To think that having to have a DBS check to home educate is unfair.

[Grimed]

Baroness Garden is intending all homeschool parents to be DBS checked. I don't think this is fair. What makes Homeschool parents more likely to be abusive? Surely regular checks from the local LA should be enough? If the education system is failing so many children perhaps that is what's needs examining not parents. What's next? All pregnant women get DBS checked?

Are regular checks by the L.A. a thing?

If they have concerns or the children have additional needs or a ehcp they do. My children are not regularly checked because there are no concerns.

It’s a brilliant idea. All children have a right to safe guarding, why should be worried about what they may find

I'm not a home Educator but I agree with you. This is far too much.

Wait. So a parent homeschooling only their own child, in their own home, would need to be DBS checked? By that logic, all parents should be DBS checked if they intend to care for their own children.

All a dbs does is show someone hasn’t been caught anyway.

there should be some sort of semi regular check ins for safeguarding purposes for families who don’t access other services but a dbs system seems pointless.

There have been enough cases of home education being a cover for abuse that I think this is worth the intrusion it represents for innocent parents. Home educated children can become invisible and the usual social safeguards that spot abuse can be avoided more easily if children do not go to school. I'm not in the least opposed to home ed, we considered it for one of ours and I know lots of excellent home ed families - but this is one of those situations where a bit of extra scrutiny really might protect vulnerable children, so I think it is justified.

That said, DBS checks only identify people who have previously been caught. Supervision and scrutiny of home ed parents shouldn't stop there. Especially in communities where home ed is for religious reasons - in the US particularly, this has led to some horrendous hidden abuse cases, and it has also happened in the UK.

I'm not worried at all in the same way that if the police took my computer and searched it I would not be worried but that doesn't mean I would want them to do it without a good reason.

I'm not sure that I see the value of a DBS check tbh although I do think that there should be some monitoring in place to ensure that children are getting an education suitable to their needs and abilities

Also who is going to decide what classes as unsuitable to home Ed on the DBS? And surely if someone that means they can’t teach their child flags up then you have to question whether the child should be living with that parent at all.

How can they know if there are concerns if there aren’t ever checks?

Ridiculous. However I do think that home educated children should have access to someone similar to a health visitor to do development checks, measure height, weight every so often, eye tests and safeguarding etc.

If I took my dc to school dirty, no homework done or underfed then school would raise concerns. I think home educated children should have access to this kind of thing too.

What makes Homeschool parents more likely to be abusive?

You're looking at it the wrong way around...it's not that home educators are more likely to be abusive in that sense, its that abusive parents (of many types) use the excuse of "home educating" to keep their children away from people who might spot the abuse.

Nice MNetters believe that all homeschoolers are just like them, genuinely doing the best thing for their child who has often been failed by the school system.

However, in the real world, removing a child to homeschool is too often a way to remove them from a system that is trying to protect them.

I'm not sure DBS is the way forward, but I do think there needs to be some sort of checking.

Also (correct me if I'm wrong) but every case of a home educated child that I have heard of has been a child who was previously in school and known to social services before they were removed so really nothing to do with home ed at all and more ss being to quick to wipe their hands of responsibility.

It's a stupid idea. The state should butt right out of peoples private lives.

Anything that adds a layer of protection to a child is a good idea.

Home education is great. Some really dedicated parents out there. I couldn't have done it. My niece HE her children and is amazing.

But there are also parents who take their children out of school not to HE but because they are abusive and don't want the authorities to know.

Children at risk are (well, should be, let's be honest there have been so many tragic fuck up!) identified at school. Replacing that layer for HE children is important.

I think this is the kind of thing that seems reasonable to the uninvested at the outset but when you think on it longer than a heartbeat it's a clear infringement on family life and marks a new precedent which takes you to odd places.

Indeed. I think you've hit the nail on the head there.

All children should be safeguarded. I agree that the reason for this suggestion is to help those kids who are HE to avoid being brought to the attention of social services by their local school who are required to report if they have safeguarding concerns.

School is sometimes the only place a child is safe. If an abusive parents keeps them at home, there is no one to monitor the child's welfare. I think this is an excellent suggestion.

Yes me too. Lots of people have dbs checks for a wide variety of things, I don't see the big deal. Unless someone has something to hide of course.

Then we need to do DBS checks on everyone who is pregnant and their partners and anyone else in their household over 16. And what then? Will women whose partners stole something from a shop when they were 17 be forced to have abortions.

DBS checks should only be carried out in very limited circumstances. At the moment the system is abused but there are no resources to deal with it.

There is a HUGE difference between a family that is choosing to home educate their child, and a family choosing to not send a child to school in order to become invisible. These children are absolutely not being home educated!

Home educated children are seen by doctors, dentists, other parents, are part of home ed groups. It's a lot of effort on a parent's part to home educate a child. My children are seen in my community every day - shops, cafes, parks, group sessions, sports clubs, local charities etc.

Children that are kept out of school for radicalisation or neglectful reasons are most certainly NOT home educated.

A DBS won't help any of this. What is it being suggested red flags are for DBS checked parents? This worries me.

I have been home educating for seven years now. I have also never been visited by anyone officially. Despite asking for this at the start. We get no help in my area. No resources or support at all apart from within the home Ed community, which is immensely supportive, luckily.