Home-Schooling and Child Abuse

Posted on | March 24, 2008 | 8 Comments

I’ve never been a big fan of home-schooling – too many parents playing out their own neuroses and past social and psychological histories on their kids for my liking (although I guess that could define a significant chunk of parenthood generally). But one thing that home-schooling parents have in their favour is that they are, at least, making a decision about the education of their children and not merely leaving it to the default position offered to them by the state or by the schools ‘market’. As such, they are thinking, whether logically, ideologically or wholly irrationally, about the benefits and disadvantages of any one kind of education over any other.

Stephen Downes recently stepped into the debate [original comment - follow-up video - further comment] by stating that: “…it is a form of child abuse to subject children to an education at the hands of a person who is manifestly unable to provide it.”

Despite the criticism that Stephen received from some American home-schoolers, his basic statement is difficult to disagree with. If you don’t like, for whatever reason, the kind of education your child is likely to receive in the local state primary or secondary school, but you then choose to place your child in the hands of someone who is incapable of providing a good education (and that person may well be yourself), it is hard not to see that as a form of abuse.

What, then, to make of the travesty of education to which the poor – home-schooled! – kids in the video below are subjected?

As PZ Myers, Associate Professor of Biology at Minnesota, Morris, writes in his blog, Pharyngula:

“Aside from the general pattern of lies from the tour guides, two things jumped out at me………The really awful pedagogy. Over and over again, the creationist says some stock phrase and then pauses, waiting for his kids to fill in the missing word. This is simply demanding rote learning. Similarly, he leads the kids in asking a good question â€” “how do you know?” â€” while training them to ignore any answers. Right there on the wall is a description of radiometric dating methods, for instance, and they turn their back on it.

Then there is the twisted logic. T. rex has big sharp teeth; they know, though, that he was a vegetarian, because “if this creature was designed to eat meat from the very start, what would he have to do until Adam and Eve sinned, and death entered the world? What would he have to do? Fast and pray for the Fall.” Oh, and of course, he then says, “Is that likely? Everyone look at me and say… no. Try that with me…no.”

This is child abuse. Those kids are getting their heads stuffed with ignorance.”

So, in 8 minutes of video, a perfect example of what Stephen was writing about.

Technorati Tags: pharyngula , pz myers, creationism, home-schooling, abuse, stephen downes

Category: belief, children, counterknowledge, education, enlightenment, knowledge, pedagogy, religion, science, teaching

Comments

8 Responses to “Home-Schooling and Child Abuse”

Cath Riddoch
March 24th, 2008 @ 9:21 pm

So its only parents who “play out their own neuroses”? What about teachers don’t we do that too? I think there are some people who just shouldn’t educate children. Some of them are parents home- schooling their kids and some of them are teachers educating many peoples children. Which is worse? I would suggest more harm is done by ignorant teachers in state schools than by ignorant parents home schooling.
joe wilson
March 25th, 2008 @ 12:59 am

I was going to disagree with your earlier posting on teaching being a political act – but in face of this and on the other live topic on genetics. I can guess at the kind of essays that will be being encouraged in some Scottish Schools this term.

But I don’t think that this type of home schooling is a phenomena in Scotland – I encountered a few homeschoolers over the years they used the College I worked in as a presentation centre for SQA awards – generally they were an eccentric free thinking bunch who achieved great results. They may have been an unrepresentative sample as these were homeschoolers coming forward for public examinations but they appeared much more in the Summerhill tradition.
Dana
March 25th, 2008 @ 3:19 am

Teaching creation is abuse? You are either purposefully inflammatory, have no idea what abuse is and what it does to children, or are yourself heading down and ideologically dangerous path…the one that removes children from their homes not for their safety, but for their minds. Like Lenin and Pol Pot who also could not tolerate religious belief, nor ideas contrary to the state’s dictated thinking.

