This blog has come about in part from a comment on another blog and in part from a case in Washington D.C. in which a mother was allegedly homeschooling her children. . .but she murdered them. The New York Times wrote a piece about what a tragedy it is that homeschooling families are not more regulated and that had these children been under the watchful eye of the public school system this may never have happened. Like the commenter on my other blog, the New York Time’s author quotes numerous experts that suggest that regulating homeschoolers is the only way to prevent these tragedies.
Let me be clear in saying that this is indeed a tragedy and honestly, any time a child is abused or neglected, my heart breaks. I actually spent years working with abused and neglected children in a camp setting and it’s truly heart breaking to think about what these children have gone through. But regulating homeschoolers is not the answer.
Who Should We Blame?
The children were in public school until March of 2007. Her children ranged in ages from 17 to 5 which means that at least one of her children was “in the system” for about a decade. Should we blame the public school system that had them for most of their lives? Surely there were signs of abuse before this happened.
DCS was involved with the family which means that someone, somewhere at least suspected something. Should we blame them for being unable to deal with the family effectively and get the help they needed?
The truth is that probably numerous people came into contact with the family and I imagine there were at least a few of those people who realized that something was off. They just didn’t realize how bad it was or what it would lead to. Let’s not forget either that you cannot just go around taking children out of homes without proof or a ‘probable cause’ that would stand up in court. There has to be physical evidence of abuse. . .regardless of whether or not a child is homeschooled.
This is a pretty hot topic right now and so consequently you can read more of my thoughts on regulating homeschoolers in future days.