Mik McEwen

Homeschool student disappears from psych ward
Authorities don't let parents, lawyer know her new location

_____

Posted: February 13, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern



By Bob Unruh
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com



The case involving a 15-year-old homeschool student in Germany who suddenly
was snatched from her home by a SWAT team of police officers and sent to a
psychiatric ward for her "school phobia" suddenly has taken a turn for the
worse.


Officials who work in support of homeschoolers in Germany, even though it is
illegal there, notified WND that Melissa Busekros, in a "new escalation,"
was moved from the psychiatric hospital where she had been held for more
than a week "to an unknown place."


"Neither the parents nor their attorney are informed where Melissa is
arrested now," said an urgent statement from Netzwerk-Bildungsfreifeit,"
<http://www.wnd.com/redir/r.asp?http://www.netzwerk-bildungsfreiheit.de/html
/pe_erlangen_en.html> the German homeschool advocacy organization.


"The situation is [horrifying] for the girl and the parents," said the
statement, which was written in German and then translated into English.


The German organization said the situation confirms its worst fears: That
"Germany blatantly spurns parental and human rights and cannot be regarded
any longer as a free country. It is running more and more to tyranny and
dictatorship."


WND reported <http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54082> more
than a week ago that German authorities had assembled a team of about 20
police officers and other officials to take the teen from in front of her
shocked family.


She was taken on a judge's order to a psychiatric ward after a diagnosis of
"school phobia," according to reports from German homeschool supporters. She
had fallen behind in Latin and math studies, and was being tutored at home
in the subjects. However, when school officials found out, they expelled
her, then took the family to court when they began homeschooling.


The court order executed by police officers said, "The relevant Youth
Welfare Office is hereby instructed and authorized to bring the child, if
necessary by force, to a hearing and may obtain police support for this
purpose."


Her father, Hubert Busekros, told the homeschool group the state was out of
line with its "zealous drive to enforce compulsory schooling."


She initially was hospitalized in the Child Psychiatry Unit of a clinic in
Nuremburg, but then moved without notice, officials with
Netzwerk-Bildungsfreifeit said.


Last week, the <http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54135> Home
School Legal Defense Association launched a campaign to have its supporters,
mostly in the United States, contact the German embassy about the case.


Then officials with the International Human Rights Group said they had
assembled a list of German officials to contact on behalf of the teen.


Information about the case can be found in English at
Netzwerk-Bildungsfreifeit,
<http://www.wnd.com/redir/r.asp?http://www.netzwerk-bildungsfreiheit.de/html
/pe_erlangen_en.html> officials said.


"The State's action clearly goes beyond what is justifiable. They took
unreasonable measures for which they had no basis. They intimidated the
family with a 'SWAT' team of 15 police officers to take captive a 15-year
old unsuspecting girl early in the morning, taking her to a state
psychiatrist," according to the IHRG.


"The psychiatrist, after hours of interrogation, wrote a report which
claimed that Melissa had delayed educational development of one year and
school phobia. The judge, basing her decision on this report, gave the
custody of the child over to the state and placed the child in a psychiatric
ward. This was all done in a sped-up action taking only four days. The
family is devastated and has immediately appealed the judge's decision," the
IHRG said.


"This is nothing else than deprivation of liberty and child abduction," the
German homeschool group said.


Officials there said historically the German phobia about homeschooling
began with Adolph Hitler, whose design was to control the minds of children
as they grew, leaving them with only his worldview.


"The 'Jugendamt' (youth welfare office) has its origin in the German Nazi
state," the German group said. "German Wikipedia writes about the Jugendamt:
'In 1939 the Jugendamt [was] adopted ... as a part of government in the
NS-state control of child-education. The Jugendamt controlled and observed
families and children politically from their birth."


A spokesman for the group told WND, "Today the Jugendamt … is free to take
the children away from their parents when in their opinion the child's
welfare is jeopardized. A false accusation of neighbors is sometimes
sufficient to capture the children from their parents."


The students' rights and human rights groups say they still want people to
contact German officials about the situation: Contacts, provided by the
IHRG, include:



Youth Welfare Office
Director: Edeltraud Höllerer
Rathaus
Rathausplatz 1
91052 Erlangen
Tel. +49 9131 86-2844
Fax +49 9131 86-2438
Mail:
edeltraud.hoellerer@...
Or stadtjugendamt@...
Responsible Official
Monika Muzenhardt
Mail:
monika.muzenhardt@...

