Posted on 09/02/2004 3:50:56 AM PDT by aardvark1
German Family Flees Country to Stop Government from Taking Custody
A few weeks ago, a German homeschool family escaped to Central America, just ahead of a judge who wanted to take custody of their school-aged child. A social worker helped the family escape by warning the family of the judge's intent and delaying the paperwork.
German Homeschoolers Escape to Austria
Another German homeschool family had to flee to Austria. The judge, after being informed that the family had already left (even though he possessed documents including the registration of the child in question at the local school in Austria), went ahead anyway and gave custody of the child to the state. The father of the family told the court appointed official who appeared at their door in Austria that the child was no longer registered in Germany but rather in Austria. The judge then wrote to the family saying that it would immediately take custody of the child if the family were to return to Germany.
German Homeschool Family Told by Judge They Do Not Have Rights
Another German homeschool family lost a recent court case when the judge ruled that the parents have no rights whatsoever concerning the manner and method of education in government schools. In this case, hard-core pornography was being used to teach the children in their German language course! The judge ruled that the school has the authority to determine what is against the conscience of the parents. The judge also ruled that fundamentalist Christians, who do not want their children to attend the government schools, are not protected by the constitution!
More and more families are beginning to flee Germany. Many are in hiding and some fathers work in one state while the family lives in another. We have a German homeschool family in our local church here in Virginia who left Germany because of the hostility to homeschooling.
Nonetheless, advancements are continuing as the homeschool movement continues to grow in spite of the persecution. The homeschool legal organization is growing, conferences are being held, the Konrad case is before the European Human Rights Court, many articles are appearing in the press, German homeschool curriculum is being written, and lobbying is taking place in the state of Bavaria to pass a law legalizing homeschooling.
The "state" has replaced Hitler in todays Germany. Keep a close eye on Germany.
Those pesky Socialists.
They're NOTHING like the Libtard SOCIALISTS in the DIM Party...</sarc>
Home schooled Germans? As long as they aren't bigots of any kind... They can move to the U.S. and feel right at home.
Oh...wow...
I'm in the process of reading Iserbyt's "Deliberate Dumbing Down of America".
From the looks of it, we are headed in the same direction.
It certainly doesn't help that people here don't particularly look favorably at the homeschooled. I had a conversation with my roommates. I said that I planned on homeschooling my kids. They all looked at me like I was crazy and started telling me that homeschool causes kids to grow up antisocial and all of their friends were from their schools, etc. I told them that most of my friends from high school were not even in my classes since first grade.
They then pointed out how crazy I was by saying "You just watched the south park episode, homeschooling messes you up" and I just kind of glared at them and said "yeah because southpark is such an accurate depiction of real life."
Well at least my girlfriend understands me...heh.
Regarding homeschooling, Germany today is where homeschoolers were 20 years ago in this country. Judges took children from homeschooling parents and jailed parents who refused to send their children to the public schools not too long ago.
The state will do anything to get ahold of your kids and indocrinate them in proper socialist values. There is a word for this which Germans should be familiar - tyranny.
Having lived in Germany for 11 years now, and dealt with the German school system...you are basically left to whatever the local school wants to do with your kid. German teachers have the mindset that they have been through university training and know more than you. I sat there one day, with a teacher trying to "dumb" me down...and I hinted that I had been through the American university system...which teacher came back with the comment that it doesn't measure up. I sat there in total amazment. The level of stupidity amongst German teachers is outstanding. They would never go along with the idea that a parent could educate their own kid or that a parent could suggest improvements in the German school system.
So let me pull the curtain back on the German school system. There is no doubt that in science and math...a German 7th grader is two years ahead of an American kid. Its absolutely true that they require second language training (usually English or French) by the Fifth grade (its crude and basic, buts its another language). At that point, everything else is a joke. There is basically no history taught until the 6th grade (and then its world history). Basic knowledge of the government and how it works doesn't come up until very last year of school. PE works out to 2.5 hours per week. If your kids screws around in the 3rd and first part of the 4th grade...then their chances of getting on the university track are zero...and it will take an extra year of their life to get back onto the university track. Incompentent German teachers are merely shifted to other schools...they are NEVER fired. If a teacher is sick...then the kids just sit in a room....substitute teachers don't appear till the second or third day. Half of your grammer grades are based on creative writing (not book-reports)...but actually writing a creative story...ask your kids to invent a story out of thin air at age 10...and see how bad the story is...but the German teachers don't care...its standard.
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that German education is second-rate...(with the exception of match and science). And with the high rate of German PhD's graduates leaving the country (to the US of course)....a major portion of Germany's future is clouded.
I've also read that at one time, German education was considered superior, but it has declined over the past few years and their tests scores have plummeted. Is it true kids only go to school four hours a day?
From the 1st grade to the 4th grad, you go from 8am to noon. From the 5th grade on...you stay until 1pm. Thats it. The funny thing is that teachers get full pay. They claim that they need the extra hours (almost 3 hours per day) to grade papers and prepare for next days class. But to honest, there are barely 12 mini-tests in any subject throughout the entire year, and 6 actual tests. As for preparation...my son tells me that they practice the same tactic that I saw in American schools....using video presentations as much as possible.
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