WWYD if homeschooling became illegal?

[Sahamamama]

Think LONG AND HARD about what it really means for the government to FORCE you to send your kids to a public (or private) school against your family's desire...

Faithe

 

Yes, Faithe, that is what my husband and I have been doing -- thinking long and hard about this very issue. I don't really know whether or not I really believe that our rights will drastically, suddenly change, but I do sometimes think about this: What would it mean for the government to require me to send my children to a public school (that is, one under their jurisdiction)?

 

That is a sobering question. That's why I posted this thread. I'm still reading through the responses, so thank you to everyone who shared their thoughts.

Edited January 23, 2010 by Sahamamama

[Sahamamama]

Look back just a short 20 years ago at the homeschool history of New York, Mass. California etc. It has come to "that" and we have only been out of "THAT" a very few short years...one generation to be exact...sigh....

 

Yes, another point on which we have been thinking. If only in my lifetime it has become "legal" to home school in most countries, would it really take so much of a pendulum swing to shift the situation back to where it was when you were starting with your oldest children?

 

I'm thinking about how Jessie Wise wrote that when she began home educating her three children, she was a certified teacher with public teaching experience, and yet she was scared to death that the authorities would come and cart her children away.

 

I'm thinking about how the Harvey & Laurie Bluedorn moved across state lines in order to continue home schooling.

 

I'm thinking about how the last generation of home schooling parents had to struggle with the anxiety of perhaps breaking & fighting with the law. Just because I don't have to do this -- we live in New Jersey, where there's basically no regulation -- doesn't mean it will never come up.

 

So I'm thinking about my level of commitment, not just to home schooling, but also to my "right" to guide my young child's life and learning. Where does that "right" begin and end? What if my child doesn't want to be home schooled when she's 13 or 15 or 17, but I truly believe it is still in her best interests? Will the state be able to intervene and say that she has a right to pursue her own choices, over my parental objections?

 

Just some things I've been thinking about. Again, thank you for all your responses.

[Mom22ns]

I have one child that was miserable in a regular classroom and I've promised him he'd never have to go back. I might try a cyber school if that was still legal. If I couldn't do something that would work, I'd move.

[StartingOver]

I was one of the jailed, along with my step daughter ( juvenile hall ) in the early 1980's in Texas. She was a truant, and I would not force her to go to school. She left school in 8th grade, she was adopted a few years earlier, and couldn't do basic math and read at a 3rd grade level. A couple of years before the Austin Tea Party and Arlington vs. Leeper. We were proud to be on the front lines, and are still proud today. I would not put my children in school, I would do whatever it takes to fight again.

[WishboneDawn]

I am TOTALLY SHOCKED at the answers here. I have been homeschooling for 15 years...and when we began, it was only JUST legal in NYS to do so. The families who went before us fought so hard...including dealing with invasions of Social services and jailtime for "educational neglect," and here most of you are saying you would lay down your laurels and just ship the kids into Public Schools? I am dismayed! Do you not realize what the parents who fought for YOUR RIGHTS to homeschool YOUR children went through to earn you YOUR RIGHTS???

 

:001_rolleyes:

 

Instead of assuming we haven't given an issue enough thought and getting all shocked and dismayed over a hypothetical exercise you might do better to ask some questions, further the discussion, so you can find out why our answer is different from your own.

 

For me, the prospect of moving to a different province or country to keep homschooling is a non-starter. Most of my husband's and my family is within an hour's drive of our house and they all play a critical role in my family's life. In order of importance they are further up the ladder then method of education. Removing them from my childrens' lives would hurt my children far more then sending them to school would.

 

I guess another option would be to refuse to send my children to school and fight it out with the government. Something that would be costly and enourmously stressful. No thank you. Again, I think the harm done to my children by doing that would be far greater then any harm done by sending them to school.

 

I enjoy homeschooling but I'm not going to compromise my kids' childhood for it.

[eternalknot]

My husband and I were discussing this last night, and I am curious as to what you would do if homeschooling became illegal where you live. Would you move? Continue? Discontinue?

