Before the Balls and Badman review nastiness, I have had some interesting discussions with Home Schoolers in the UK. To a man, all of them bristle when they are referred to as ‘Home Schoolers’. At any other time, I would simply take note of it as one of the many beautiful differences between people, and go on to discuss something else.

Sadly, we live in a world where there is a concerted and international governmental effort underway to totally eradicate Home Schooling in all its myriad forms.

Under such circumstances, it is plainly the height of total insanity, shooting yourself in the foot and foolishness, that parents who Home School should split themselves into non cooperating factions in the face of this powerful, single minded and organized enemy.

I had a tweet from a Home Educator saying sarcastically that, “apparently all homeschoolers should register, so we are OK since we are Home Educators not Home Schoolers!”. Then came some snide comments about Britain not being a part of America. Then followed another tweet from a different person saying that they would not sign a petition whose aim is to safeguard the rights of parents because the petition has the phrase ‘Home Schooling’ in it.

Oh dear me.

Regular readers of BLOGDIAL know that the age of writing and signing petitions an demonstrating as a tactic to get what you want is over, that they do not work and that doing them is nothing more than a time wasting feel good activity, but that is not the point here. The point is that over the phrase ‘Home Schooling’, some parents are not willing to join with others to fight people who are trying to kidnap and brainwash their children.

That is INSANITY.

The facts of the matter are these.

Whatever you might call yourself, all parents have one thing in common; they are parents, and they have the best interests of their children at heart, and they all have the absolute right to bring up their children as they see fit, without interference from the state.

This is the thing that binds all parents, and which binds all Home Schoolers, Home Educators, unschoolers, autonomous learners, structured learners, or whatever term happens to be en vogue at the moment.

Let me tell you something; the people who are trying to destroy your way of life do not care a damn what you call yourself. As far as they are concerned, you are ALL trash and your children are CANNON FODDER and you are ALL GOING TO BE MADE TO CONFORM.

The fact that you squabble over terminology to such an extent that you will refuse to help each other demonstrates to them that you really are a totally clueless bunch that have no right to be in charge of an empty carton of milk much less your own children. They laugh at you as you bicker like morons over this, all the while, rolling out their plans to take your children from you if you do not implement their brainwashing programmes and testing regimes IN YOUR OWN HOUSE.

There are lots of things that I do not agree with. I keep them STRICTLY private, and only share them with my inner circle. Whilst we are in the battle of our lives, I strongly suggest that if you want to HELP destroy the Badman and Balls agenda, that you keep irrelevant distinctions out of the discussion, and join with other parents who are fighting for the true goal of this battle, the rights of all parents.

You have the right to say whatever you want, join with whomever you want, not join with people that you disagree with and express yourself in any way you see fit. What you CANNOT claim however, is that it helps to factionalize people when we are all fighting against a common enemy.

And speaking of americans, we have this from the Home School Legal Defense Association:

UN Treaty Jeopardizes Homeschool Freedom in Britain

June 16, 2009

Ever since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly and opened to nations across the world for ratification in 1989, HSLDA has been deeply concerned about the implications of this treaty for U.S. homeschoolers, if the U.S. were to ratify the treaty.

We have consistently warned that this treaty could be the vehicle opponents of home education could use to effectively ban or severely regulate homeschooling. On February 16, 1995, when Secretary of State Madeline Albright signed the UNCRC, the United States took a major step along the path to ratification which would make the UNCRC, as stated in Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, the supreme law of the land.

For the UNCRC to be ratified it must gain a two-thirds vote in the U.S. Senate. If this happens then the UNCRC will automatically supersede all state laws and U.S. judges will be obligated to follow the provisions of the treaty. Currently, family and education laws are state-based; however, ratification of the UNCRC would transfer the jurisdiction for making family and education law to the U.S. Congress. Congress would, in turn, be obligated to follow the UN mandates contained in the CRC.

While HSLDA has been sounding the alarm about this treaty for years, proponents of the UNCRC maintain that our concerns are invalid.

One such claim relating to homeschooling is from the Children’s Rights Campaign website, a group of 300 organizations arguing that we have nothing to fear from the UNCRC.

