So, this first topic is less bio and more broadly ethical
than I typically plan to cover on this site.
I hope you will indulge me however, as the topic is near and dear to my
heart: homeschooling. Being a former
homeschooler in my family we say, “we were homeschoolers when home schooling
wasn’t cool.” These were the days of
keeping organized boxes with every math test, paper, spelling quiz, drawing,
and worksheet you had ever completed along with an action plan for if the fine
gents in blue came knocking on our door.
During this era we were very familiar with Home School Legal Defense
(HSLDA) and paid close attention to each case that came through. So, when I recently heard about the Romeike
family the old antenna went up.
The Romeike’s are a German family, in 2006 they decided to
pull their children from the public schools for religious reasons (they are
Evangelical Christians). Homeschooling
is illegal in Germany, the law banning it first being strongly enforced by
Hitler and the Nazi Party. The stated
reasoning for this law is a fear of “Parallel Societies.” Defined as: “A community
in which members of different backgrounds lack a shared sense of group identity
and thus live separately, side by side.” Found on - http://civicdilemmas.facinghistory.org/content/glossary
This to me sounds much like the copout
used here of, “your children will not be properly ‘socialized.’” In 2008, the Romeike family sought asylum in
the US to be free to homeschool their children.
When homeschooling in Germany they had been: fined, their children
forcibly taken to the public schools, and the parents threatened with jail time
and loss of custody of their 6 children.
In 2010, they were granted asylum…so, we are done right, and they lived
happily ever after? Not quite.
The case has now been taken up by the US federal government
in Romeike v. Holder and the government is arguing for deportation of Mr. and
Mrs. Romeike and their children. The
stance of the government is that homeschooling is not a basic human right and
that if Germany outlaws homeschooling for everyone then it is in essence “fair.”
Therefore, in the opinion of the US government this family is not being persecuted. I find this defense worrisome.
The government is saying that it is not a violation of
religious freedom or human rights to forcibly remove a child from his/her
parents and force him/her into public schools for 22-26hrs per week. The argument made was that the parents would
be free to “teach” them during the remainder of the time. If this argument is being made by our
government about Germany’s restrictive education laws how long will they
willingly let homeschooling stand here in the US? Will we soon be back to boxes and action
plans?
I do not know this family personally, but believe very
strongly that denying them the right to homeschool is a violation of their
religious freedom as well as their human rights. Who has a more vested interest in a child’s
success and proper upbringing: the parents, the government, or the
teacher? Certainly, the parents,
biologically and emotionally a parent desires to see their child succeed.
My hope for this family is that Home School Legal Defense
will win the case and they will be granted asylum, setting a precedent for
other families under similar persecution around the world. It seems to me an open and shut case, the
family feels the education their children would receive in the public school is
a violation of their religious beliefs, and therefore they cannot send their
children to school. If sent back to
Germany the parents would be taken to jail and the children turned over to the
state. What is our asylum law worth if
it doesn’t prevent loving families from being separated for expressing an act of
conscience?
The US federal government has taken a scary stand on this
issue and I believe we are not only fighting for the Romeike family but setting
an important precedent for US homeschoolers as well. My family was very blessed to see
homeschooling blossom during the decade we were part of the active community
and I will continue to sound the alarm for those who come after us as the right
to homeschool has made me the woman I am today.
I am eternally grateful for this right (as well as the fact that my
parents took advantage of it) and I will continue to fight to keep it.
If you would like to read more about the Romeike family here
are the articles I used for the information in this post:
I particularly recommend Home School Legal Defense (HSLDA). Also, if you would like to donate to Home
School Legal Defense for this case please click http://fundly.com/mercuryoneeducation,
Mercury One is hosting a campaign where 100% of the funds it raises through
this link will go to Home School Legal Defense for this case and others to
protect the rights of homeschooling families.
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