In English law parents are responsible for seeing to it that their children receive a suitable education. There are no plans to change this. (A surprising and paradoxical consequence is that if you send your child to a lousy school which fails to educate him, then it is you who are legally to blame rather than the school!) Many home educating parents feel that they should be left in peace to discharge this duty and that it is, essentially, nobody else's business how they go about it. Are they right?
The first thing to remember is of course that "my" child is not "mine" in the way that "my" car is. Nobody owns another person. If, to take a ridiculous example, I decided to join an Aztec cult and sacrifice my child to the Sun God, society would quite rightly intervene and stop me. Most would agree that this would be a good thing. I don't even need to go that far before society will step in. If I cut or even bruise my child, I can expect a visit from either the police or social services. If I leave a child alone in the house, fail to feed her, keep her warm, let her wander the streets, go out without adequate clothing, drink too much alcohol and many other things; society declares an interest. In a sense, "my" child belongs to everybody. What about education though? Surely that is a purely personal, family matter, of no concern to society in general?
Well, let us suppose that I raise my child to hate and despise black people. Or what if I taught her that members of other religions were evil and should be killed whenever they are encountered. I wonder what would happen if I were a habitual thief and allowed her to grow up thinking that it was alright to pick pockets and rob the neighbours? Perhaps I will let her grow up thinking that it is great to live on social security and never get a job. In this sense, the way that I raise my child can have a very serious impact upon the rest of society. I think it reasonable for society to take an interest in how I bring up my child if the result will be a dangerous or anti-social creature.
Finally, suppose that I avoid neglecting her or encouraging her to be a thief or a suicide bomber. What if I simply provide a cranky or inadequate education? Is that society's affair? Well, yes. If I don't teach my child proper values and train her to be a happy and useful member of society then other people might have to take care of her when she grows up. If she lives on benefits, cannot get a job because she is uneducated or perhaps has psychological problems which make her unable to function usefully in society, then all these things are a proper concern for the state. So I must conclude that the proper education of my child is not my business alone, but a matter which concerns the general good. If I do not educate her properly, then ten years down the road the tax payers of Britain might be obliged to support her. Society does have an interest in her education and it is not a purely personal decision how I go about fulfilling my duty in that direction.
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you do not seem all that worried about all the bad state schoold that do not provide a suitable education! one in 6 children leave school unable to read write do mathe etc.
ReplyDeletemany home educators become tax payers! your find a lot of state school children out of work claiming benfit! many end up in jail!
you way is go to a rubbish school or do home eudcation like a state school! but home eudcators will not comply! we will never do as we told! and that is what hurts you can not force us to do what YOU think is the righ way to home eudcate! no home visits bad luck!
Simon said,
ReplyDelete"In English law parents are responsible for seeing to it that their children receive a suitable education. There are no plans to change this."
If government defines what is ‘efficient' and ‘suitable' in education (as their consultation suggests they plan to do), in what way are parents responsible for seeing that their children receive a suitable education? Sounds like the parent will just need to stand over them and keep their noses to the grindstone! If the government has defined what is efficient and suitable, what is left?
If a child grows up and decides that their education failed them, who would they sue? Attempts to sue schools and Local Authorities have failed so far because it's the parent's responsibility to provide a suitable education. If government defines the suitability of education and it fails a child in future, would the result of a court case be the same, especially if the child and their parents can show that they wanted to provide a different education and the Local Authority did not allow it?
"Well, let us suppose that I raise my child to hate and despise black people. Or what if I taught her that members of other religions were evil and should be killed whenever they are encountered. I wonder what would happen if I were a habitual thief and allowed her to grow up thinking that it was alright to pick pockets and rob the neighbours?"
ReplyDeleteAll of which happens in the homes of school children, so you point is?
"What if I simply provide a cranky or inadequate education? Is that society's affair? Well, yes. If I don't teach my child proper values and train her to be a happy and useful member of society then other people might have to take care of her when she grows up."
