Home education online groups now full of conspiracy theorists?

[MyopicBunny]

Has anyone else noticed this? It seems that there are now a lot of people in HE groups telling others that they have no place in the group if you vaccinate your child or follow other mainstream guidelines.

I HE because my daughter is autistic and not really compatible with MS.

It's a bit exhausting the amount of anti science people who think the world is run by satanic pedophiles. Are there any groups that aren't full of paranoia?

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4953927-why-are-so-many-parents-anti-school?reply=131120747

Why would I make it up? Look I don't care if you think I'm making it up. If you think I'm trolling, you can report me to MNHQ. Troll hunting isn't allowed, actually. So either report me or stop being goady. HTH

Yes I’ve noticed this. Am seriously considering home ed because we have to move and the specialist schools are not great for DS.

However I’ve been in a few social media HE groups where I’ve either noticed after joining that there is a lot of group think eg every child must be in trauma (some might, not all), alternative therapies are not to be questioned or even to tick a box to say I am a trans ally just to join a HE group.

I can't remember the name of the group. I'm in a lot of groups. It's a generic name like 'Uk HE advice' 'UK HE support, advice on dealing with LAs' or something like that. I am on about 15 different autism groups and I couldn't possibly name them all.

I spent a couple of years HE, and I can say the Surrey and Berkshire groups I was in were full of these nutters.

Some got shut down, but even if they are, they derail so much that it can be really hard to actually have a proper discussion with everyone else.

That's the thing. I've seen people say 'I don't know what you're doing on a HE group'. Because someone doesn't believe the government are all out to get us. People HE quite often for SEN. Luckily, I don't need to use the groups as much any more which is one reason I left. My daughter is now doing an NVQ course. But I also have a nearly 4 year old who I'm convinced has PDA. So I could end up back here again ...

It wouldn't be a surprise to me. People decide mainstream schools are not for their children out of paranoia and a tendency to be attracted to myths of harm, sinister plans of the government, devil worship, etc.

From where I sit, a lot of these people who now HE, started doing so during the pandemic because that was when they started believing that the government tries to indoctrinate children and that there is a 'new world order' conspiracy.

There is nothing whatsoever wrong with being eccentric. Some people might describe me as eccentric. That is not what this is about. It's about people who firmly fit into the camp of alternative right who are insulting and attack anyone who doesn't think like them.

Ah well fair enough. We've been HE-ing looooong before Covid so I don't know about those or 'Covid-schoolers', as some people call them.

The HE I know is generally different from that of the people who educate their children from that angle or a place of paranoia, etc.

Yeah I've seen that. But it's not everyone who home schools with no sen. I've got a lovely friend who homeschools all her children.. she was a teacher and she's faintly 'hippy' but definitely not a conspiracy theorist. And definitely on board with medical science and democracy.
However I have another friend who removed her children from school because she didn't want them 'indoctrinated with communist propaganda' and she also thinks everyone who had the vaccine is going to drop dead within next few years.
I'm sat here thinking I wish there actually was a bit of communist propaganda in schools because all I see is tory 'the arts are only for the rich, learn some arithmetic by rote' nonsense
Anyhow... unfortunately my kids love school so I've no reason to homeschool (I'm fairly sure I'd be a shit teacher also)

But I think my 'normal' friend does a wonderful job homeschooling her children. And I think she's actually good at it. She also helps run a homeschool crafts group in her area and there seem to be plenty of other non conspiracy theory homeschoolers there

I completely agree. HE is great because you don't have to follow the national curriculum and you can tailor your child's needs to the individual. My daughter really enhanced her command of English, being at home and reading different stuff than she would have at school (just one example). In my area, they do Forrest school clubs for much older children. It is definitely not my local FB groups where I've seen this.

My autistic dd, who is now 14, really enjoyed primary school but at secondary, she just couldn't cope with the volume of people, etc and also the ever-present threat of the fire drill.

Sounds just like the US. I homeschool my DD (in the US) and would absolutely never be in a homeschooling group whether in person or online. They are extremist in every way. My DD is ASD and ADHD and we're really happy tailoring her education to suit her needs and actual life goals. We have no need for extreme religion or conspiracy stuff. Seems like that's how the rest of the world is going too.

Just leave the groups?

Yes this is definitely a thing. My mum is into local conspiracy theory groups, they meet up in person. The home education community make up a large proportion of those attending. The two movements are linked by a lot of the same people basically. It's not saying that ALL home educators are conspiracy theorists.

I don't HE but one of my in-laws does in the UK and a friend does here in the USA -- both because of SEN so a bit different. They say a lot of the bigger general groups esp regional groups get overrun by the conspiracists and in the USA the Christians (who are often also conspiracy nutters). They say the best groups are the ones dedicated to homeschooling SEN, but that's not applicable to everyone. Also some of the explicitly secular/academic ones.

It's been an issue in the USA for a long time and one of the biggest homeschool groups there is very christian and antigovernment but they say it's got worse since Covid. And the left wing hippie anti vax types who used to be quite common are now becoming right wingers.

I was initially planning to home Ed and went to a toddler group of those planning to home ed/already home Edding.

