Homeschooling Is Child Abuse : One Proposal to “Tighten Up” Rules

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I have sat back and watched this entire tragedy happen right before my very eyes and haven’t had the nerve to speak up about it… until now.

As a parent, you and I have every right to make choices that we see best fit our children. That includes the right to homeschool. My husband and I homeschool our children for a myriad of reasons that will be reserved for another post, but the bottom line is that we should be allowed that right. Ever since this twisted Turpin case has come about, all homeschoolers are under fire. 

Without regard to all of the people that dropped the ball in this particular case, including friends and neighbors who almost called the cops because they suspected something was up with the Turpin family… multiple times, this case is not reflective of homeschooling families as a whole.

Now, while there are cases on record of abuse in homeschooling homes, the percentage is few and far between compared to that of public school abuse. It is estimated that around 10% of students currently in public school have been abused by a teacher or faculty member. That amounts to 4.5 million kids.

But:

“Homeschool is the problem”

Lawmakers have decided that homeschool parents need more “oversight” and that this abuse happened because California has “no rules” governing homeschool. 

Let me give you some FACTS about homeschoolers so that you get a better idea of what our requirements are. 

According to the HSLDA (Homeschool Legal Defense Association), California is one of 15 states that require families to file an affidavit with the CA’s Department of Education once a year. In California, each child must attend school or comply with the homeschool laws starting with the school year in which he or she turns 6 by September 1st and ending on the child’s 18th birthday. 

There are a few different ways you can homeschool:

Private School Details: If there is an affidavit filed for a private school, it is required that “private school authorities are responsible for initiating contact with the appropriate local authorities (city and/or county) regarding compliance with ordinances governing health, safety and fire standards, business licensing, and zoning requirements applicable to private schools.” In this Turpin case, all of those boxes were left unchecked.

ALSO- here are the requirements of said private school “teachers”—> 

  • File an annual private school affidavit.
  • Maintain an attendance register. 
  • Instruction must be in English.
  • Instructors must be capable of teaching.
  • Provide instruction in the courses commonly taught in the public schools (e.g., language arts, math, science, social studies, health, and driver training).
  • Maintain immunization records or personal belief exemptions.
  • Maintain a list of courses of study.
  • Maintain a list of instructors with their addresses and qualifications. 

In the Turpin case, I don’t see how any of these requirements were checked on by the authorities.

Umbrella Program Details:

  • Your child is enrolled in a public school.
  • They go to class in a brick and mortar building 1-2 days a week.
  • You are given a curriculum that aligns with public school curriculum.
  • Standardized testing. 

Charter Program Details:

  • Public schools funded by the government where your child does not have to attend a class, ever.
  • Educational funds are used for the curriculum of your CHOICE.
  • Required meetings with an assigned and credentialed teacher or ES (Education Specialist) every 20 days with work samples submitted.
  • Standardized testing.

With those requirements and details listed; this one appalling case has lead lawmakers to jump to conclusions about homeschooling as a whole.

“I am extremely concerned about the lack of oversight the state of California currently has in monitoring private and home schools.”

-Assemblyman Jose Medina

So because it is assumed that this one horrific case is “commonplace” among other homeschooling families and shows a “disturbing homeschooling pattern”, there is a relatively easy solution:

One particular lawmaker is proposing that states should require forced annual assessments which include a yearly walkthrough of your home, interviewing your children and forced check-ups from an appointed doctor, all completed by a mandatory reporter. This is an attempt at creating at least two opportunities for a trained professional to recognize abuse.

 

What are your thoughts on this subject? 

3 COMMENTS

  1. The fight for your kids is on…. and you too. Removing religious exemptions to vaccination, then personal belief exemptions, then strong-arming doctors not to write medical exemptions. What the heck? The real reason to remove the home school option is more devious. Home schooling is the only safe harbour for those in California that choose not to vaccinate their children. What they have done with this one case of abusive home-schooling parents is the same as the Disneyland measles outbreak (not an epidemic by any form of the definition). Look up Shock Doctrine. What is happening in the home school abuse case and happened in the Disneyland measles situation is very much the same. That is wait for a story and then move policy and legislation forward by fomenting the public into demanding that action.

  2. When will they go into each public schoolers home to check on them? Or even look into each child’s interactions with just faculty? Way more children in public schools are neglected or abused by their families, we were. Then I had a teacher in high school who I barely spoke to bully me for over a yr. He would follow me to other floors as I went to a different class to tell me how worthless he thought I was. I was a 16 yr old girl suffering from daily angina for 2 yrs already. When will you take those things seriously I wonder. I told my principal and he laughed at the teachers mental instability. He refused to fix the problem in any way. I had no parent to care either. When will they fix those problems? homeschooling isn’t the problem, bad people are and they are everywhere. Even when 2 of 3 siblings spent time with guidance counselors in elementary school through high school they did nothing to help. Fix the systems you supposedly have in place instead of coming after all the people protecting their children from your public education.

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