 

My kids would do fine in a public or private school; we homeschool for reasons unrelated to quality of education, learning disabilities, or personality quirks that are better suited to the home environment.

 

I have extensive family nearby, so moving wouldn't be realistic (or worthwhile given our reasons for homeschooling). I rely on the government for a paycheck, so I don't think I'd continue in blatant disregard for the law either. I feel pretty certain I'd discontinue to homeschool and would afterschool as/if necessary. Who knows, though.

[chiguirre]

I'm thinking about how the last generation of home schooling parents had to struggle with the anxiety of perhaps breaking & fighting with the law. Just because I don't have to do this -- we live in New Jersey, where there's basically no regulation -- doesn't mean it will never come up.

 

 

Actually, I think hsing is becoming more and more mainstream. As more families opt in and out of psing and hsing, it becomes more familiar to everyone. I think this has already happened in my part of Texas because there are so many hsers so lots of people have met one. As hsing becomes more normal, I think it's less likely to be challenged. It's easy to try to suppress a fringe movement that few people have heard of and whose members they've never met. It's harder to convince people to rescind a well established right, at least as long as no hser blows up an airplane or shoots up a post office. If something like that happened, we'd probably face a lot more government oversight.

[Jumping In Puddles]

I'd get out my pitch-folk and tune in to FOX News 24/7 :tongue_smilie:

 

Bill

:smilielol5: :iagree:

 

 

Sure, it is. And let's imagine that EDUCATION itself was outlawed! Then what? (Why exactly would "The Government" suddenly decide to outlaw all these things? What's next? Outlawing chocolate?)

 

I've always wondered what we gain by these wild, angry "debates" about hypothetical issues, except some attempt to figure out who is loyal enough to The Cause to be worth talking to? Because one, apparently, can only be a real homeschooler if s/he is willing to be burnt at the stake/live off the grid/be thrown in jail (and it's not easy to homeschool from a jail cell!) or whatever extreme to stand behind The Cause of homeschooling. If you would (gasp) put your kids in a school under certain circumstances, then you're not loyal enough to The Cause. And then what?

:iagree:

 

I would put my children in school and fight to change the homeschool law.

[StartingOver]

Actually, I think hsing is becoming more and more mainstream. As more families opt in and out of psing and hsing, it becomes more familiar to everyone. I think this has already happened in my part of Texas because there are so many hsers so lots of people have met one. As hsing becomes more normal, I think it's less likely to be challenged. It's easy to try to suppress a fringe movement that few people have heard of and whose members they've never met. It's harder to convince people to rescind a well established right, at least as long as no hser blows up an airplane or shoots up a post office. If something like that happened, we'd probably face a lot more government oversight.

 

 

I agree, I also see the schools moving more towards lessons on the computer. There will always be schools, but I can see more kids working from home as latch key kids too.

[sunshine]

Go underground. Definitely. It would be fun. I would invite ya'll over!

[Sahamamama]

I've always wondered what we gain by these wild, angry "debates" about hypothetical issues, except some attempt to figure out who is loyal enough to The Cause to be worth talking to? Because one, apparently, can only be a real homeschooler if s/he is willing to be burnt at the stake/live off the grid/be thrown in jail (and it's not easy to homeschool from a jail cell!) or whatever extreme to stand behind The Cause of homeschooling. If you would (gasp) put your kids in a school under certain circumstances, then you're not loyal enough to The Cause. And then what?

 

:001_huh: Sorry, Stripe. I never meant my question as a debate, but really as an honest question.

[elegantlion]

Go underground. Definitely. It would be fun. I would invite ya'll over!

 

I like your reply, then I looked at your location to see where I'd need to travel. :lol::lol::lol: Middle Earth sounds like a great place to hide. :D

[sunshine]

I like your reply, then I looked at your location to see where I'd need to travel. :lol::lol::lol: Middle Earth sounds like a great place to hide. :D

 

 

Thanks! A Hobbit Hole is the place to be,

so load up your family and move to Middle E!!

