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Should home-schooling be illegal?

Should home-schooling be illegal?


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jamesrage

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Should home-schooling be illegal? Yes no or maybe/other?







Home-schoolers win asylum in U.S. - Washington Times

A U.S. immigration judge's decision to grant political asylum to a German family with "a well-founded fear of persecution" for home-schooling their children should send a powerful message to the German government to change its stance on home schooling, the family's attorney said Wednesday.

"Home-schoolers are not a threat to German society," said Michael Donnelly, one of the Home School Legal Defense Association's team of lawyers representing Uwe Romeike; his wife, Hannelore; and their five children.

Home schooling in Germany is illegal in most cases, and violators can be fined, jailed and even lose custody of their children. Mr. Donnelly said the German government has decided home-schoolers are "trying to create a parallel society" that must be "stamped out."

The Romeikes home-schooled their children in Germany and received fines totaling $10,000. On one occasion, Mr. Donnelly said, police hauled their children off to school. In 2006, the Romeikes emigrated to Tennessee and continued home schooling their children. Mr. Donnelly said the family applied for political asylum within three months of arriving in the U.S.

Immigration Judge Lawrence O. Burman in Tennessee granted asylum to the Romeikes during a conference-call hearing Tuesday, as is typical in immigration cases. A written ruling is expected to follow, but was not available Wednesday evening.
 
And I always thought Germany was a pretty swell place to live...guess not :shrug:
 
I don't see why not as long as they pass the required exams for their state.
 
I don't see why not as long as they pass the required exams for their state.

Well, I was homeschooled, and passed the required exams for my state.

One issue with homeschooling, I think, is the potential for lack of social skill development because of limited contact with other children/people.

I know it was an issue for me, to some extent. But then, it is perhaps an issue for people who graduate from public school as well, in some cases.

I dunno, I've never been in one.
 
I fully support home schooling. Can't speak for Germany, but I definitely support it in the US.

Plus it seems to save me quite a bit of tax money.
 
James, it saddens me that you'd support this provision of amnesty to illegal aliens. Of course, I can understand how saying guten tag to der volk might be easier than expressing such sentiments to the actual indigenous residents of America. :rofl
 
And I always thought Germany was a pretty swell place to live...guess not :shrug:

I know someone who lived there who says that the place is chalk full of nonsense restrictions such as this.
 
I have a couple of friends my age who homeschooled their children, and several younger friends who currently do. They all have thrived scholastically and were better prepared for college (the ones who have reached that age as of now), than their counterparts in public schools. They also seem to have a very good success rate for staying out of trouble and avoiding teen pregnancy.
 
I am not a fan of home-schooling, but illegal? That's just ridiculous.
 
I know someone who lived there who says that the place is chalk full of nonsense restrictions such as this.

Does this mean you support Sharia law? Obviously if you support these people taking control of their own education then you should have no problem with Muslims controlling their own marriages? No. I'd rather home schooling be made illegal. It is nothing more than double talk for being religiously backwards. This family is nothing new. Their fears of "persecution" is a smokescreen for wanting to teach their kids religious nonsense in the place of actual knowledge. If they want to do that in their churches that is fine but if they live in a secular society like ours their children should go to our schools.
 
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Ludricrious to think that the Germens are going to change their stance just because they lost one citizen.
Their loss is our gain??
I happen to think that the Germans are closer to being right than we are.
Generally home-schooling is NOT the best thing for the children. But it may be for the so-called adults who place their needs in front of their children.
 
Ludricrious to think that the Germens are going to change their stance just because they lost one citizen.
Their loss is our gain??
I happen to think that the Germans are closer to being right than we are.
Generally home-schooling is NOT the best thing for the children. But it may be for the so-called adults who place their needs in front of their children.

Homeschoolers generally do better than public school educated kids, how can you say it is not the best thing for children? IF home schooled gets did lousy when compared to public schooled kids then you might have something to base that comment on.
HSLDA | Homeschooled Students Excel in College

Homeschoolers score higher than 86% of peers

HSLDA | HOMESCHOOLERS SCORE HIGHER ON ACT COLLEGE ENTRANCE EXAM
 
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Does this mean you support Sharia law? Obviously if you support these people taking control of their own education then you should have no problem with Muslims controlling their own marriages? No. I'd rather home schooling be made illegal. It is nothing more than double talk for being religiously backwards. This family is nothing new. Their fears of "persecution" is a smokescreen for wanting to teach their kids religious nonsense in the place of actual knowledge. If they want to do that in their churches that is fine but if they live in a secular society like ours their children should go to our schools.

Although I agree that a large percentage of home-schooling is done for religious reasons, this is NOT always the case. Some folks do it because they do not like the public education system, some do it because it's a way to have more control over what is taught and how. I'm not a fan, but it's not always about religious fundamentalism.
 