It is of little interest to me what you think of the theory of creation itself, nor of those with more literal views of their religion, but to accuse them all of child abuse merely because of a differing idea is a truly frightening stance.
Ruby
March 25th, 2008 @ 9:25 pm

Interesting stuff! “choose to place your child in the hands of someone who is incapable of providing a good education (and that person may well be yourself), it is hard not to see that as a form of abuse.” – yes, could apply to quite a few teachers I have come in contact with! It’s hard to see that the video clip is an argument against home schooling, though. I have to say that I admire the parents who take an active step in being involved in their children’s education, more so than the thousands of parents who take the attitude “I can’t do anything with them so the teachers better sort them out”.
A bit unfair to assume that anyone home-schooling is doing so because they have a particular religious agenda? Anyway, isn’t it a good thing to raise critical questions about science?
John Connell
March 25th, 2008 @ 9:32 pm

I think those who read my post as a criticism of home-schooling should read it again. I do say I’m not a big fan of the idea – hardly a biting critique! – but I also make the positive statement that parents who decide to home-school are: “…making a decision about the education of their children and not merely leaving it to the default position offered to them by the state or by the schools “market”. As such, they are thinking, whether logically, ideologically or wholly irrationally, about the benefits and disadvantages of any one kind of education over any other.”

For me, that puts most home-schooling parents ahead of the majority who simply go with the flow and send their kids to the local school, at least in terms of their willingness to think through the options.

My gripe is with those who fall for the irrationality of Creationism, and therefore of those who choose to inculcate their children in their own irrationality. Dana, evidently, is quite unaware of the irony in her statement about Lenin and Pol Pot.

As for ‘raising critical questions about science’ – that is the very nature of science itself.

I also happen to agree with both Cath and Ruby that many teachers are themselves full of neuroses – to do otherwise would be foolish – but then, such is life, and I would prefer (and did prefer) my children to experience something of the reality of life amongst the human horde, given that they are, like me, a member of that horde and, like me, will have to live amongst them anyway.
tom
March 29th, 2008 @ 7:00 pm

John, I wish your remarks in the comment section had made it into the main post, because otherwise you do sound like you’re making some negative generalizations about homeschooling. Stephen’s quote, “…it is a form of child abuse to subject children to an education at the hands of a person who is manifestly unable to provide it,” was exactly our thinking when we chose to homeschool our children. My wife and I are both professional educators (and I am a frequent re-reader of Ivan Illich). So although some of our reasons were based on our faith, as well as having a time of frequent moves as a family, we were also very concerned with the poor pedagogy and teacher preparedness in the schools our children were attending (one teacher couldn’t write a coherent, correctly spelled note to us). We don’t agree with the people in the video, but it was very easy to sidestep that kind of approach and choose among some excellent alternatives in homeschooling materials. In the US people from extremely diverse beliefs and political views are moving into homeschooling, with arguments that fairly agree with Stephen Downes. You can’t really make blanket statements about 1 million students and their families other than to say a lot of people think that 19th century factory model schools are in their own way abusive.
Ken
April 14th, 2009 @ 8:09 pm

I followed a few of the comments on here, especially I agreed with the ‘it is a form of child abuse to subject children to an education at the hands of a person who is manifestly unable to provide it.’ Of course, this is a self-contradictory statement. The word should have been ‘non-education’, because if someone cannot provide it, then nothing is learned… I have found very many children with whom I have associated educationally, who learn what turns them on, really make progress. Come on, when you had to learn some rubbish that an equivalent to a National Curriculum dictated – didn’t you reject at the earliest opportunity – I did? Home education (NOT home schooling, notice…) was investigated by Paula Rothermel who found on virtually all aspects and in all social classes, kids were some years ahead in special knowledge, socialisation, balanced mental states.. The wok was published in her academic thesis, (look on the web). A teacher I spoke to only a month agao said to my question, “Do you like kids and the job?” answered “What’s that got to do with it – I do it for the money – and wangle things for promotion!” (Exclamation mark mine…) So come on, are you happy with the rotteness of this State and its schooling? Watch out Fascism – it sneaks up when you’re not looking…
Tyler
April 22nd, 2009 @ 2:38 pm

Home schooling children will isolate them from the world and they wouldn’t get a girlfriend or boy friend and its wrong to force religion on kids
they should have the right to choose
just like you.