Healthy people don't use homeschooling as an excuse to abuse their children
Two of my children warned me this week that if I'm not going to write about them, they aren't going to read it. This fact has been duly noted.
I write when the house is quiet, not according to a time that shows on the clock. My time settles around me slowly. Long after I've said good-night to all the children, there is always one who needs a hug. There are reminders to turn out lights, gigglers to be shushed. The baby cries, and I get up for a moment, waiting to see if she will fall back to sleep or continue to wail.
Finally, the house is silent, and this time I struggle to find the words. I want to tell you about our new sheep or how my preschooler is trying to sound out words. There are so many stories to share, but my heart is breaking here in the quiet dark that is my writing time. Homeschooling has been in the news lately, and it wasn't because somebody won a spelling bee.
Some of the news is fairly benign. Richard and Marjorie Cressy, homeschoolers in New York, were arrested — yes, arrested — because they failed to file a homeschool plan with their local school district. Bloggers and commenters on news stories were generally favorable toward the Cressy family, presumably because the children appear safe and well.
In other news, a judge in Tennessee granted political asylum to the Romeike family of Germany. They had fled to the U.S. in order to be able to homeschool their children legally and without fear of government reprisal. Homeschooling is illegal in Germany, and their children had been removed at one time because they had homeschooled. I bet they'll have quite a conversation about the Constitution when they gather 'round the dinner table.
Then, only a few days apart, stunning cases of abuse and murder made the news. In Phoenix, Scott and Andrea Bass were arrested after Scott Bass's 14-year-old daughter escaped her two-month confinement in a bathroom. Being locked up was her punishment for stealing food and cheating on a test, they said. A homeschool test. Oh, yeah, these drains on the gene pool claimed this was all part of a homeschool lesson.
For those who believe stricter oversight of homeschoolers would solve the problem, I offer this tidbit: Andrea Bass told officers that she'd been investigated by CPS 15 times. And still she had a house full of children to neglect.
Closer to home, Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz of Paradise were arrested and charged with murdering their 7-year-old daughter, Lydia.
Lydia's death came after she was beaten with a piece of common plumbing tubing, a punishment promoted by one parenting Web site. Depending on which report you read, the beating was punishment for either mispronouncing or misspelling a word. Most people just have their kids redo the lesson.
Little 11-year-old Zariah Schatz is in critical condition after also being beaten with tubing. The family had homeschooled for several years. News reports printed quotes from neighbors that were all over the map. Some had concerns for the children, though nobody thought to call in authorities for whatever oddities they may have perceived.
One person said the children were too modest and dressed conservatively, as if that is some red flag that the parents might haul off and kill the kids over a phonics lesson. While the retired teacher who was interviewed by the Chico Enterprise Record considered the family secluded and unhealthy, another neighbor considered both the parents and children to be friendly and well-mannered.
To all the wackos out there — and please remember they come in all walks of life — stop hiding behind homeschooling if you get caught abusing your kid. Normal people don't go wacko over spelling or pronunciation or geometry. A child's life and well-being are more important than any assignment. If you can't handle the stress of parenting, get help before it is too late. Please.
Rose Godfrey is a speech pathologist and homeschooling mom in Hallwood. Her homeschool blog can be found on the Appeal-Democrat Web site at www.appealdemocrat.com.