Really lovely supportive people. But yes lots were anti vaccine (which used to make me anxious as I'd already had a baby with whooping cough and it played on my fears.)

What I struggled with was the anti-school bias. I guess it's not really surprising but I was seeing home Ed as a choice we might be privilidged to do not that schools were inherently damaging and evil. I was thinking we'd home Ed primary and go into the system later but the others would point out schooled groups and say how they feel sorry for them etc...

In that particular group it was very much babywearing breastfeeding real nappies too. (I did 2 out of 3 ;) ) With a bit if shock that anyone would choose different.

We went to quite a lot of homeschooling meet ups and to be honest it was those that put me off in the end. We thought we'd give school a go and see where it goes with the plan B of homeschooling if we needed it and there's been ups and downs but they've really thrived.

We kept friends with some of these intii families but they often wanted to compare and justify to themselves they were "ahead" (they often weren't tbh) and would quiz us on school until it naturally drifted away .

I have autistic kids. I absolutely would understand anyone taking kids out the system that it isn't working for. (Although with more knowledge now I'd argue for "alternate provision") but I think that's a criticism of our system not working for a many neurodivergent kids.

I can completely see that there's a bit of group think in some groups though OP and can imagine what you've said completely.

So it isn't that home ed groups online are full of conspiracy theorists, it's that you were in one small group you can't remember the name of and saw a few anti-vaxx comments?

My suggestion would be to just be a bit more selective about the facebook groups you join.
If you just join 15 random groups then you probably will come across some oddballs.

Stick to the big mainstream groups with thousands of members eg Education Otherwise, Educational Freedom, Home Education UK, Twinkl Home Educators. Then you won't see any conspiracy theories.

I've also never seen that kind of stuff in my local town, nearest city or county group.

There definitely are anti-vaxxers/conspiracy theorists that home ed - I've met a couple in real life - but they don't seem to be difficult to avoid.
Your OP that 'online groups are now full' of them, is a tad melodramatic.

I agree with @WonderLife . Yes, these people do exist, but they aren't hard to avoid. The simple solution is to go for the main national groups where moderators will stop discussion of extreme views.

Yes, I think this is what is going on. Some of the extreme attitudes among fringe groups in the US are spreading. The Trump presidency made it worse.

I don't know why it makes any difference how many groups it is in or how big they are. The two I left had about 30,000 people in.

This is not an attack on the HE community as a whole and I am allowed to start a thread on MN about my own experiences without other people insinuating that I'm a liar and that I need your permission or proof of my experience . Evidently I'm not the only one who has noticed it either.

The second part of my post was to @WonderLife

https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/23269401.sussex-community-centre-denies-teaching-conspiracy-theories/

Ita definitely a thing.

In our experience there was already a lot of anti vax/anti science stuff in the home ed community pre covid, but since covid I’ve seen so much more conspiracy nonsense/covid denial in both local and national groups I’m in. Locally there have been splinter groups that have moved off onto telegram away from fb and WhatsApp of the worst of the conspiracy theory types.

We were already kind of oddballs in the local community in some ways, as we vaccinated and were quite structured in our approach. We knew some people thought we might as well put the kids in school as they couldn’t see why anyone wouldn’t unschool / do home ed like they do. We have a few good friends that we mix with and avoid the main home ed groups as so many are dominated by these types of people. (We do live in a rather “crunchy” area so it’s not a surprise really…)

Most of the national home ed groups mentioned upthread have had comment threads dominated with conspiracy theory nonsense and anti vax/covid denial. The mods usually shut the more extreme stuff down quite quickly, but there’s a significant number of people liking/posting that stuff.

So you aren’t wrong - it’s definitely got worse since covid. I don’t think it’s necessarily the newcomers, where we are it’s the anti vax types going further off the deep end and into conspiracy land. The folks that have left school due to covid and stuck with home ed mostly seem to be saner (though often really obsessed with unschooling!)

I agree. I think we should be mindful of hyperbole when it comes to perpetuating stereotypes.

Home education online groups now full of conspiracy theorists?

IMO, this title is sensationalist and bordering on goady to bring out all the anti-HE posters and conspiracy theorists from the other side.

As OP has been challenged, it's obvious this isn't the case. Of course there are and has always been conspiracy theorists who HE their children. It's nothing new or suddenly "full of them" unless you're insinuating that the new "covid-schoolers" (in other words, those whose children were attending school) make up the sudden influx of conspiracy theorists in HE groups.

I found there was more anti vaxxers/alternative types in the homeschooling world than when I was in it simply as these are the people that ideologically are not mainstream and are actively rejecting/challenging the status quo so I imagine that attitude of questioning goes elsewhere.

Also these people are discussing parenting and ways to do things in an intense way you don't when chatting at the school gates.

Of course it doesn't mean all homeschooling are alternative anti vaxxers but it was definitely squewed that way locally.

I obviously don't know how many there actually are but they seem to be ruining the ongoing tranquility of HE groups (from what I saw in recent months) because of their very vocal presence. They feel it's their responsibility to teach the rest of us that we're not enlightened.

I wasn't aware that some people are anti-HE generally. It was never my intention to invite people to say that HE isn't a valid or good route.