The lines can be blurry, regarding parental rights and these issues, along with knowing when action should or should not be taken. I am my childs parent, not the government! Homeschooling is not a crime, and refusing to report my intention to homeschool even when the law says i must, is not a crime(this is a bad law). The trend toward regulating homeschooling, is a bad one, only meant to bring the government into our cherished homes and families, more and more… Don’t get me wrong, I still obey the laws in my state, but, i do not agree with these laws, and hope for a future without the government telling me how to be a parent. The media DOES use these stories to criminalize parenting and homeschooling, and so does the government.. I am unapologetic when it comes to my stand against more government intervention, as this path does not lead to a good place. It will only succeed in ripping away the rights of millions and millions of people who long to love their children and teach them what they see fit and not what the government mandates.

I say,If you see abuse, by all means, intervene, but, do it, in a loving and caring way, supporting parents, who probably have a lot of learning to do themselves, why not teach and support these people? Why, involve the police, or child protection agencies, who only succeed in demonizing, and alienating. Of course, i say this, only when we see something that calls for further action.. Yes, bad abusers should be jailed, but, when we see little things,that might be suspicious, neighbors, friends and family should get involved, not the government. It is always abuse, when, we see spanking, or hear a toddler scream, or something like this. Or when a parent chooses to homeschool, and i do think that government does link the 2.

Okay, i probably sound, like a i have a big chip on my shoulder, and i guess i do. I have an abusive background, i was terribly abused as a child, and i would have loved someone intervening, but, i also, have seen the other side of things, where, governmental intervention, did nothing, good or concrete, that actually solved the problem. Government can’t change things, only God and his people can. If you have any questions about the One True God, and his One saving Church, you are more than welcome to visit http://www.theepistemologicworks.com

But when it is someone who is purportedly homeschooling? Shut them all down! Why can’t we recognize it in the same light? Something horrible that we need to be on the look out for, but something that is not part of the educational choice itself?

I’d have to agree with you about “they weren’t really homeschooling” if state required paperwork wasn’t properly filed.

Sometimes I worry that stories such as this will cause an outcry for my state to put stricter laws on homeschooling. On the other hand, we removed my oldest child from public school because she was mentally and emotionally abused by the teacher. Perhaps there should be stricter laws on the school district as well! My 2 cents.

To keep from bawling when I read this, I didn’t click over to the article, but I imagine that the parents were very unstable. Family can only help so much, and it is heartbreaking to watch.

If one parent is concerned, can they remove the children from the home? For instance, move somewhere else. That would be a legal battle, too, I suppose.

Mental illness and child abuse go hand in hand. It is difficult to imagine how a healthy and stable adult would do more than perhaps lose their temper on an isolated occasion, but even then I can’t imagine that a healthy person wouldn’t have barriers that they just wouldn’t cross no matter how upset they were.

You may say or do things you regret, but it isn’t quite the same.

My dad had a cousin with schizophrenia and it was a rollercoaster ride trying to help him. What he needed was some sort of supervised living arrangement to make sure he actually took his medication as prescribed but he refused & the family could not force him into one. Legally, the only thing we could do was to have him hospitalized for 3 days at a time whenever his functioning deteriorated to a point where a judge would deem him a serious threat to himself or others.

I would like to think that some of these instances could be stopped if the families had support from friends and neighbors. That is probably wishful thinking, but without supportive relationships it is hard for any family to thrive.