 

(I know that was sooo pathetic!) I would have Orcs guarding us against the social workers. they are relatives of mine that I don't really call on unless needed!

[elegantlion]

Thanks! A Hobbit Hole is the place to be,

so load up your family and move to Middle E!!

 

(I know that was sooo pathetic!) I would have Orcs guarding us against the social workers. they are relatives of mine that I don't really call on unless needed!

 

:lol::lol: Now that is the kind of field trip I'd love to take.

[Lilymax]

There's a good Christian school nearby that goes from K4-12th grade. I would enroll them there. It would also mean that I'd have to get a full-time job outside the home just to pay their tuition and daycare for the baby. So our lives would radically change, and I would hate it.

[ThatCyndiGirl]

Thanks! A Hobbit Hole is the place to be,

so load up your family and move to Middle E!!

 

(I know that was sooo pathetic!) I would have Orcs guarding us against the social workers. they are relatives of mine that I don't really call on unless needed!

 

 

"Cuz that's how we roll in the shire!"

 

 

:lol:

[sunshine]

:lol:

"Cuz that's how we roll in the shire!"

 

 

:lol:

 

 

:lol::auto::lol:

[CactusPair]

i'd hide out in our house and continue to homeschool.

i'd move if i had to.

 

i'd do whatever i could, but wouldn't go to jail over it.

[JWSJ]

We'd convert to being a very small private school. My spouse is a certified teacher - not that that has anything to do with actual homeschooling. :)

 

Failing that, we'd move and fight legally.

[momtoboys]

I would send my kids to private Christian school.

[G5052]

At present I think it's unlikely. As others have said, I think the mere fact that the school systems would have to take more children on would be somewhat of a barrier. Ironically in my state there's a school census where they count children, and state public school funding is based on how many they count, not on where they go to school. So my county gets the money for my children even though they don't go there. Odd, but true. The county coordinator that handles the homeschool records has told me that they'd never make it if the funding wasn't handled that way because there are so many kids being homeschooled and in the various private schools, of which we have a higher proportion than most counties.

 

If it did happen, we'd have to work something out when it came.

[Renai]

I am TOTALLY SHOCKED at the answers here. ...The families who went before us fought so hard...and here most of you are saying you would lay down your laurels and just ship the kids into Public Schools? I am dismayed! Do you not realize what the parents who fought for YOUR RIGHTS to homeschool YOUR children went through to earn you YOUR RIGHTS???

 

Think LONG AND HARD about the sacrifices that were made for you by families you don't know. Think LONG AND HARD about what it really means for the government to FORCE you to send your kids to a public (or private) school against your family's desire...

 

 

~~Faithe

 

[just to play devil's advocate, I have not mentioned my opinion yet]

 

This argument sounds very familiar...

 

What? You want to homeschool? Don't you know what your black granddaddy went through just to get us in a white school? You're just going to turn your back on the black sacrifices laid on the altar just to get into public schools, and thumb your nose and not take advantage of it? You need to THINK, long and hard about the beatings, the taunting, the friendlessness, etc., that was endured just so blacks could get an equal education. How can you turn your back on that so easily? Girl, I can't believe you'd forget your roots like that.

[IsabelC]

I'm not into direct defiance of laws unless it's a matter of life and death. So my first choice would be to look for loopholes. We'd investigate things like starting a small community school with home educating friends. Or look for a sympathetic school principal who would facilitate part time attendance, turning a blind eye to frequent "sick days". If the law was very rigid with no wriggle room, we would consider trying to move to New Zealand if possible. We also have the option of living in the UK, since hubby has permanent Right of Abode, so I could apply for permanent residency after living there a couple of years. If none of this were feasible, I guess we'd just pack 'em off to the best school we could find and do the best we can with afterschooling (and home school advocacy!).

[Sahamamama]

[just to play devil's advocate, I have not mentioned my opinion yet]

 

This argument sounds very familiar...

