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Ron French of the Detroit News smears homeschooling moms and dads in Michigan, by equating them to evil child abusers.
Lax home-school laws put kids at risk
Centreville -- Calista Springer lay tethered to her bed by a dog collar while her siblings went off to school each morning. For two years, Springer's parents claimed their eldest daughter was home-schooled, an assertion police now say was a ruse to hide child abuse.
That ruse came to a tragic end in February 2008, when fire swept through the Springer home, located across the street from the St. Joseph County Courthouse in downtown Centreville, a small town 35 miles south of Kalamazoo.
The 16-year-old died in the fire, unable to free herself from the strap that bound her to her bed.
"She could have looked out her bedroom window at the courtroom that could have saved her life," said a frustrated St. Joseph County Prosecutor John McDonough. "She's a tragic example of how the system can be exploited."
Michigan has one of the most lenient home school laws in the nation, giving tens of thousands of families the freedom to teach their children in the manner they want without government interference. But timid and sporadic enforcement of the law's minimal requirements has been exploited by some unscrupulous parents hiding abuse or educational neglect.
But of course ... With just a little more regulation, twisted freaks like the Springers will stop committing crimes, and once again, the Almighty State will have come to the rescue!
Not so fast.
Safer at Home?
Quite simply, the issue here is abuse, not the method of "schooling." The only way to prevent abuse is for neighbors, friends, relatives and others involved in the lives of children to detect the problem. The Detroit News article suggests that the girl would have been safer in public schools or with more academic oversight. The facts indicate otherwise.
Public schools are not a safe haven. In the 2008 School Violence Fact Sheet, the Centers for Disease Control report that "38% of public schools reported at least one incident of violence to police during 2005-2006." Nearly one-quarter of students were in schools with gang activity, and one-quarter of students were involved in drug transactions, according to the CDC.
Nearly 630,000 violent crimes were committed in public schools in 2005, the CDC reported.
Also, public school attendance is absolutely no guarantee against abuse in the home. The Detroit News article itself states that the abused girl was in public school for years, and that aides noticed many signs of abuse and neglect, but no investigation was launched.
Home schooling gives parents the opportunity to keep their children out of dangerous schools and give them an excellent education. Curtailing this right would threaten these children's safety and ability to succeed. Furthermore, blindly trusting that children are kept safe in public schools can only allow more peer and parental abuse.
To be a so-called "journalist" today, is to be a propaganda organ for the State. Because the truth is ... it's the public school laws, that are putting kids at risk.
Let 'em know what you think here!
