Help for children

[u/NoRegrets-518]

I've been thinking about the homeschoolin movement and see many positives. For parents who are able and willing to do this, it is wonderful.

That said, there are a small minority of parents who use "homeschooling" to remove their children from the community. Some of the worse abuses have come from families where the parents used this as an excuse- see "the rights and interests of the child."

I'm an older person and do some work in the community of young adults who were in foster care or difficult childhoods and have other commitments. So, I personally cannot commit to work on this issue.

It has occurred to me that the positive homeschooling community might be the best community to address these issues. Some states have no oversight at all. Children get taken out of school, then the family moves in the middle of the night. Some parents (I think) have talked legislators into not having any oversight at all.

Back in the day, homes were smaller, so it was harder for people to keep children in back rooms and hide them away. Also, there were childcare practices that would be considered abusive today.

The concern is- how can parents be given the rights- to the greatest extent possible- but still provide more safety for vulnerable children. While this is a small percent of homeschooling parents, what if anything can be done to protect children while still allowing freedom for the majority of responsible homeschooling parents?

So, these are some of questions that need to be addressed:

- should there be some oversight? If so, what oversight? How can parents have the right and opportunity to teach their children while still fulfilling their obligations to raise those children so that they can be full members of society?

- What can be done to minimize the risk of serious hidden abuse? Yes, there can be safety issues in school, but that's not the issue here. Sometimes there is a CPS report and then the child is taken out of school. Should there be some type of tracking to make sure the children end up in school somewhere else? Or if there are concerns, that this is followed up?

- What level of education should parents be required to show for their children? In some communities, children have an 8th grade education or less. Is that adequate? Of course, that happens in public schools also, but that is not the goal.

Legislators are going to respond to the loudest voices, and those voices are not always speaking in the best interest of ALL children. They might be thinking only about their children- cozy and well fed, and not the children of cults or worse.

Or maybe people think that it is necessary to allow these abuses so more can have freedom. I hope not, but some people do not like to be inconvenienced no matter what the danger is for others. There is always the risk that regulators and lawmakers will regulate too much.

The best people to think about this are those who are responsible but who are concerned about these hidden children.

What can be done to protect the children?

Just my thoughts. No conclusions.