 

What? You want to homeschool? Don't you know what your black granddaddy went through just to get us in a white school? You're just going to turn your back on the black sacrifices laid on the altar just to get into public schools, and thumb your nose and not take advantage of it? You need to THINK, long and hard about the beatings, the taunting, the friendlessness, etc., that was endured just so blacks could get an equal education. How can you turn your back on that so easily? Girl, I can't believe you'd forget your roots like that.

 

:grouphug: Wow, Renai. I had never thought about the likelihood of someone having to hear that. How often do you get that thrown at you?

 

Sigh. I was reading a home schooling book the other day and it mentioned Paula Penn-Nabrit's book, "As For Me and My House." Mrs. P-N is an African-American mother who home schooled her three teenage sons. She had fraternal twins, and almost all the teachers in the schools (public and expensive private) were favoring the boy with the lighter skin. Oh, I cried when I read that. How painful for a mother to see. I have twins, and I would just die inside if one was treated better because of her skin color (but mine are identical). Even so, what a shame.

 

I never thought some of my friends who home school are putting up with this behind the scenes. Thanks for responding, even though what you wrote is sort of sad.... as though it isn't hard enough for any of us to swim upstream, without having that guilt trip heaped on you, KWIM?

Edited January 25, 2010 by Sahamamama

[Jill- OK]

BUT...let's not forget all those families who DID serve jailtime and risk losing their kids to ensure OUR rights to homeschool. They were willing to stick their necks out to acquire the benefit that we are enjoying and we shouldn't treat that lightly.

~~Faithe

 

...that the acts which brought the loss of children/jail time were the ONLY ways to ensure that freedom.

 

Yes, certain (sometimes subversive) acts by certain folks helped to cement laws and raise awareness of homeschooling...but there were other people working within the law, too. (Or fighting to make sure that laws were definitive.)

 

I'm saying this as someone who would move and support activism to keep homeschooling legal, if we found ourselves in a state that outlawed it. (Or enacted restrictions.) I might also look for ways to get around the law, find loopholes, etc.

 

Telling someone what they need to endanger, specifically, to keep a freedom doesn't seem within the spirit of...well, keeping freedom, lol.

 

ETA: As far as blatant disobedience of a law, yes, there are times when I'd be willing to do that. I believe as a Christian if a law goes against my beliefs, I can't obey it (Hebrew midwives), and to some extent, some of the reasons why we homeschool have to do with our spiritual position as parents. But those aren't general and across the board, so...it would depend, whether or not I'd be willing to risk losing a child to DHS, by keeping them out of school. If responsible parenting is part of why I homeschool, trying to make the most responsible choice in each individual situation has to take precedence over a simple, "This is what I'd do, no matter what."

Edited January 24, 2010 by Jill, OK

[Sahamamama]

...that the acts which brought the loss of children/jail time were the ONLY ways to ensure that freedom.

 

Yes, certain (sometimes subversive) acts by certain folks helped to cement laws and raise awareness of homeschooling...but there were other people working within the law, too. (Or fighting to make sure that laws were definitive.)

 

I'm saying this as someone who would move and support activism to keep homeschooling legal, if we found ourselves in a state that outlawed it. (Or enacted restrictions.) I might also look for ways to get around the law, find loopholes, etc.

 

Telling someone what they need to endanger, specifically, to keep a freedom doesn't seem within the spirit of...well, keeping freedom, lol.

 

ETA: As far as blatant disobedience of a law, yes, there are times when I'd be willing to do that. I believe as a Christian if a law goes against my beliefs, I can't obey it (Hebrew midwives), and to some extent, some of the reasons why we homeschool have to do with our spiritual position as parents. But those aren't general and across the board, so...it would depend, whether or not I'd be willing to risk losing a child to DHS, by keeping them out of school. If responsible parenting is part of why I homeschool, trying to make the most responsible choice in each individual situation has to take precedence over a simple, "This is what I'd do, no matter what."

 

Thanks, Jill, for your thought-provoking response. I agree, it's about responsible parenting. I also agree with your point that, while some older generation home schoolers may have gone to jail for their cause, there were others who worked within the laws to bring about legal changes. Good point! Thanks!