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Have you heard these objections to homeschooling?
- Homeschooling is a threat to democracy.
- Homeschooling undermines the government.
- All children needs a standardized education to be a good citizen.
Really?
- I thought democracy was about freedom.
- I thought a democratic government was representative of the people.
- And children are not all the same and shouldn't receive a cookie cutter education.
Homeschooling Outlawed
Are you aware that homeschooling is outlawed in some countries? Wikipedia has a great list of countries and their position on homeschooling.
One country in particular where homeschooling is illegal is Germany. This archaic law dates back to Hitler and the Third Reich, and it was sadly never overturned. The HSLDA chronicles Germany's homeschool law and how homeschoolers are threatened with fines, prison, or loss of their children. One recent case is that of the Wunderlich family. They have lost legal, though not yet physical custody, of their children because they homeschool.
Another case of a German homeschooling family also intersects with American law. That's issue of assylum for the Romeikes. They fled to the US in search of political asylum after appeals to the German supreme courts failed. In fact, here's the reasoning of the ruling:
The two courts had said that it was acceptable for German authorities to stamp out parallel societies, implying in their decisions that homeschooling somehow contributes to the creation of parallel societies. The courts also said that homeschooling was an abuse of parental rights. – HSLDA
The Real Problem
Germany is afraid of a counterculture that would rise up and overthrow it's society. But in reality it's squashing individual rights. It's taking away parental rights.
Why does this matter in the United States? It's a subtle shift in thinking from democracy to socialism.
Democracy is built on individual rights and freedoms.
Socialism is built on the ideal of the collective society.
The Romeikes came to the US in search of freedom from this oppression, much in the way that the founding fathers fled England in search of freedom. The Romeikes are still in a battle for their freedom as their case for asylum has been denied and is in the appeal process. That's a bad precedent for American homeschooling. Even the US Attorney General has claimed that homeschooling is not a fundamental right.
What Can You Do?
The reality is the homeschooling is not a threat to true democracy. True democracy is about freedom and individual rights. Homeschooling is one of the ways that parents can choose to express those rights. Democracy is not about forcing standardized education and ideas onto children. That's socialism at best and the heart of The Third Reich at it's worst.
How can you dispel the myth that homeschooling is a threat to democracy and protect parental rights? Not long ago I shared 10 things that you can do to protect parental rights. The fight is not over. Here are some important steps you can take now:
- Be educated on what democracy really means and how our founding fathers set up our country. The perfect starting point for you and your kids is the Free US History Lessons series at Mom's Mustard Seeds.
- Stay educated. Read up on the Wunderlichs, the Romeikes, as well as current UN treaties like the UNCRPD and the UNCRC.
- Watch this video: Overruled.
- Sign the Parental Rights Amendment petition.
- Sign the White House Petition for the Romeikes.
- Contact your Senators and ask them to vote no on the UNCRPD and the UNCRC.
- Contact your Senators and Representatives and ask them to support the Parental Rights amendment.
- Talk to your extended family about these threats to homeschooling and parental rights. This is about so much more than just homeschooling!
- Share these threats with your local homeschooling groups.
- Share these issues on social media. You can start by using the share buttons at the bottom of this post.
Your Turn
Is homeschooling a threat to democracy? What are you doing to protect homeschooling and parental rights? Share with me in the comments. I'd love to hear what you've done and any additional ideas.
I'm joining with other members of iHomeschool Network to answer the homeschool critics and deal with the tough questions about homeschooling. See the other posts here at iHN.
