Michigan home-schoolers were reminded recently how vigilant they must remain in order to defend their God given charge to educate their children. In a series of blistering articles attacking homeschooling by means of misdirection and innuendo Detroit News writer Ron French launched salvo after salvo at the homeschooling movement.
These articles can be accessed at,
http://www.detnews.com/article/20091217/METRO/912170337
http://www.detnews.com/article/20091217/METRO/912170390
http://www.detnews.com/article/20091217/METRO/912170386
The techniques that French used in order to besmirch Michigan Homeschoolers were as follows,
1.) Guilt by association — In his article French cited the Holland & Springer cases in Michigan. These were two cases where neglect and abuse in families eventuated in the wrongful deaths of two children. What French tries to imply is that there might be many other Holland and Springer cases in Michigan that the authorities don’t know about precisely because the State isn’t closely monitoring home schooling parents. In French’s article he connects the tragic deaths of Holland and Springer with homeschooling when in point of fact there is no connection with home-schooling in the slightest. The deaths of Holland and Springer have more of a connection with an inadequate Child Protective Services agency and no connection with home schooling laws that are sane. To enlist the deaths of Calista Springs and Ricky Holland into the attempt to ratchet up public outrage against homeschooling in order to once again place shackles upon Michigan citizens in their parental duty to educate their children is muck raking journalism that would make Wm. Randolph Hearst proud.
2.) Assuming what has not been proven — French, throughout his articles assumes that the State is responsible for Michigan’s children. This is an assumption on his part that is not granted. The people who are responsible for Michigan’s children are Michigan’s parents and it is not the job of the State to play the parent to the parents. It is obviously true that some parents are inferior parents when compared to other parents but do we really think a State that is so inadequate itself in the area of education is superior even to inferior parents. Certainly in some homeschooling homes there is less than a stellar job going on in educating students but does French really want to compare test scores of Michigan homeschoolers to children “educated” in government schools?
Secondly, on this score, what makes Mr. French think that children are safer in Michigan schools than they are in their homes? The list of links below reveal that Michigan schools are themselves places of abuse where female “cougar” teachers are out on the prowl for sexual minor school children partners.
http://www.candgnews.com/Homepage-Articles/2007/11-7-07/EE-BATKINS.asp
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,140486,00.html (Witchcraft)
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090326/NEWS02/903260332/-1/NEWS02
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50447
Why should Michigan homeschoolers put their children in places where such abuse is so prone to happen? We might ask Mr. French, who desires the state to monitor home schooling children more closely, if he has some answers as to who is going to monitor the monitors?
We could go on here citing other Michigan sex cases involving teachers like Melissa Lavendar and Laura Lynn Findlay but clearly with the links above Michigan’s children are hardly safe from abuse even when they are at school. Now, should we desire to use Mr. French’s reasoning we would say that these cases suggest that Michigan Legislators have a problem with government schools that must be attended to immediately, and we might observe that it hardly seems wise to suggest the State can efficiently monitor homeschoolers when they can’t even monitor their own teachers successfully.
In summary on this point we would say it is not the State’s role to usurp the parents responsibility to monitor the education of their children and even if it was (and it isn’t) we could hardly be confident concerning any legislation that Michigan might pass to increase oversight on homeschoolers given Michigan’s track record of not being able to monitor their own teachers. Indeed, one might almost observe that if you want to keep your children safe you better make sure you don’t entrust them to Michigan schools.
Obviously Mr. French is seeking to stir up trouble for the Michigan homeschooling community. One would hope that he would take his poison pen and practice his yellow journalism on another topic.
Keep up the great work, Bret.
I love to read your essays. This one is excellent! Keep em coming!
Excellent point on the predatory teachers and the inconsistency of the humanists.
This is a battle that needs to be fought hard and consistently. In a very real sense this will affect myriad folk. Not only regular residents of the state but also , temporary residents coming for ministerial training. Michigan has increasingly stood out as a beacon of Christian possibility within recent years to me. Much like South Carolina and the Exodus movement, or various other centers of community where our brethren have gathered in mass. It reminds me of the real and focused effort of Satan’s children to move into the backyard of Focus on the Family, ( though we disagree with much of their ministry), and start an effort to supplant the local influence to stop any real possible “New Plymouth” experience. i greatly appreciate the ability to dialog and learn in the various topics that you cover. my family and I have long followed your writing and often use your ‘little blog’ as material for family worship and catechism support material. I hope that is an encouragement and real exhortation to continue what you are doing. We will continue to pray for the will of God in Mr. French’s life.We will also pray that God will continue to protect the right of all of us to follow the command of Deuteronomy 6 in the raising of our seed.
Bob,
Thanks for your encouraging words! Your post was a great blessing to me.
The state will and cannot allow its catechetical arm to be usurped by arrogant Christian parents who imagine themselves more capable of raising their children than the all knowing, all controlling, sovereign predestinator of the lives of men. I remember well the battles we fought with the state of Mi, in the mid to late 80’s. They (the MEA) underestimated both the numbers and the united and aggressive reaction of the home school community to things like the DeJong case and the Michigan Model. We won our battles then and Mich became a place friendly to home educators. But the fire is never completely extinguished. There are embers still glowing under the ashes, there to fanned by rabid God hating statists. Vigilance is needed parents and an eye ever keen to the statist agenda.
Thanks for all your doing Bret, this is very important