Home-school has always been an alternative education method, but was met with a great deal of criticism as modern society evolved. The desire, and the necessity, of both parents working in the home, as well as a rise in single motherhood, hasn't made this form of alternative education a viable option for most families.
However, a shift has occurred. Families with all types of work arrangements, family make-ups, and schedules are now seeing the value in home education. According the Census Bureau, national homeschooling rates grew rapidly from 1999 to 2012 but had since remained steady at around 3.3%. However, the global COVID-19 pandemic has sparked new interest in homeschooling and the appeal of alternative school arrangements has suddenly exploded. While COVID was a horrific thing for our world to go through, families were able to gain perspective and realized that the value and preservation of the family is incredibly significant and important. Alongside that, for the first time, parents were able to get a glimpse into the education material their kids were prescribed and did not like what they were seeing. According to the Census Bureau, in Fall 2021 there were 11.1% of families in the US that are home-schooling. That's amazing! This number also represented true homeschooling opposed to families who were simply virtual learning at home.
While the amount of families that are taking a more proactive role in their child's education should be a good thing. There are quite a few who think that this rise in homeschooling is "a risk to society". Elizabeth Bartholet, Wasserstein public interest professor of law and faculty director of the Law School’s Child Advocacy Program, sees risks for children—and society—in homeschooling, and recommends a presumptive ban on the practice. Homeschooling, she says, not only violates children’s right to a “meaningful education” and their right to be protected from potential child abuse, but may keep them from contributing positively to a democratic society.
“We have an essentially unregulated regime in the area of homeschooling,” Bartholet asserts. All 50 states have laws that make education compulsory, and state constitutions ensure a right to education, “but if you look at the legal regime governing homeschooling, there are very few requirements that parents do anything.” Even apparent requirements such as submitting curricula, or providing evidence that teaching and learning are taking place, she says, aren’t necessarily enforced. Only about a dozen states have rules about the level of education needed by parents who home school, she adds. “That means, effectively, that people can home school who’ve never gone to school themselves, who don’t read or write themselves.” In another handful of states, parents are not required to register their children as home schooled; they can simply keep their kids at home.
This practice, Bartholet says, can isolate children. She argues that one benefit of sending children to school at age four or five is that teachers are “mandated reporters,” required to alert authorities to evidence of child abuse or neglect. “Teachers and other school personnel constitute the largest percentage of people who report to Child Protective Services,” she explains, whereas not one of the 50 states requires that homeschooling parents be checked for prior reports of child abuse. Even those convicted of child abuse, she adds, could “still just decide, ‘I’m going to take my kids out of school and keep them at home.’”
While it is easy to point to an unfortunate situation of child enduring abuse or neglect, there is nothing to suggest that homeschooling is the root cause of this abuse. Kids are subject to violence or abuse at home and in school all the time, and teachers- "mandated reporters"- and issues still slip under their noses. There is also the fact that, parents are far more equipped and willing to care for their child better than a school official.
It's incredibly important parents to stay informed and aware of legislation in their state, or even in their district, that impede on your right to educate your child the way YOU want to. You are your child's biggest and greatest advocate, and we can allow these harmful ideologies from society's "top" academics, to shape the way present , or future legislation is carried out, as it pertains to home-schooling. Our kiddos are looking to us for protection as there is no substitute for courage in times like these.
If you would like to read Elizabeth Bartholet's full article in Harvard Magazine, click here.
Also! Head on over and check out my new non-profit, Tradition First Foundation. We are excited to partner, educate, and walk alongside families as they embark on their home school journey.
Ciao!,
K'Dia