Critical Conversations: Are Children Safer in Public Schooling, Private Schooling, or Homeschooling? Where are the children most safe?
I belong to the Coalition for Responsible Education. This morning they emailed out this letter from Angela Grimberg.
Dear CRHE supporter,ย
I am writing to kick off the new year with some exciting news! Over the weekend, CRHEโs senior research analyst, Gabi Stewart, spoke on a panel at the International School Choice and Reform Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The panel was titled โCritical Conversations: Are Children Safer in Public Schooling, Private Schooling, or Homeschooling?โ.
Stewart was personally invited to join the panel along with CRHE research department director Chelsea McCracken, who was unable to attend. Together, they published a rebuttal to a recent article that declared child abuse and neglect in homeschooled settings a non-issue.
In an opening statement, Stewart said โwe do not subordinate urgent policy questions of how to protect children against abuse when it does occurto the question of whether it occurs more in one sector.โ Stewart did an outstanding job expressing to panelists and members of the audience CRHEโs mission and values. Further, โwe focus on closing the demonstrable loopholes in the policy landscape that rob homeschooled children of the same protections from abuse and neglect that protect other children.โ
CRHE was founded in 2013 to address a problem: the use of homeschooling to isolate or abuse children. While there are homeschooled children who experience a positive, child-centered learning environment at home, this is not always the case. Some parents take advantage ofstatesโ minimal homeschooling laws to isolate or abuse children.ย
In our Homeschoolingโs Invisible Children database, we have collected nearly 600 cases of child abuse and neglect in homeschool settings. Collecting this data is vital to strengthen the case for our policy recommendations:
Parents who have committed offenses that would disqualify them from teaching in a school should not be allowed to homeschool.
Students should be assessed annually by mandatory reporters of child abuse.
Parents should be required to register annually their intent to homeschool, ensuring their children donโt disappear from any support system.
At-risk children should be flagged for additional protections and support
You have stood with us through thick and thin as we build into a sustainable organization that will help homeschooled children for years to come. I look forward to sharing with you our continued success and accomplishments throughout the year.
Of course, we could not do any of this without your help. Please, consider supporting our work on behalf of homeschooled children today!
Sincerely,
Angela Grimberg
Executive Director
Coalition for Responsible Home Education