Watching the History Channel Equals Child Abuse?

Home School Legal Defense Association ^ | June 5, 2002

[Tai_Chung]

The Davis* family owns and operates a farm in Buffalo County, Wisconsin. For the last two years they have home schooled their two children in addition to teaching them all the tasks necessary to run a farm. Unfortunately, a relative did not like their home schooling and turned them into Health and Human Services even though the family was in full compliance with the law.

The social worker stopped by when they were not home and left a letter requesting to meet with them. The family refused. The social worker followed up with a second letter, requesting a meeting, but this time including a copy of the allegations. The family immediately contacted HSLDA.

Upon analyzing the allegations and realizing that there was no identifiable child abuse allegations, HSLDA advised the family not to cooperate. Some of the absurd allegations, as typed out with various misspellings and typos by the tipster included:

"Neither parent has any education beyond high school. The parents refuse to send one of their children to summer school. Both parents feel that one and a half hours of schooling per day is sufficient.

The tipster continued, "They recently purchased [satellite television] so the boys could learn from the History Channel and one of the boys cuts his own hair so he can see."

Finally, in addition to the several false allegations, the tipster indicated that "each child gets a new toy every week that the mother shops and the father's number one priority is money-they are not financially poor." The tipster revealed his prejudice very clearly at the end of the letter by stating: "Wisconsin needs stricter laws regarding home schooling. Compared to Minnesota." Minnesota has a much more complicated home school law than Wisconsin.

Since the family was not required to cooperate, they chose not to do so. Getting no where with the family, the social worker terminated her investigation having no real evidence of abuse.

*Name changed to protect the family's privacy.

[Catspaw]

The tipster's complaint reads like it was written by a functional illiterate.

[poet]

This one of the problems of the gov't asking us to spy on each other relative to terroists. False reports will be made based on likes and dislikes of persons and even if they are cleared of any charges, the accused will be in the gestapo's data base.

Give it up for security! Liberty is secondary, NOT.

[Dimensio]

Probably went to a government-run school.

[Catspaw]

My thoughts exactly.

The tipster not only employs run-on sentences, but the parts of the run-on aren't even related to one another.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

The tipster's complaint reads like it was written by a functional illiterate.

It was probably written by the social worker from a telephone conversation.

[Freakazoid]

Friggin' busybody alert!

[EggsAckley]

At least this story turned out right. For the most part, the History Channel is awesome.
The recent series on Nazi Euthanasia is rather chilling, and could easily give kids nightmares.
Maybe that's the child abuse......(hehehe).

The idiots lose this one......Huzzah!!

[dts32041]

With some of the programs I have seen on the History Channel, it could be considered child abuse, their sunday morning book program and this week in history to name two.

[Blood of Tyrants]

If they had been forced to watch that idiot on the Animal Channel, Jeff Corwin, THEN there would have been grounds for charges!

[LisaFab]

Agreed. They are especially biased when depicting the Founders.

[maximus@Nashville]

Since the family was not required to cooperate, they chose not to do so. Getting no where with the family, the social worker terminated her investigation having no real evidence of abuse.

If only all bureaucrats were as accommodating.

[Tacis]

"Getting no where with the family, the social worker terminated her investigation having no real evidence of abuse."

Don't you believe it!!! The government employee is, by definition, a lazy jerk, unable to make it in the real world when he/she can get adequate pay, fantastic benefits and easy work leeching off the public. Here, the social worker's performance is measured by how many bad guys she catches, not by how many files she opens then closes. Thsi family may not have been charged NOW, but their name is on a list. The family has something to hide (else, why wouldn't they have cooperated), and if there is ever another claim, this charge will be cumulative and used as proof that since there is so much smoke, there must be fire. NEVER assume a government employee's motivations are benign!

[Paul Atreides]

The tipster was probably a homosexual or feminist (same difference) who was angry because the kids were missing out on the fisting lessons in pubic school or, were not getting their daily dose of Evil White Men lessons in public school.

[TomB]

Any network in the PC climate of today that airs the show "The History of the Gun", is OK in my book.

It's just like with everything else in life, you have to pick and choose. Not every show on that network is to my liking, but then again, if I don't like a show, I don't watch.