Can you imagine the public outcry and indignation if an elected official called for mandatory home visits and regularly scheduled conferences with a social worker for all children of say, never-married mothers? After all, the politician could point to a handful of highly publicized tragedies and claim that justifies the gross intrusion of privacy for millions of families. Are our politicians afraid of the baby mama lobby?
If women insist on raising children outside of wedlock, they should be proud to show everyone how good a job they are doing, right? If they can’t, or won’t, perhaps their children really need to be rescued, and the mom sent to jail for neglect and/or abuse- shouldn't they?
Do you think any respectable newspaper would publish an op-ed piece calling for the implementation of the above policy?
Why, then, is it okay for school board member Peggy Boyce of Saugatuck, MI to
call for government intrusion into families' lives for no other reason than their decision to homeschool their children?
If we would (rightly) be outraged by a politician considering all unwed moms to be guilty of child abuse and/or neglect until proven innocent, why aren't we outraged when it happens to homeschoolers?
By all means, child welfare authorities ought to investigate cases of suspected child abuse and neglect. But there needs to be some legitimate grounds for suspicion, not just the simple act of homeschooling. One cannot just go about calling for the government to invade the privacy of millions of American homes and to subject millions of U.S. children to interrogations by social workers without one heckuva good reason.
And the fact that Ms. Boyce in her not unbiased opinion considers homeschooling to be a "farce" simply isn't good enough.
