Child services needs a bit of home-schooling |
| Tuesday, May 17, 2011 - 02:57:31 PM By Brian Lilley ,QMI Agency (Toronto Sun) |
What do you get when you combine a police state with a nanny state? I wish this were a joke, but it’s not. It’s the reality of a Quebec family forced by a court to send their kids to school and daycare after an anonymous snitch complained to authorities. This family from Quebec’s Eastern Townships simply wanted to teach their children at home, something that is allowed in the province. They have not been charged with neglecting their four children, they are not facing any accusations that their kids are not well looked after. So why is a judge ordering them to school, and why does the government have any say at all? “The government is willing to go to whatever means to force their ways on my family,” the father told Sun Media’s Kris Sims in an exclusive interview. The father has requested that we not identify the family, pointing out they live in a small town and don’t want to be any more stigmatized than they already are. In November 2009, the parents, who had been teaching their children at home, received a summons to court. The court heard an urgent motion that saw their two eldest children ordered into the public school system. This past March their youngest two, aged three and five, were ordered into daycare for “socialization.” The parents sent us photos of the classroom they had set up in their home and it looked absolutely idyllic. A couple of desks by the window, shelves lined with books. Now those desks sit empty while the children head to the local school. The father says his children are not flourishing under their new, court-imposed conditions. “They had her in a ‘special’ class, and she got laughed at and picked on by other children,” the father said of his eldest daughter. And his son? “He is calling home to his mom, saying he doesn’t like being at school.” That a court judge heard this case and didn’t simply tell child services to mind their own business is outrageous. That the courts not only ordered school-aged children into a specific system, but also ordered children younger than school age into daycare is doubly outrageous. Parents are the first and primary educators of their children. Most of us choose to hand over the day-to-day direction of that education to teachers at the local school, but parents still have, or should have, plenty of sway. If parents choose not to use the public school system, they can choose private school, or opt to homeschool. It is no business of the government. Short of abuse they should just butt out. Can you imagine what will happen if this ruling is allowed to stand? Mothers who choose to stay home with their children until they head to school may have that option yanked away from them. There is also the question of where does it stop? Will parents who don’t choose the appropriate extra-curricular activities be forced to enroll their kids in piano lessons? This ruling is being appealed by the family and supported by the Home School Legal Defence Association. Whether you homeschool or not, you should support this family and their appeal with as many dollars as you can, otherwise you might be next. Courtesy of and copyright Toronto Sun http://www.torontosun.com/2011/05/12/lilley-child-services-needs-a-bit-of-homeschooling |
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