CitizenLink.com- from Focus on the Family posted this article on their
webpage about a home schooling mother who was forced to put her daughter into public school. Why you ask? Well they found that the daughter "showed her mothers rigidity on questions of faith." There was no other real legal reasoning behind the decision given by the N.H. Supreme Court judge. The mothers legal team is appealing to have the judge reverse the decision based on the fact that the court in N.H. openly supports Home Schooling. This all came upon by the "unbiased" liaison who was establishing a "neutral" parenting plan for the child through the divorce court. There was no real statement by the court leading that the father was wishing for this action to take place. It was the decision of the court.
Should the court be able to have this kind of power, even with out a real legal reason? Why? What do you think should happen? Does a mother have the right to instill religious beliefs in her children if she is the main legal guardian in a divorce situation? What happens if a Mother is Wiccan or Buddist? Would you still support it if the mother was an alternative religion and the father was a Christian fighting for his child not to have to be "brain washed" into the main parents religion?
Comments (48)
In california it's illegal to homeschool.
@Justin_DeBin@xanga - Really ? wow.
idk why people are home schooled anyways, It's dumb to me.
@laurasaurusrex@xanga - Why are kids who don't want to be there and their parents don't want to send them, and they don't care about grades just figure they'll disrupt class forced to go to public school? That's dumb to me?
I say homeschool the whole lot, they learn the same amount either way but annoy fewer people.
@Justin_DeBin@xanga - i'm sorry but it's not illegal to homeschool in CA you just have to follow the rules for their state like every other state has set up.Some states are easier to homeschool some or harder.http://www.hslda.org/laws/analysis/California.pdf
LOL homeschooling IS NOT illegal in California
http://www.californiahomeschool.net/howTo/updates.htm
@Justin_DeBin@xanga - @laurasaurusrex@xanga -
You do realize that you're article actually backs me up, right?
@hsmommax4@xanga - And they made those rules to be that you actually have to be a teacher to do it. Makes lots of sense NOT!
Face it California is Texas with a "D" next to it's name.
@Justin_DeBin@xanga - hey was just pointing out it's not illegal.I swear some of these posts become so angry
@hsmommax4@xanga - No anger here. Are you angry?
I'm not a big fan of homeschooling, but that isn't the issue here.
A child can show "her mothers rigidity on questions of faith". I don't exactly see why that is a problem. That can happen with or without homeschooling, regardless of faith. Without knowing more about the "rigidity", I'm not so sure it was "brainwashing". From the info given, I think the court overstepped its boundaries. A parent can instill religious beliefs into their children, and homeschooling should be an option. When you combine the two, you can get some pretty narrowed minded parenting, but its the parent's job to do the parenting, and beliefs are their own business. I don't think people realize how many kids are "brainwashed" by parents into secular thought either, and even more so if homeschooled.
@Justin_DeBin@xanga - nah not at all to each their own.We do homeschool(i'm sure big surprise) but no biggie how you choose to school your children should be YOUR desision not the governments.
I was homeschooled most of my life (public school through 3rd grade) and I am doing great in college. The government should not have this kind of power that they can step into people's homes like that and order them to go to public school.
Absolutely unconstitutional and totally against all legal precedent.
"The State's interest in universal education is not totally free from a balancing process when it impinges on other fundamental rights, such as those specifically protected by the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment and the traditional interest of parents with respect to the religious upbringing of their children." -- U. S. Supreme Court, Wisconsin v. Yoder, 1972
At least now we have something to point to when people say there's no religious persecution in this country. 'Cause that's what this is, no matter what the mother believes.
Who ever came up with the idea that the responsibility to raise children fell on anyone but the parents? All other education is secondary to what they learn from those who gave them life. The assumption in this culture that children must go to some government school to learn things is...well...quite ridiculous.
NO. It was an unconstitutional ruling and should be overturned. That is religious discrimination, pure and simple. Nothing more than the radical agenda of the far left in America, who have taken over our school system, showing their intolerance. I hope this gets reported in the news fairly. (lol!)
support it if the mother was an alternative religion and the father was
a Christian fighting for his child not to have to be "brain washed"
into the main parents religion?
Good question. I wonder how many of us would have second thoughts if we find out that the mother has been teaching something else besides Christianity. But anyway, in response to the main question, I think the court was definitely nosing in where they shouldn't.
It's totally unconstitutional and a symptom of our increasingly state-controlled nation.