Current law gives Local Authorities the right to make enquiries if they believe a suitable education is not being provided and they can make informal enquiries to enable them to make this initial judgement. This gives them the chance to decide if there is an appearance of failure in much the way a police officer might form the same judgement about the other crimes you mention, giving them the right to make further enquiries. As has been said many times, the Police do not have a right to search all homes in a street for stolen goods, they have to have good cause to believe that they will find stolen goods.
On a more personal note, have you really had to teach your child proper values and train her to be a happy and useful member of society? How did you do this? Did you have lesson plans or did she just soak it up during every day life from family discussions and through observation of your actions and those you associate with? This seems to be the way most children learn how to behave, whether they behave well or not. Certainly, attending school appears to have very little effect on this phenomenon.
Simon - note the venom and over use of exclamation marks. You have surely raised the hackles of the autonomous EHE brigade again. Oh dear. How will you sleep?
ReplyDeleteThere's some truth in what you say: if "society" is obliged to bear the burden of anyone who decides not to work then "society" clearly has an interest in whether children grow up to become properly-functioning cogs in the economic machine. This is one reason why the difference between a welfare state and a totalitarian state is simply a matter of time, as Ayn Rand noted. (My use of this quote is not a general endorsement of Rand.)
ReplyDeleteAlso, it certainly seems to be the case that some people think that picking pockets, robbing people or living on benefits are good choices. They are certainly acquiring these ideas from somewhere, but it seems rather unlikely that home education is to blame. You often make statements about "most home educators". How many home educators do you know who teach their children to be thieves?
Regarding people supported by tax payers, about a million young people under 25 are now unemployed: about one in five. How many formerly home-educated young people do you know of who are now unemployed?
Mary i sleep real tight each night dreaming of new ideas to annoy LA?Badman Balls DCSF. I can feel a letter coming on who to send it to??
ReplyDeleteWell, I don't often see people quoting Ayn Rand! My daughter is a huge fan of hers. We recently acquired the film version of The Fountainhead, starring of all unlikely people, Gary Cooper! I digress....
ReplyDeleteI am not suggesting that home educated children are particularly likely to either pick pockets or end up on the dole. I was pointing it out as a legitimate concern that society at large might have. Yes, Sharon, of course I taught my child certain values and trained her to happy and useful. I took as my guide the scripture text Proverbs 22.6; "Raise up a child in the way he should go and he will not depart from it even in old age". You say that attending school has little effect upon how children learn to behave, but I suppose we could discuss peer pressure. I have certainly known teenage girls become involved in shoplifting because they learned dishonesty from friends. Actually, the teaching of moral values, either in the home or by schools, is crucial for the furture of society.
Yes Mary, I have noticed a tendency on the part of the Williams family to use exclamation marks. Their posts remind me of the sort of strange letters written in green ink that newspapers regularly receive. The sort that claim that the royal family are really shape-shifting lizards from planet Zog..... I cannot claim to be enormously surprised that their local authority moved so swiftly when their son was withdrawn from school.
ReplyDeletewe also know of teenage girls geting pregnant becasue the girl at school did or haveing sex because her school friends where did not want to be left out! also pressure on school children from school friends to drink get drunk take drugs quite few school children are taking to hospital during school hours for this very worrying. Yet very little is done by Uncle Ed Balls DCSF to really try and help these school children. why not wwhy does Ed turn is back on these school children?
ReplyDeleteI cannot claim to be enormously surprised that their local authority moved so swiftly when their son was withdrawn from school.
ReplyDeleteBut The local Authorithy did nothing simon not a thing! so where did you get that from? he was removed from school to be home educated on June the 23rd 2003. not heard a thing from that fool from the LA in almost 3 years i though he was dead but have found out that he is still hanging on! god knows what he does all day. but he never have the balls to take us on went very shy i wonder why he was so scared you want his number Mary Simon maybe you can find out why he went all shy on us?
Yes Mary, I have noticed a tendency on the part of the Williams family to use exclamation marks. if you use to many will you get reported Mary and Simon? oh no !!!!!