A few cases this week about home education in the USA and Canada. I dare say that readers are aware that pressure is growing in America for increased regulation.
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/local/home-woman-accused-child-neglect-registered-home-s/nbxG9/
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/11/26/5948831/parents-of-starved-philly-boy.html
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/281392#.UpZiLNJdVIE
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/27/justice/tucson-arizona-captive-girls/
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/stcharles/teacher-who-home-schooled-lake-saint-louis-boy-put-on/article_e97567e3-0691-5fe6-b771-c92dfe5d7c00.html
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I've no time to check out all of these stories in detail, but I did have a look at the first link. I think it's very far from being a useful test case for increased regulation of home schooling. If anything, it highlights yet again the failure of the state agencies to use the powers they already have to safeguard children.
ReplyDeleteFor one thing, the arrested foster mother was herself an employee of the department of social services -- a supervisor, no less. (She was fired when the case came to light.)
As current and former foster children, these youngsters were very well known to social services. Social services must have vetted these parents in some way in order to approve the placement of these children in their care.
The headline of this story shouldn't be "home-schooling mom accused of neglect". It should be "child protection services supervisor accused of neglect".
Elizabeth
Okay, I couldn't resist looking at the second and third stories before I head to bed. The second story about the beaten and starved child follows the same pattern as so many similar tragedies -- a child well-known to social services for very good reasons, allowed to stay with parents who had already lost custody of a number of others.
ReplyDeleteShort of making a law where authorities must see home educated children every month or so, I don't see how this child could have been saved.
The story about the Jewish children is completely ridiculous. All the families have done is move away from Quebec, a province that has a home education policy so onerous that Badman's recommendations are trivial in comparison. They simply didn't want to be forced to teach their children the national curriculum, as Quebec insists they must. I've heard several anecdotes of other home educating families who have moved away from Quebec for the same reason.
In a story from last year, a judge in Quebec forced a family to send not just their school-aged children to public school, but their three and five-year-olds to day care as well. He thought that the children were poorly socialised, and that was enough reason to force them all into the public school system. I raise this just to illustrate the backdrop home educators in Quebec live with. (http://www.torontosun.com/2011/05/10/judge-orders-kids-to-staterun-daycare)
How much more control do they want in Quebec? I shudder to think what increased home education regulation in that province would look like. Germany or Sweden, perhaps?
Elizabeth
"If anything, it highlights yet again the failure of the state agencies to use the powers they already have to safeguard children."
ReplyDeletewell said the social services know about these parents/children possible abuse yet often do nothing a box ticking LA officer would be just the same.
Yep - agree with the above posters - the cases are ones in which warning bells should have been ringing - if they can't keep an eye on this sort of situation what on earth would they do if they flagged up all home educating families?
ReplyDeletemeet a women today who had loads of problems with HCC LA what a rubbish LA Hampshire council tax payers have!
DeleteMy purpose in listing a few of these recent news items was to draw attention to the fact that in the first place, every week in the United States brings forward new examples of home educated children being abused and tortured. The second was to let readers know that largely as a result of this, there are increasing demands in America for regulations to control or monitor home education.
ReplyDeletePeople demand many things; some of us might like to see greater regulation of organised religion, financial services, tobacco and alcohol, with the prospect of much greater benefits than regulation of HE would bring.
DeleteDo you think we might be successful in such making demands?
such<->making
Delete