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Posted on 05/10/2011 11:23:09 AM PDT by markomalley
Four children ages 9, 7, 5 and 3 from a homeschooling family in Notre-Dame-des-Bois in Québec, Canada have been ordered into public school for socialization. The Roman Catholic family, who have been homeschooling their children for four years, were reported to the youth protection services (YPS) for neglect and had a four-day trial in November 2010. The judge in the case, Judge Nicole Bernier, ordered that the children remain in school or in day care until YPS officials approved a plan for socialization. However, because of apparent bias against homeschooling and these parents, this is unlikely to ever happen.
HSLDA of Canada, a sister organization to HSLDA, has invested significant financial resources in the family’s defense. In a press release, Paul Faris, president of HSLDA of Canada, expressed dismay over the outcome.
“This is a shocking decision,” said Faris. “Even more concerning is the judge’s decision to order the younger children who were not of compulsory school age into day care for socialization.”
Faris believes the family was denied a fair trial.
“The judge refused to hear expert witnesses and evidence regarding the value of homeschooling over public schools,” he said. “Unfortunately the judge placed excess weight on protective service experts who found that one child’s hearing impairment ‘indicated’ that the parents could not be trusted and therefore all the children should be enrolled in public school programs.”
HSLDA President J. Michael Smith agreed.
“It’s incredible that a judge in Canada would order three-and-half and five-year-old children into public-funded day care for socialization reasons. From what we know of this Catholic family, they have worked very hard to provide an adequate education for their children which included opportunities for social interaction with others. We are gravely concerned with this decision,” he said.
HSLDA of Canada is appealing this decision. Faris noted that this year HSLDA of Canada has spent more money than any other year in defending homeschooling families.
Canadian homeschoolers are not alone in having to defend themselves against government officials with a bias against home education. HSLDA Director of International Relations Michael Donnelly noted that homeschoolers in other countries such as Sweden and Germany experienced similar difficulties.
“There is homeschooling freedom in most of Canada. However, it appears that Québec is more like Germany or Sweden when it comes to homeschooling regulations,” said Donnelly. “This judge’s decision reads like one from these countries that are repressing homeschooling. The philosophy represented by this judge’s decision must be resisted.”
We are asking our members to stand with us in support of HSLDA of Canada and this family. Investing in the defense of homeschooling freedom internationally is important. Those who would like to may support this family and the rest of our work supporting homeschooling freedom by making a donation to the Home School Foundation’s International Fund. It is our intent to stand behind HSLDA of Canada, this family and other persecuted international homeschoolers financially and with other support.
Ping
Quebec is a pseudo-socialist authoritarian state that really, really, needs to be overthrown. Why the Rest of Canada puts up with their pedantic and childish tantrums escapes me.
Last neverendum, we just about threw them out. We had their bags packed and ready to go, yet they voted to stay.
This election, the Conservatives won a majority without having to rely upon Quebec to get it, so for the next four years, we won’t be hearing too many peeps from them.
The most the government should be involved, in my opinion, in terms of homeschooling, is to ensure the children are meeting or beating the government standards. The government should otherwise stay out of the way.
Wow that is unreal. The rest is bad enough but how do you order a 3 year old to daycare? That isn’t even compulsory age.
That’s Canada for ya.
God help us if such insanity ever happens here.
Such idiocy should be fought tooth and nail.
This ping list is for articles of interest to homeschoolers. I hold both the Homeschool Ping List and the Another Reason to Homeschool Ping List. Please freepmail me to let me know if you would like to be added or removed from either list, or both.
The keyword for the FREE REPUBLIC HOMESCHOOLERS’ FORUM is frhf.
Of interest to Catholics ping.
Such idiocy, if attempted here, would result in lots of holes in representatives of the government.
And for those of you who say, it’s Canada, it can’t happen here... I hope you’re right.
My husband and I have a bugout plan. Not super formal, we just know if the state ever shows up, that I’ll stall them and then we’ll get out and go stay with grandparents while our lawyers handle things.
My daughter is two. I’ll join HSLDA when she’s five. Don’t homeschool without it...
Socialization is so simple for homeschoolers: just hire the neighborhood bully to beat them up and steal their lunch money, then get the bully to post a video of the incident on Youtube.
Any child with three siblings is being socialized in the proper sense of the word.
Home schooled children are receiving an excellent education too.
They are not, however, being indoctrinated with socialism, which is the real goal.
Wanna bet this feminist judge is childless or even unmarried. Maybe on her third husband. How dare she rule on God given rights. She knows nothing about family.
Conflict of interest. period.
How can a career judge begin to understand the concept of traditional family. Women who work out of the house and collect a paycheck have no right to deny the women who want to nurse and teach their own.
“Why the Rest of Canada puts up with their pedantic and childish tantrums escapes me.”
Canada has neither airboats nor froggers, that’s why.
“Socialization”? at THREE! I can’t remember anything from when I was three and I’m from a big Italian family and have 8 mm movies of our socialization.
This is the province that demanded and got the 1st pick from all Canadian hockey players. Good thing they didn’t know about a twelve year old kid in Perry Sound named Robert Gordon Orr.
This would bring me to violence with the quickness.
BTTT
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