They say: “There is no language in the CRC that dictates the manner in which parents are to raise and instruct their children. Ratification of the Convention would not prevent parents from homeschooling their children.”

Sadly, HSLDA’s position has been proven to be correct. Contrary to what proponents like the Children’s Rights Campaign claim, UNCRC will be used to significantly restrict the freedom to homeschool in England.

On June 11, 2009 a report on home education in England by Graham Badman, a former Managing Director of Children, Families and Education in the County of Kent, was accepted in full by the British Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families. The report makes the case that homeschooling should be extensively regulated in England.

Aside from registering with the state and mandating reports by homeschoolers, the Badman report makes references to balancing the rights of parents with the rights of children. This idea is expressed in the UNCRC.

As Mr. Badman says:

I am not persuaded that under the current regulatory regime that there is a correct balance between the rights of parents and the rights of the child either to an appropriate education or to be safe from harm.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) gives children and young people over forty substantive rights which include the right to express their views freely, the right to be heard in any legal or administrative matters that affect them and the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas. Article 12 makes clear the responsibility of signatories to give children a voice:

“Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.”

Yet under the current legislation and guidance, local authorities have no right of access to the child to determine or ascertain such views.

Mr. Badman has a solution for the lack of access of the state to homeschooled children in order to fulfill this provision of the UNCRC.

He proposed the following:

That designated local authority officers should:
• have the right of access to the home
• have the right to speak with each child alone

And:

That a requirement is placed upon local authorities to secure the monitoring of the effectiveness of elective home education.

Mr. Badman’s rationale for placing the state in charge of determining the effectiveness of a home education (i.e. deciding which curriculum is used) is based on Article 29 of the UNCRC. He asserts:

Such is the demand and complexity of 21st Century society and employment that further thought should be given to what constitutes an appropriate curriculum within the context of elective home education. Such a curriculum must be sufficiently broad and balanced and relevant to enable young people to make suitable choices about their life and likely future employment. Article 29 of the UNCRC states that:

1. States Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to:

1. The development of the child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential;
2. The development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and for the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations;
3. The development of respect for the child’s parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values, for the national values of the country in which the child is living, the country from which he or she may originate, and for civilizations different from his or her own;
4. The preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin;
5. The development of respect for the natural environment.

In short, the Badman report recommends that the state should have the authority to choose the curriculum for homeschoolers and he used Britain’s treaty obligations under the UNCRC to justify this intrusion.

Remember, the Badman report has already been accepted by the British government. It is now only a question of time before the legislation is introduced and a vote occurs in the British Parliament. Not surprisingly, the estimated 80,000 British homeschooling families are outraged at the Badman report.
The Badman report is a stark reminder of how government officials in an English-speaking democracy have interpreted the UNCRC. It’s clear that the right to homeschool in America will be negatively impacted if the U.S. Senate ever ratifies the UNCRC.

Ultimately, the answer to completely defeating the UNCRC is to amend the U.S. Constitution. This is the purpose of the Parental Rights Amendment being advanced by HSLDA and ParentalRights.org. The PRA would uphold the current U.S. legal framework which only allows the state to intervene where there is credible evidence of abuse or neglect. Otherwise parents are free to raise their children, which includes the right to home educate. Amending the Constitution will permanently protect the right of parents and homeschoolers. It’s a right we cannot surrender to any U.S. government present or future and certainly a right we must not surrender to the United Nations.

[…]

http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/200906161.asp

I am very grateful that there are people in other countries that are paying close attention to the problems that parents are facing in the UK. Especially a country where there are about THIRTY to FORTY times as many Home Schoolers as there are in the UK. I am willing to discuss with them, join with them and coordinate with them to protect my rights. I don’t care what they choose to call themselves. In the same way that I am willing to deal with any Home Educator on this matter, I will deal with the HSDLA if it serves the greater purpose of protecting my rights.

Come to think of it, I cannot think of a single Home Schooler that I know, to whom I have asked, “How do you Home Educate your children?”. It would never occur to me to ask that question; it is none of my business. I am able to communicate with other Home Schoolers, laugh with them, get incandescent with rage with them, down some beers with them, let my children play with theirs and just be a human being.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 18th, 2009 at 11:21 am and is filed under Home Schooling.