How about just defending your position, then, and not....
by Marine Domer (2023-12-31 16:05:31)

In reply to: According to the WaPo*, the home schooling movement ...  posted by Barney68


defend it by saying "according to WaPo" and citing an opinion piece. That some home schoolers are also anti-vaxxers means what? If you want to attack anti-vaxxers, so be it. But your post includes a cheap shot at home schoolers, who have every right in the world to raise their kids and teach them as they see fit, rather than as some fucked up powers that be want to indoctrinate them.

There are places where there are exceptional school environments and educators, and places where there are not.


I question the assertion that "home schoolers ...
by Barney68  (2024-01-01 09:39:54)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

have every right in the world to raise their kids as they see fit". Ok for the parents, but what about the kids?

The home school movement makes the parental rights argument an absolute. Thus a significant part of our school age children are being educated in an environment that rejects any form of regulation, be it for health, the credentials of the educators, or the curriculum studied. While I'm confident that many of these schooling efforts are doing a good job, I've also seen people with no teaching skills or language capability teaching kids Spanish in their home schooling efforts.

Thus, my concern is about "places where there are not." That includes rejecting some - many- all vaccinations for the kids. Is it the parent's right to put their kid at risk of the diseases that the industrialized world has managed to all but eliminate through vaccination? Note that it was through vaccination that smallpox was eliminated.

Whether you agree or not, there are very serious health and educational effectiveness issues in this. While the parents are making the decisions involved, it is the children who live with the results.

As to cheap shots, do you have any reference whatsoever that disputes my assertion that there is a significant overlap between the home school and anti-vaxx communities? It's fine to just blast away if you want, but an intellectual discussion here requires something beyond simply asserting that I'm either wrong or unfair.