Helen Hegener

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On July 30, 2001, my husband received a call from a man who stated he was a
student at New York University (NYU) and was doing a thesis on education. He
identified himself as Aaron Devonshire. He claimed he had read an article I
had written for the July/August 2001 issue of Home Education Magazine. At the
time, I was not home, but my husband spoke with him very briefly. My husband
suggested he speak with me.

Later that evening, he called again. This time, I spoke with him for
approximately 20 minutes. He explained that he was a student at NYU, working
on a thesis. He said part of the project involved doing a survey of parents
regarding education. He went on to say the survey was studying both
traditional schooling and homeschooling. He asked some very generic
questions: How long have you been homeschooling? Why did you start
homeschooling?

I did ask if he had REALLY read my article because these questions were
answered in that article. He claimed he did but wanted to verify.

He then asked my opinion on whether I thought my kids were learning better or
the same in homeschooling. He asked if we used traditional materials or if I
put together my own curriculum. Then, the conversation turned very strange.
He asked what kind of discipline I use in my homeschool. Did I use corporal
punishment? No, I told him I did not. He persisted, asking if I was sure I
never spanked the kids. I told him no, and I did not see what this had to do
with education.

He went on to tell me that accorinding to his results, 82% of homeschoolers
use corporal punishment. He said that of those 82%, 62% use the "traditional
method", spanking the child on the rear while the child lays across the
parents lap. He also told me that most of these parents use a paddle or some
other device to spank.

I told him that our conversation was over, that I did not think corporal
punishment was relevant to a study on education. He then asked if he could
speak to my son. I told him my son was not interested. At this point, he
became upset, telling me I was a "permissive parent" for not making my son
speak to an adult. I told him that I would not make my son speak with anyone.
I then hung up the phone.

The very next day, I decided to contact NYU. I was able to speak to a
gentleman in the admissions office by the name of Craig Griffin. He took all
of the information, including the phone numbers that showed up on my
Caller-ID, and told me he would see what he could come up with. Within an
hour, he called back to let me know that there is no such student registered
at the university. The phone numbers did not match any in their database,
either. He also said that a student doing a project would never ask to speak
to a child.

I did receive one more call from the "student" on July 31. He asked for me,
and told me had some other questions. I told him I had questions, too, and
had called the university to inquire about him. I told him I knew he was a
fraud. He hung up on me immediately.

The phone numbers used all came up on my Caller-ID as Connecticut phone
numbers. They all appear to be pay phone numbers. The numbers are:

203-255-8116
203-222-9987
203-261-9844

The security at NYU is currently looking into this situation. As more
information becomes available, I will pass it on. In the meantime, all
homeschoolers should be aware of this man. He is a fraud.

~~Karen Hoogland
************************

kdhoogland5@... or kdhoogland@...
Custom Stained Glass: http://3BoyGlassworks.tripod.com
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Grassroots Homeschoolers http://GrassrootsHS.tripod.com

[email protected]

The spanking-man sounds exactly like one who used to come into the AOL
chatroom and IM people and ask them about spanking. Same, same stuff.

Sandra