To think Home Education should be made illegal

[Viviennemary]

I would like to see a ban on HE except perhaps in a very very few cases and with good reason and under strict supervision.

Yes. Make their failure the parents responsibility, not the states.

I don't think it should be banned. Perhaps more checks and more support for home educators. Schools sometimes just don't suit children and children thrive in a home environment.

What about a schooled child who doesn't achieve 5 GCSE passes or more because their parent doesn't make them attend school?

230 on the course, 6 were home schooled.

Well I don't despise it so you'll have to take my word for it.

Or if you want to troll hunt then by all means report me.

I very much don't. I can't stand conspiracy theories. Not anti vaxx either, sorry to disappoint.

I'm just not really sure what you're asking of me or why you're specifically quoting me and no one else. But you crack on!

It was a large group with maybe 30 kids? And it was the usual dire set up in a hall by parents, with a couple of lacklustre activities with kids who were bored shitless while the parents congratulated themselves on how great they were.

And yes, parents were of course there as they always were But most wanted a break for a while to chat, they wanted the kids to socialise without being helicoptered constantly. Or they were just feckless hippies who wanted them to beeee freeeeee!

The poster I responded to spoke of kids at school being “micromanaged”. So you want the home ed parents to do that too at groups? Not let the kids socialise freely? You see the issues?

Kids will bully each other regardless of who is there. No one wanted to sort it out either, it couldn’t possibly have been their child being awful.

The difference is opportunity though. Kids in school who don't get a qualification at least have had the opportunity to get those qualifications and to gain social skills and independence outside the house.

This ^

Don’t worry, it’s not you, it’s them. I’ve been following the last few pages and it is very obvious that they are attempting to goad you or catch you out somehow rather than showing a genuine interest in home education as they claim.

In the big wide world my dc are entitled to reasonable adjustments, they can choose where they work in terms of noise level, uniform, flexibility.

There are 140k children out of school, many of whom have SEND for which the mainstream school cannot or will not deal with or no suitable SEND provision. My daughter was out of school for 18 months while I went to tribunal to get her the education she needed. Throughout that time I asked the LA for the alterative provision they are legally obliged to provide and they didn't- so I took them to ombudsman.

My dd had regular welfare checks and meetings with staff to ensure she was ok. Getting rid of HE won't stop child abusers.

I'll never forget a birthday party we went to (just home ed kids). They started a game of musical chairs. Dear GOD it was absolute carnage. None of the children would accept they were out and just carried on playing as the chairs got fewer and fewer. Then fights broke out over the remaining seats. When my son was out I told him very firmly that he was out and made him come and sit by me. I got shocked looks for that. One of the girls hit a boy in the face and her mother's response was "oh dear, that wasn't kind". If my child had done that he'd have been removed from the party.

We always found larger home ed gatherings very trying.

@Petergriffinschins I laughed out loud in recognition at your description of the HE club.

YABU. More regulation absolutely but not a ban, never a ban.

There are certainly some HE set-ups that aren't in kids best interests. We are currently deciding, however, whether to suck up the VAR on independent schools or HE for secondary with our youngest. Having worked in secondary schools, the disciplinary culture goes against everything I believe in; children are not listened to or heard out; best practice teaching methods are not used; children are taught that they must succeed or else. In many schools, bullying and peer pressure is rife. I just don't see how any of this is best for an adolescents development.

And before people assume that I am raising m children without discipline etc, I am absolutely not. My eldest has just been awarded year 7 of the term at his small independent secondary, based on his scores for respect, behaviour and overall effort. The trouble is, choice is being taken away from parents. This school may be too expensive, or just not able to sustain itself by the time DS2 is of an age to join, and that would mean HE or being forced into a system I feel is potentially more damaging to children.

Please can you link to proof that " too many home educated children are subject to abuse"?

I don’t home educate but even the idea of banning it brings me out in a cold sweat.

I hated school. I still feel traumatised by it as a nearly 40 year old. I wish I was HE and when I had children it was on the basis that a bad school would never and could never happen to them. We’d pay, home educate, or move near great state schools, whatever … but not and never just accept what we were given.

Why can't you force parents? Sweden banned home schooling about 15 years ago. Now it's only allowed in exceptional circumstances, and parents who want to home school need to re-apply for permission every year. So it certainy seems possible, whether it is desirable is a separate question.

I mean, it’s true though, isn’t it? 😂 I started going to them when ds was 3 and went to them until he went to school at 11. I went to so many different ones and they are ALL the same. I wish I could have those wasted hours of my life back.

And @Punocchio describes every home ed only party I ever went to. Fucking carnage with parents who couldn’t say pack it in and behave. No wonder it gives us all bad name.

In 15+ pages the discussion has moved on somewhat since the opening post.

But it's ok, we'll allow the home educators to catch up in their own time, when their self-direction takes them that way.

Actually, legally speaking, even children receiving state education are under the responsibility of the parents, so really under your views this actually applies to ALL children, not just those who received education other than at school.

Well quite. Finding it hard to believe someone who allegedly lectures at a university would come up with an idea that so clearly is ridiculous on multiple levels.