Although I agree that a large percentage of home-schooling is done for religious reasons, this is NOT always the case. Some folks do it because they do not like the public education system, some do it because it's a way to have more control over what is taught and how. I'm not a fan, but it's not always about religious fundamentalism.

Though I agree with you, I think in the overwhelming majority of cases - I would even venture to guess somewhere above 95% - it really is about religious fundamentalism. Why is it that very few prominent liberals see merit in home schooling? Because it is simply a smokescreen for the true intentions of most of the people who support it. Our society has worked very hard to remove religious teaching from the collective education of its children and that is the way it should be. I have no problem with catholic schools and private religious schools. But that is only because they are put to the same standards of teaching as everyone else. I can say the same for home schoolers. The fact that our government has allowed this nonsense is a serious problem.
 
Although I agree that a large percentage of home-schooling is done for religious reasons, this is NOT always the case. Some folks do it because they do not like the public education system, some do it because it's a way to have more control over what is taught and how. I'm not a fan, but it's not always about religious fundamentalism.

The people I know who homeschool do so, not because of religion, but because they want to be highly involved in their childrens' education, and they see scholastic failure and social decay in the public school systems. If they like me enough to be friends, they are not likely to be religious fanatics. My irreverence tends to scare the really religious ones away.;)
 
I was homes schooled and now I'm in college with an academic scholarship. Home schooling is a wonderful thing and I strongly support any family that would choose to do so. Home schoolers still have friends, they aren't odd and most of them are very smart. Besides, the public education system is failing and flawed as it is. There is no good reason to outlaw home schooling, many of our founding fathers were home schooled :)
 
The fact that our government has allowed this nonsense is a serious problem.

If it is nonsense then why do homeschooled kids do better than public schooled kids?
 
Though I agree with you, I think in the overwhelming majority of cases - I would even venture to guess somewhere above 95% - it really is about religious fundamentalism.

:confused: Why? My cousins were homeschooled because their local schools sucked. I suspect many people are the same.


Even if you are right - have you read the 1st Amendment? We have freedom of religion in this country, whether you like it or not. To try to stop parents from having control of the kind of education their kids can get just so that you can try to diminish a particular religion you do not like is inherently fascistic.
 
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Though I agree with you, I think in the overwhelming majority of cases - I would even venture to guess somewhere above 95% - it really is about religious fundamentalism. Why is it that very few prominent liberals see merit in home schooling? Because it is simply a smokescreen for the true intentions of most of the people who support it. Our society has worked very hard to remove religious teaching from the collective education of its children and that is the way it should be. I have no problem with catholic schools and private religious schools. But that is only because they are put to the same standards of teaching as everyone else. I can say the same for home schoolers. The fact that our government has allowed this nonsense is a serious problem.

How does homeschooling have different standards than private/public schools? As long as the kids follow legal guidelines for schooling and pass the standardized tests, what difference does it make?
 
Does this mean you support Sharia law? Obviously if you support these people taking control of their own education then you should have no problem with Muslims controlling their own marriages? No. I'd rather home schooling be made illegal. It is nothing more than double talk for being religiously backwards. This family is nothing new. Their fears of "persecution" is a smokescreen for wanting to teach their kids religious nonsense in the place of actual knowledge. If they want to do that in their churches that is fine but if they live in a secular society like ours their children should go to our schools.

And this makes it your business or the government's because...
 
Although I agree that a large percentage of home-schooling is done for religious reasons

I would like to see evidence of this. I have never heard of that assertion.
 
How does homeschooling have different standards than private/public schools? As long as the kids follow legal guidelines for schooling and pass the standardized tests, what difference does it make?

It shouldn't make any difference at all. Plus it's cheaper for me. I wish EVERY child in America could be home schooled. My property tax bill would drop about 99%.
 
Why would it be wrong if a parent chose to home school their child for religious reasons? It is the parents right and everyones constitutional right. Personally my parents home schooled me and my siblings because public education is garbage and they were able to be involved in our lives. When I was in high school (home schooled) I became an atheist (although I am a Christian now). Sure, some parents do home school their kids for religious reasons, but this isn't wrong and they typically receive a better education. Some parents do it because their children have learning disabilities and they learn better through home schooling, others do it to keep kids out of trouble (pulling them out of public school and home schooling them because their kids were drinking/druggies). Still, most do it for educational reasons. Parents get to choose curriculum and statistics seem to point out that home schoolers receive a better education.
 
Why would it be wrong if a parent chose to home school their child for religious reasons?

Home schooling shouldn't be considered schooling them for religious reasons any more than putting them in a private religious school would be. If I were having children nowadays, I would either home school or place them in a religious private school, because the quality of education generally seems to be better, the teachers in private schools have more control of the classroom, and higher demands are placed on the students.
 
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I would like to see evidence of this. I have never heard of that assertion.

I'll take a look at the stats, later. I seem to remember seeing the percentages somewhere. And I've heard this pretty often.
 
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