Mayor of the Town of Erlangen
Dr. Siegfried Balleis
Rathausplatz 1
91052 Erlangen
Fon: +49 [0] 9131 86-0
Fax: +49 [0] 9131 86-26 92
Mail: ob@...



Local Court Erlangen
Family court
Richterin Frank-Daupin
Mozartstraße 23
91052 Erlangen
Tel. +49 9131-782 01
Fax +49 9131/782-361
(No Email address available)



Minister of Justice in Bavaria
Beate Merk
Prielmayerstr. 7
80335 München
Tel. +49 89 5597 1799
Fax +49 89 5597 3580
Email: beate.merk@...



Clinic Nürnberg-Nord/Psychatrie
Prof.-Ernst-Nathan-Str. 1
90419 Nürnberg
chief physician: Prof. Jörg Wiesse
Email: joerg.wiesse@...



Assistant Medical Director
Dr. Schanda
(Responsible for the survey of Melissa)
Tel: 0911-398-3877
Fax: 0911-398-3261
Email: KJP_B@...
axel.froelich@...


"Our prayer is that we can work together to end this nightmare for this
family. Please know that the International Human Rights Group is working
with the family and attorneys to secure and protect the human rights of
Melissa and her parents," that organization said.


Officials with HSLDA warned "what is happening in Germany today may be
knocking on our door tomorrow." The group now is tracking the circumstances
of about 40 families in Germany with court cases in various stages.



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Shellini Spencer

Hi MIk!

You are in my other group too! Nice to see you!
Thanks for posting that. That is pretty scary...

That poor family.. Makes you wonder how many other families over
there have suffered the same fate?

Shellini

Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their
hearts forever.






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rshoulla

For those interested, here's a little information on schools in
Germany with regard to this case:

From other reports, I've read this girl went to Gymnasium. It's
interesting to note that while the Jugendamt
determined she was developmentally delayed by one year, German
children undergo strict assessments around 5th grade which determine
their overall intellectual and educational abilities. It is based on
this assessment that students are sent to one of three levels of
schooling:
1. Gymnasium - this is the highest, most challenging level of
education and the ONLY path to university level studies. It has 13
grades as opposed to the American 12.
2. Realschule - this is a "technically" inclined education. Not to be
confused with an "IT" trade school. Youth attending this school
generally attend less than 13 years, do not have the option to attend
university with this diploma (though they can voluntarily apply to
complete Gymnasium).
3. Hochschule - this school traditionally only goes to grade 9,
though in recent years it's become more fashionable for students to
complete 10 grades. Students in this school could generally be
considered "at or below average" and are headed for an apprenticeship
in a trade position, most typically some type of manually labor like
construction.

All in all, on the surface not a totally bad system as, unlike the US
system, it doesn't automatically try to force children onto a path for
college when they may actually be more successful and happier in a
trade job. It does however, confine them to trade jobs carries a
certain degree of "class" distinction.

Here's my point though:
The GERMAN EDUCATION SYSTEM is the one that determined this girl
belonged in Gymnasium. They are the ones that educated her. They
are the ones that apparently failed, if she's now considered behind
by one year.

Germans do tend to put "delayed" students into a "Sonderschule"
or "Special school" and yes -- it has all the nastiness of
the "short bus" attitude. Many children end up in "Sonderschule," in
fact, for health reasons. I know of children who were epileptic.
Otherwise perfectly healthy, intelligent and capable children, but
because of the risk of seizure deemed not appropriate for placement
in the general school environment. These otherwise "normal" children
were thus confined to a classroom with children who were, in part,
greatly mentally and physically challenged. The message is clear and
while I'm not one to scream "Nazi" at the drop of a hat, it
definitely smacks of the same flavor of human worth classification.

Finally, I read in another article mention of a loud classroom
environment and cancelled classes. I dare say I question whether a
loud classroom environment claim has any merit whatsoever; however, I
am familiar with the German practice of simply not holding class when
a teacher is unavailable rather than bringing in a substitute. This
has always astounded me.

While I question the slant with which some of the information has
been presented, I believe the facts are to be found and they are
indeed not pretty.

Hope that illuminates for someone who might take interest.

Deborah Greenspan

I'm wondering if the child has auditory processing issues or is not
auditory? This might explain the loud classroom as an annoyance and need to
Homeschool.

"Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible
before they were done." -- Louis D. Brandeis

Best of health,

Deborah

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