[email protected]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1998/08/01/eveningnews/main15214.shtml

(CBS) And here's an early look at what we're working on for Monday's
broadcast:

Homeschooling has produced some brilliant young minds.. but there's a
dark side to the movement that is putting children's lives at risk. A
special Eye on America investigation only on Monday's CBS Evening News.




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Nancy Wooton

on 10/13/03 8:46 AM, lurningathome@... at lurningathome@... wrote:

> http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1998/08/01/eveningnews/main15214.shtml
>
> (CBS) And here's an early look at what we're working on for Monday's
> broadcast:
>
> Homeschooling has produced some brilliant young minds.. but there's a
> dark side to the movement that is putting children's lives at risk. A
> special Eye on America investigation only on Monday's CBS Evening News.

This link is being posted all over homeschooling lists; it's already
generating mail to CBS, and we don't even know what the story is about.

Here's a reply I just posted to my local list:

We don't yet know WHAT that story is about! I mean, think about some of the
negative "homeschooling" stories of the past: the Randy Weaver family were
"homeschoolers"; so was Andrea Yates, who drowned her five children. News
agencies write stories to get people to consume their particular media
product. If it isn't sensational, it isn't news.

If I were to guess at what "the dark side to the movement that is putting
children's lives at risk" might be, I'd be inclined to look at the parents
themselves. We argue for parental rights to guide our children's education,
but there may in fact be children at risk, who do not come into contact with
outsiders who might be able to recognize signs of abuse. I had a friend who
grew up in a severely dysfunctional home; for her, school was her salvation
from the drinking and sexual abuse of the home. (She homeschooled her own
kids, though.)

I've been thinking a lot lately about learning disabilities and other
physical or emotional problems which can effect kids. Do we shortchange
them by failing to notice or ignoring problems which someone outside our
family might see? I know, I know... schools really screw up the special ed
kids a lot of the time, so don't flame me <g> It's just something that's
been on my mind for both professional and personal reasons.

Maybe CBS's story will turn out to be some homeschoolers' choice to not
vaccinate their kids <ggg>

(Look, I came up with three leads and I don't even work for CBS ;-)

Nancy
(apologizing in advance to all who do not want to read discussions, as this
is likely to generate one)

--
Rewards and punishments are the lowest form of education.
-Chuang-Tzu, philosopher (4th c. BCE)

Sylvia Toyama

Maybe CBS's story will turn out to be some homeschoolers' choice to not
vaccinate their kids <ggg>
Nancy

+++++++

On this subject -- kinda ot, I know -- did anyone here see ABC new's story this past Thursday on unvaxed kids being a risk to others? My Mom saw part of it and mentioned it to me yesterday. I had seen the teaser for it, but we were out at the balloon fiesta that night so I missed the actual report. I can't find it anywhere on line -- even tried a google after searching the ABC news site.

Sylvia


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Paula Sjogerman

on 10/13/03 11:26 AM, Nancy Wooton at ikonstitcher@... wrote:

> If I were to guess at what "the dark side to the movement that is putting
> children's lives at risk" might be, I'd be inclined to look at the parents
> themselves. We argue for parental rights to guide our children's education,
> but there may in fact be children at risk, who do not come into contact with
> outsiders who might be able to recognize signs of abuse.

This is probably right, though I wondered if it was about hsers who choose
not to immunize. These are the only things I can think of.

Paula

Paula Sjogerman

OK, duh, I clearly didn't read Nancy's post to the end.

GMTA,
Paula

[email protected]

On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 09:26:07 -0700 Nancy Wooton <ikonstitcher@...>
writes:
> We don't yet know WHAT that story is about!

It's about homicide, suicide, and child abuse in homeschooling families.
Which may be "sensational", but it doesn't seem quite fair. Homeschooling
didn't *make* these things happen - thye're actually more common in
schooling families.

