Homeschoolers and child abuse

by Andrea Hermitt | More from this Blogger

02 Apr 2007 01:33 PM

I just read a heartbreaking story from a young woman who felt homeshooling should be outlawed. You see, she was abused throughout her entire childhood by parents who hid their actions under the guise of homeschooling. What her parents did to her was awful and incomprehensible, but to make homeschooling illegal because of one case, would do a disservice to the many homeschooled children who are reaping great benefits.

Abusive parents are abusive parents. Whether they are going to put their children in public school, private school, or homeschool them, they are first, and foremost, child abusers. Whether or not they homeschool will not change this fact. There is a greater chance of teachers catching and reporting abuse of public schooled kids, but many children still slip through the cracks.

In the past two years, I have heard of three local children who died due to suspected abuse. One child was beat regularly because of his 'bad behavior'. He died after being locked in a trunk. Another child was beaten, tied up, and left in the garage over the Christmas holidays, where she died. Both of these children went to school. School did not save them from their horrible fates. The third child was from a homeschooling family. This child was a toddler and fell, hit his head and died. The older child who was homeschooled was taken from his parents for an extended length of time while the family was investigated. Eventually, the child was returned, and homeschooling resumed. There was no apparent reason to withhold the child from his parents or deny them the right to homeschool.

While the young woman who told her sad story should definitely work to prevent what happened from her to ever happen to another child, but she should not be working to make homeschooling illegal, as is her wish. Somehow, people who have been abused have the inability to separate the abuse from the homeschooling label that was used to mask the abuse. Such grouping of labels is akin to calling all Catholic Priests child molesters. Neither label should be placed without careful examination.

Read: Misinformation About Homeschooling: Don't Believe the Lies

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Learn more about Andrea Hermitt

Andrea Hermitt is a native New Yorker currently residing in GA. She has been married for over 16 years and has two teenage children.

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Valorie Delp (49340) 02 Apr 2007 05:53 PM

I personally think that a family's pediatrician can play an crucial role in protecting the homeschooling family. When my son got his stitches this summer (our first ever trip to the ER I might add) the fact that the kids were homeschooled was brought up. An inexperienced resident was concerned and they placed a call to our pediatrician who confirmed that our children are indeed well cared for. (In fact she told the resident that she was surprised it had taken Alex this long to make a trip the the ER!) You are absolutely right--children slip through the cracks and child abusers are child abusers.