and now-survivors of abuse and neglect as “fake homeschoolers” erases the heartbreaking, lived experiences of many children and alumni. Such erasure should not be welcome in the homeschooling movement, and we know that HSLDA is capable of a better response.

Mr. Devine also wrote that, “Jones, the HSLDA attorney, said he recognizes some in the Homeschoolers Anonymous community didn’t have a great experience growing up. ‘I feel terrible for them.’” While we appreciate the offer of sympathy, we must point out that not once has Mr. Jones or anyone at HSLDA even attempted to reach out to any of us on the HARO board or the Homeschoolers Anonymous community at large. Quite the opposite, in fact. Until very recently, HSLDA has either ignored us or blocked us from their social media pages. We would welcome a dialogue with HSLDA, but at this point the ball is firmly in their court.

For example, it has been over a year since we launched our #HSLDAMustAct campaign, asking HSLDA to launch a public awareness campaign to educate their members about recognizing and addressing child abuse. HSLDA has never responded to that campaign nor have they reached out to us concerning it. We are glad that HSLDA has added a page to their website with basic info about child abuse. Yet this action still falls far short of the type of public awareness and community education campaign for which we advocate.

As another example, HSLDA attorney Scott Somerville is still on record referring to a convicted child abuser, Michael Gravelle, as a “hero.” While we want to believe that HSLDA does not condone Mr. Gravelle’s behavior, the lack of a public retraction and apology is glaringly absent and deeply concerning to HARO. Many homeschooling parents and families look to HSLDA for guidance. HSLDA’s silence on this issue is frankly alarming.

Until HSLDA begins to take these issues more seriously, apologizes for Mr. Somerville’s comment and referring to abused and neglected homeschool children and alumni as “fake homeschoolers,” and makes a good-faith effort to reach out to HARO, all we can do is continue to hope. We hope for and welcome a conversation about how we can together make homeschooling better for future generations.

We also hope that more Christians news sources will follow WORLD Magazine’s lead in addressing child abuse and neglect within homeschooling communities. These problems are more than “a few bad apples spoiling the bushel,” and it is paramount that homeschooling communities, religious organizations, and individual Christians invested in the health and safety of all children rise to the occasion and do the hard work of protecting those in harm’s way.

Finally, it has come to our attention that Heather Doney, whose story was featured prominently in WORLD’s article, believes she was misquoted by Mr. Devine. We respectfully call on WORLD and Mr. Devine to do their due diligence in re-examining the accuracy of her quotations and responding to Ms. Doney’s concerns in a prompt manner.

We Wrote Headlines Like We Were Upworthy. You Won’t Believe What Happened Next.

August 21, 2014May 11, 2020HA Editorial Team6 Comments

By R.L. Stollar, HA Community Coordinator

Homeschoolers Anonymous has been accused at various points of using “Slate-esque” titles to grab people’s attention. Honestly, I prefer to select titles that are direct quotations from the individual stories submitted to us. But yes, sometimes when writing about a news item or the latest drama or development in the homeschool world, I will use a hyperbolic title. Sometimes that makes the difference between a story getting a few hundred views or going viral.

But.

But I will promise you that we will do our best to avoid “Upworthy-esque” titles. Because I cannot stand them. I also feel that, when combined with the serious disturbing content we usually feature, using exploitive titles not only can be disrespectful… it also just doesn’t work. To demonstrate why — and hopefully give you something to laugh about after the last few weeks’ worth of intense and dissenting narratives about students experiences at Patrick Henry College (and we’ll get back to that series next Monday, by the way) — I wrote a few (sometimes imaginary) headlines as if they were made by Upworthy.

You might never see the world the same way again.

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These Kids Aren’t Lovin’ It, So They’re Speaking Up About It.

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This Homeschooled Kid Was Never Taught To Read. You Have To See The Results To Believe Them!

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If Homeschool Families Knew These Historical Tidbits About HSLDA, Would They Still Be Members?

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Here Are 10 Books About Courtship That Missed The Mark. And Here Are 10 Amazing GIFS That Explain Why They’re Totally Not Worth Sharing.

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Here Are Some Insults Too Many Gay People Have Heard. Which Homeschool Leaders Said Them Might Not Surprise You.

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Let’s Talk About Patriarcy In Homeschooling And Why It’s More Common Than Michael Farris Might Think.

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It Was Her Homeschool Prom. She Was Wearing Something That Made Her Happy. Then It Got Worse From There.

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We Photoshopped Kevin Swanson’s Head Onto A Shirtless Brian Ray’s Body And The Final Product Will Shock You.

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This Book By Josh Harris Was Written When He Was Just A Teenager, But The Unrealistic Purity Standards Behind It Are 100% Still With Us.

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10 Perfect Emojis For The Next Time A Homeschool Leader Uses A Racial Slur.

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Are These From BDSM Porn Or Christian Music? The Answers Might Rock Your World.

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She Used To Socialize With Her Own Peer Group. Then She Was Forced To Stop. The Reason Why Could Change Your Life.

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These Little Red Dots On The Map Show All The Cities Where Homeschooled Kids Have Been Abused. Wow, That’s A Lot Of Little Red Dots.

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Bill Gothard Didn’t Double Check To See If The “Umbrella Of Protection” Was Actually Mentioned In The Bible — But Maybe He Should’ve

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What’s Going On With The Old Schoolhouse Is Kinda Weird. Like, Horror Movie Weird.

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An HSLDA Attorney Called a Child Abuser A “Hero.” Watch What Happens Next.

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And finally, just for fun, here’s if we wrote titles like Matt Walsh:

CHILD ABUSE-LOVING RELIGIOUS FASCISTS HAVE ONCE AGAIN DEMONSTRATED THEIR “FAMILY VALUES”

…yeah, we’re glad we don’t write titles like Matt Walsh, either.

….to live without illusion: An Original Composition by Gabrielle Cerberville

July 17, 2014May 11, 2020HA Editorial Team4 Comments

Image from https://www.facebook.com/gabriellecerbervillecomposer

HA note: Gabrielle Cerberville wrote the following composition for HA, “inspired by all our collective experiences of coming out from under the veil of illusion that homeschooling so often can create.” The Ligeia String Quartet graciously agreed to record it.

About Gabrielle: Gabrielle Cerberville (b. 1991) is an American composer, artist, and musician from Pennsylvania and New York. She holds a Bachelor of Music from Butler University in composition, and has studied with Dr. Frank Felice and Dr. Michael Schelle. Gabrielle is inspired by the sensual nature of the world around her, and seeks to create art that is both practical and innovative, with an edge of wit and natural sarcasm. Many of her works comment on absurdity, complexity, and the poignancy of nature and culture, as well as delving into the deeper questions of life, the universe, and everything. Gabrielle currently lives and works in Indianapolis with her husband Jordan and their two cats, Zaphod and Bartók.

Program notes by Gabrielle: I wrote this piece after obsessing over HA blog posts for months. Hearing so many people saying the same thing inspired me: We once were blind, and now we see. We don’t all see the same thing, but at least now we’re looking out of our own eyes.