From a North Carolina Group:

****** NCHE BULLETIN ******** October 12, 2003 *********

CBS NEWS TRIES TO LINK HOMESCHOOLING WITH HOMICIDE THIS WEEK

"Homeschooling has produced some brilliant young minds.. but there's a
dark side to the movement that is putting children's lives at risk. A
special Eye on America investigation only on Monday's CBS Evening
News."-- CBS News website, 10/12/03

On Monday and Tuesday of this week (October 13 and 14), CBS News plans to
broadcast a two-part report which attempts to link homeschooling with
child abuse and homicide. See the website at
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1998/08/01/eveningnews/main15214.shtml

CBS News recently sent a team from Los Angeles to Raleigh and Smithfield,
N.C., to gather footage concerning a murder-suicide which occurred two
years ago in a formerly homeschooling family. In the July 2001 incident,
14-year-old Brandon Keith Warren shot and killed two teenaged siblings
and then himself. The family had been homeschooling at one time but
prior to the event had dropped out of compliance with state law and were
presumed truant. Social Services had been in contact with the family on
numerous occasions, but charges of child abuse against the parents were
dismissed in the trial that followed the murders.

Although the producer has assured NCHE there is no attempt to portray
this as typical of home educators, CBS repeatedly asked NCHE President
Hal Young whether inadequate government oversight contributed to the
tragedy, and whether increased levels of regulation and home inspection
-- extended to all homeschool families -- could prevent such tragedies in
the future. Since the family in question was already in violation of the
homeschool statute and was well known to local Social Services, there is
no reason to expect a stricter homeschooling law would have made a
difference.

NCHE's reply has always been that this tragedy was not a result of
educational choice. Subjecting over 28,000 North Carolina families to
additional government scrutiny, paperwork and intrusion would neither
improve education nor prevent such a rare and unexpected crime. Our
previous response to this suggestion in government circles is posted at
http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/hslda/200206060.asp

The 100,000-plus homeschooling parents and students in our state are
continuing to prove that home education is an effective means of
producing intelligent, sociable graduates, well-prepared for adult life.
In short, a remarkable tragedy in a single dysfunctional family does not
make a case for more restrictive homeschool laws.

NCHE is concerned that such a sensational report will encourage a
suspicious view of homeschoolers and consideration of regulatory issues
based on a false premise. Homeschoolers may wish to monitor these
reports and consider their own response to neighbors, co-workers, or
family members in the days ahead. NCHE will issue a public response
after the report specifics are shown.

Contact Information:

North Carolinians for Home Education: http://nche.com -- (919) 790-1100

CBS Evening News -- evening@...
~~~~~~~

Dar

Nancy Wooton

on 10/13/03 11:56 AM, freeform@... at freeform@... wrote:

> On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 09:26:07 -0700 Nancy Wooton <ikonstitcher@...>
> writes:
>> We don't yet know WHAT that story is about!
>
> It's about homicide, suicide, and child abuse in homeschooling families.
> Which may be "sensational", but it doesn't seem quite fair. Homeschooling
> didn't *make* these things happen - thye're actually more common in
> schooling families.
>
> From a North Carolina Group:

Thanks, Dar. This is making the rounds pretty fast this morning. CBS isn't
going to know what hit 'em <g>

Last year sometime, my local news station ran an online poll, asking if the
readers thought homeschoolers needed to be more accountable to the state.
That link flew all over the country, and they were flooded with NO responses
-- something like 900 of them. The typical response to those polls is *far*
smaller <g>

Nancy

pam sorooshian

This story should have been about the failure of the social services
system and about how regulation of homeschooling is a wasted effort.
The parents had already been accused of child abuse in Arizona and let
go. More regulation in North Carolina would not have done anything -
they weren't in compliance with the regulations that NC already has -
which are already more than many states. More regulations would mean
nothing more than increased government expense and more unnecessary
imposition on those law-abiding people who would comply.

-pam

coyote's corner

did you write this to them??
Janis
----- Original Message -----
From: pam sorooshian
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2003 10:21 PM
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] homeschooling........


This story should have been about the failure of the social services
system and about how regulation of homeschooling is a wasted effort.
The parents had already been accused of child abuse in Arizona and let
go. More regulation in North Carolina would not have done anything -
they weren't in compliance with the regulations that NC already has -
which are already more than many states. More regulations would mean
nothing more than increased government expense and more unnecessary
imposition on those law-abiding people who would comply.

-pam


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