A CBS TV show a few years ago called The Dark Side of Homeschooling highlighted the deaths of three homeschooled children at the hands of their mother, and two other cases of abuses of homeschooled children as well. It is true that horrible things have happened to some homeschooling kids, but in each of the cases profiled, homeschooling was not the cause of the problem. The parents were the cause of the problem.
Unfortunately, some abusers are wily enough to use homeschooling as a tool to cover abuse of children. They know that they may be caught in their misdeeds quicker if a teacher senses trouble and reports them. These cases are not exactly homeschool abuse, but abuse of homeschooling. They are using the word “homeschooling” to cover something they are doing and probably not even homeschooling at all.
Homeschoolers in general are just as appalled by these abuses just as much as anyone else is. Personally speaking, I would be the first person to ring the bell on a “homeschooling” family who I thought was abusing their kids. I would do it firstly to protect the children, and secondly to help prevent this horrific mislabeling of homeschoolers as child abusers.
Children are abused and murdered every day. It is a very sad and depressing fact. However, the once or twice a year that such an event involves homeschoolers, homeschooling becomes the focus of the problem. Homeschool opponents, such as teachers unions and public education proponents take every chance they get to say, “See, homeschoolers are child abusers. Homeschooling should be stopped”. They are indeed throwing the proverbial baby out with the bath water.
My wish is that homeschoolers would look at homeschooling as a whole and not on an individual basis. The reason I say this is because the homeschooling population is still very small, and so it is rare for a non-homeschooler to know more than one or two people whom homeschool. How can you make an assessment from just one example?
*Have a question about homeschooling? Just ask.
*Want to know more about homeschooling? Start with the 2006 homeschool blog in review!
* Have you seen the homeschooling curriculum glossary?