Home Educators: Coming of Age in an Unfree Society

E-mail | August 2002 | Cathy Henderson

[Victoria Delsoul]

To respond to most of these superficial, often blatantly ridiculous objections to home education has only granted them an undeserved validity. It is most probable that if ignored, they would have died a natural death from lack of attention.

Agreed.

[ravingnutter]

I am studying psychology now, plan on getting my degree, infiltrating the "system" and exposing the corruption. Plan B, you might say....

[Khepera]

It's an interesting plan. Let me know how it's going. I'm sure my wife would like to hear as well. She quit her position to stay home and homeschool our three boys. It was her decision.

[backhoe]

I will send this- and SWL's excellent set of links- in the next mass email to editors & opinionators. It will also appear thereafter in the update of DUBOB 9-- those stories the media doesn't like to talk about, for fear you will start asking rude questions...

BTW, should you wish to do a similar thing? Go here:

Ignorance Making You Ill? Cure It!

for links, tools, & instructions about how to contact a pile of different people, and how to send a link to this story right here ( or anywhere else ) to a "mass email" using Outlook Express.

---

Do be advised that since I increased my volume of mass emails to letters to editors I have gotten return volleys of virus attacks- my ISP filters them out before the get to my PC, but if yours does not, take appropriate precautions to guard your PC.

I take this as a positive- my emails are simply links with no editorial content; so the other side must fear & loath the information even reaching the public.

[headsonpikes]

Great read and thread.

[homeschool mama]

yes

[homeschool mama]

bump

[SuziQ]

I don't know a lot about this case because most of it happened before I began h/aing, but it seems to me the Bryant's went farther than they could have and put thier own children at risk. I understand their wanting to make a point, but many others have made theirs without being so contentious with the local school committees or whichever entity it was with whom they started this fight. Each town makes up its own rules for h/sers. I sent in a letter to my school committee telling them of my intention to home educate my two younger children and included a list of subjects they'd study and the books we planned to use. Some may say I gave them too much info, but after I sent my letter last year, they never called, sent a letter of approval, NOTHING. I just kept the 'return receipt' from the Post Office as my approval. I just received the most recent one and it went into my files also.

Of course you can kick up a fuss about minimal notice requirements, etc on principle, but it is not you, but your kids who will suffer, and I always thought that's why we DO homeschool, so our kids WON'T suffer.

[TontoKowalski]

I'm troubled by this statement in the article:

It has been puzzling and shaking to hear the number of questions, and the nature of the questions asked regarding the details of the case. Support has apparently been considered dependent on “satisfactory answers” to irrelevant questions...

I don't know anything about the case, and I got worn out before I finished the article, but if anyone expects my unconditional support for a family I don't know, without my having any knowledge of the facts, then they're barking up the wrong tree.

[Chi Chi Tokyo]

Great post.

[Chi Chi Tokyo]

Bump for the Pennsylvania Home Schoolers on the forum.

[Steve0113]

It is the nature of the conflict between individual freedom and government that individual freedom is always either advancing or retreating; standing still has never been an option.

Bump.

[Nancee]

Hi "Aric2000"!

And there is a poll that requires some serious freeping. If I knew how to set up a link, I would have done so. Perhaps someone here will do that for me. This poll is at the netscape home page.

The fact is, that one of the presidents listed R-E-A-L-L-Y believed in returning the government to the people, Ronald Reagan.

The poll reads:

Which of these recent presidents should be added to Mt. Rushmore?

Bill Clinton: 7%
George Bush H.W. Bush: 3%
Ronald Reagan 34%
Jimmy Carter: 6%
Gerald Ford: 1%
Richard Nixon 2%
Lyndon Johndson: 2%
John F. Kennedy: 44%"*

Thanks!

Nancee

*The results as I have just found them.

[Nancee]

"Aric2000"

By the way, I think this is a wonderful post! It deserves a BUMP!

Nancee

[gunnedah]

Folks you need to wake up! In this day and time our government and our system is being run and controlled like the mafia or Red China. I venture to say that today in America on a statistical average as many American citizens as any other foreign countries citizens have their civil rights violated and their freedoms oppressed and this is being done under the guise of "The Rule Of Law" which the last word should be lawless.This really is not a laughing matter.The system of government in America today has to many self centered thoughts and to many controls in place to quieten any dissent.America today is a very dangerous power simply because of those in control and the Constitution is being eroded daily. Your freedom of speech and the right to defend yourself and face your accusers are not allowed under government control and I can prove it,it has just happened to me personally.

[Nancee]

BUMP!

Nancee

[Tailgunner Joe]

bttt

[Aric2000]

BTTT just because I feel like it!! LOL

[latina4dubya]

i read the article... kind of long, so i may have scanned a paragraph or two--i have no clue what the Bryants are up against, and why CPS has custody of their children... is just because they homeschool? it can't be that... i'm sure they are not the only homeschooling family in Massachusetts... so, why are they in trouble? will somebody please enlighten me about this particular family...

[Tailgunner Joe]

bttt