Excempting cases where a child is being physically/mentally abused by a parent, I don't think that a democratic-republic (such as America claims to be) should involve itself in family matters.
The Christian parent should, hopefully, be taking the words of The Shema (Deut 6:4-9) to heart; it tells us to, at all times, diligently teach our children of God's ways. Having received this command from God himself, I don't think the Christian parent has a choice; whether home schooling, or when the child gets home from public school-- the parent is to be active in instilling Gods Word.
The the Christian family model typically assumes the Lords command that the parents do not divorce, sometimes a person converts later, or situations arise that cannot be controlled (perhaps the other party decides to leave), etc.
Usually a court awards split custody over the child- so when you have the child.... teach the child in every way you can about God. I think a child should go with the parent to do service in the community so it can learn what it means to serve.
From all the things that are on the news... and not on the news.... I'm not surprised that this is happening. Regardless of current events, the Christian follows Gods word until victory in death is achieved. So my reaction is "so what?"-- I'd still be teaching my child about God.
@Pass_the_Aura@xanga - Awesome job; you're 100% right.
Child courts are about what's best for the child, not necessarily about following the letter of the law. If the child is only being indoctrinated and arguably brainwashed, s/he isn't getting a real education. However, just showing rigidity of faith I don't think counts as brainwashing.
If the child was getting an education, there's no reason to put him/her in public school. But if s/he wasn't getting an education and was just having religion forced down his/her throat, then the courts should have done something about it.
If all she's doing is teaching her child religion, then it's not brainwashing. It's just keeping the child retarded. She needs to learn things (math, science - not even necessarily evolution; there are other parts of science she should know, modern english grammar, history, etc) besides Jeeezus.
@Pass_the_Aura@xanga - I can agree with you to a certain extent. If the child is homeschooled and actually getting an education - math, science, english - that a public school student is getting, then I don't care how religious the education is. However, if ALL the child is learning about is the beliefs of the parents, and they are ignoring the other basics of education, then I can see the child being forced to go to public school. Family courts are about what's best for the child, not necessarily following the letter of the law.
I don't know if that's the case with the child in question. If s/he was recieving a good education that had religion innermixed in it, then this is definitely unconstitutional. But if s/he was only getting religion and no education, then it's best for the child to be in public school. But again, I don't know about this specific case.
@Justin_DeBin@xanga - I'm in CA, and I was homeschooled. So no, it's not illegal to homeschool in CA. There was a little court battle, but the court retracted it's decision.
The court ruling was entirely unconstitutional. Forcing the will of the court onto the situation because the mother is Christian is religious discrimination.
And in answer to the question of would I feel differently if the mother was a Wiccan or Buddhist or some other religion: Why should it change my opinion? If it's truly unconstitutional and religiously discriminate to require a child to attend public school because they were being taught Christian principles at home, why should that differ with any other religion? While I am not agreeing that the child would be receiving correct instruction, do we have a right to dictate what they learn only because we don’t agree with what they’re learning? That’s exactly what the judge did in this case.
The raising of a child should be left to the parents; thatis how it was meant to be. They’re the only ones with any true authority in the situation.
Though I must say, I had to laugh at the idea that Christians are brainwashing their children through homeschooling. If you look at history, the founders of public education came up with the program as a way to get their ideas into the culture. They figured if they started with the young, they could teach them their ideas and policies and bring them up believing the state had the only correct way of doing things. Then, when the children reached adulthood, there would be a whole generation of citizens who were ready and willing
to follow whatever the state decreed. If you want to maintain that
Christian homeschooling does brainwash the children because it teaches
them to think for themselves and not blindly follow the state, then,
yes, I agree, and I support it wholeheartedly.
The issue here is not with the court ... the issue here is that two unequally yoked people got a divorce in 1999 and could not agree on how their child should be educated, "Although Voydatch has primary custody over Amanda, both parents AGREED TO A PARENTING PLAN that included joint decision-making responsibility." When they could not agree, the court had to make a ruling ... end of story. This is a divorce and child custody decision ... to turn it into a clarion call to the homeschooling troops is a bit out of line and extremely deceptive on Focus on the Family's part.
I strongly believe in homeschooling ... in fact, public education, on the whole, is and has been an extremely damaging force upon our children, our families, our faith, our society and our nation. Homeschooling is our attempt to restore what has taken a beating.
I encourage folks to news google this story and read 'all of the story' not simply what the political activists at Focus on the Family want you to and then decide for yourself what this is all about.