Written by Janet
A British educator said that children being home schooled are twice as likely to be abused and should be closely monitored by social services. Yeah right. Since when does a teacher know what’s going on in someone’s home unless they are there? An isolated case doesn’t mean everyone abuses their kids.
Graham Badman, former director of children’s services in Kent, reviewed the home school policy of 7-year-old girl, Khyra Ishaq, who was starved to death. The child’s mother, Angela Gordon, who removed her from school six months before her death, and her stepfather, are to be sentenced next week.
Badman says local school officials should be required to keep a registry of home-schooled children and social service workers should have more power to make home visits. Not when there’s no cause to interfere.
His recommendations have been incorporated into the Children, Schools and Families Act. Badman said he believes the actual number of home-school children in the country is far higher than the official figure of 20,000.
Ann Newstead, a spokeswoman for Education Otherwise, a home-schooling advocacy group, said in Khyra’s case social service workers failed to check carefully, and do their job, and it is “ludicrous” to think stricter laws would have saved her. When does invasion of privacy step in?
