"Homeschooling Illegal" Declares German School Official

HSLDA ^ | 1-07-05

[Born in a Rage]

  HOME SCHOOL LEGAL DEFENSE ASSOCIATION

 

HOME SCHOOLING / INTERNATIONAL
Germany

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January 7, 2005

"Homeschooling Illegal" Declares German School Official

Seven homeschool families in Northwest Germany are being forced to enroll their children in public school. The Paderborn County school board has levied fines against these families and ordered the children to attend school by Monday, January 10, or the police will forcibly take them to school. Any resistance by the parents will result in the removal of these thirteen elementary age children from their homes and into state custody!

Despite the lack of state recognition in Germany for homeschooling, these families pulled their children out of public school earlier this year to begin teaching them at home. Their primary reason, as Christians, was to protect their children from the humanistic and godless values being taught to their children in the public school.

While the school district responded by stating that homeschooling is illegal, the parents' maintained that their fundamental rights as parents would be violated if they were forced to return the children to public school. All of the families obtained excellent packaged curriculums from German correspondence schools, and demonstrated to school officials that their children were receiving a proper education.

Heinz Kohler, the county education director, dismissed the families' beliefs, stating, "you and your children are not living in isolation on some island but rather in an environment posing intra- and extracurricular situations where you'll have to accept that your world view will be curtailed." Mr. Kohler further explained that homeschooling could not be allowed as "children should not be encapsulated or kept apart from the outside world. In these cases, the parents' rights to personally educate their children would prevent the children from growing up to be responsible individuals within society…"

German homeschoolers have seen much persecution in recent months, and this action by Paderborn County affirms that the problem has not been solved. The United States has been blessed for many years with the freedom to homeschool. Germany does not have this freedom. If American homeschoolers do not try to help "the least of these," then who will aid them?

Requested Action
1. In order to help these seven homeschool families in Germany, we urge you to call or write to the German Embassy immediately and give them the following message:

"The seven homeschool families in Paderborn County should not be forced to return their children to public school. A parent's right to direct the education of his children is a fundamental right that should be protected. We request that you urge Heinz Kohler and the county school board to drop the pending fines against the families."

We encourage you to rephrase this message in your own words and include a few paragraphs in your letter describing the benefits of homeschooling to your family. It would be best not to include the word "homeschool" in the subject of your e-mail, as that will make it too easy for the embassy to filter it out. The whole family should participate in this project of writing letters to the German Embassy. This is a great educational opportunity for your children to learn the importance of the freedoms we have in the United States and how easily these freedoms can be taken away.

Your decision to contact the embassy may determine the success or failure of the German homeschool movement.

Wolfgang Ischinger
Ambassador
German Embassy
4645 Reservoir Road NW
Washington, DC, 20007-1998
(202) 298-4000

The embassy can be e-mailed from its website: http://www.globescope.biz/germany/reg/index.cfm

You may also contact the local German officials involved in the case:

Landrat Paderborn: Mr. Manfred Mueller [landrat@kreis-paderborn.de] (county official)

President Nordrhein-Westfalen: Mr. Peer Steinbrueck – Local media
[landespresseamt@stk.nrw.de] - CC [poststelle@stk.nrw.de]

2. Pray for endurance and protection for these courageous families.

Your e-mails and calls work! A few years ago, the Harder family in Germany was facing two years imprisonment for homeschooling. Your calls and emails caused the German authorities to dismiss the Harder case within three weeks! Protests from overseas can change the views of the German government.

Thank you for standing together for freedom with your fellow homeschooling families around the world.

 

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[lmr]

I didn't realize that there were any Nazi's left in Germany, guess I was wrong. I will See what e-mail and letters will do...

[JSteff]

This is an N.E.A./dem/liberal dream. All children under control of the state. No education not under the auspices of the approved teachers.

Will it happen here?

[upchuck]

Pingers

[freebilly]

"children should not be encapsulated or kept apart from the outside world. In these cases, the parents' rights to personally educate their children would prevent the children from growing up to be responsible individuals within society…"

Bullsh!t! My 3 youngest children are being homeschooled. They have iceskating lessons once a week with other kids their age. They have dance lessons with other kids their age. They also have violin lessons with peers. They play little league baseball and have aikido lessons. They take hunter safety classes with friends and just went to Hawaii for 10 days where they made friends with kids that they're now emailing.

I'm almost tempted to send them back to school to cut down on their socializing and exposure to the outside world....

[freebilly]

ps, the two boys are also being taught physics by a friend who holds 40 patents in RF and microwave technologies. I'd stack their educations up against those of ANY public or private school in America....

[Angry Republican]

Thank God I live in the U.S.A. Sometimes one just doesn't realize how good it is actually is here.

[jpsb]

physics is easy if you are good at math. math (calculus) is the key to science

[Malesherbes]

"your worldview" i.e. Christianity "will be curtailed." That does indeed have a Nazi ring to it.

[LiteKeeper]

INTREP - Education - Survive

[rawhide]

I wonder if there are private Christian schools in
Germany? I am all for homschooling, but if these parents lose, they would private school be an option?

[floridarolf]

I see the whole thing different. The people are total whackos and look like Hippies. There is an older article at Spiegel Online where you can see a picture of them: http://www.spiegel.de/unispiegel/studium/0,1518,324298,00.html.

There is another article that describes how they got busted: http://www.spiegel.de/unispiegel/studium/0,1518,323695,00.html - hilarious. They live in a small village in southern Germany. They had set up guards because they knew the police would come to arrest the parents. When the guards saw the police cars coming the sounded the alarm by blewing into horns. How crazy is this? Then the church bells started ringing and the whole crowd gathered in front of the church and started singing.

This is a sect. In the year 2005 it's not good for children to educate them in a parallel universe at home away from all "sins". Life gets faster everyday and these people don't let their children keep the pace. I think they should send in the police and get the kids out of there. When they turn 18 they may return. If the parents make trouble send a riot squad.

[critilo]

quote:
This is a truly disgusting story, showing how the leftists truly believe we all belong to the state, before and exclusive of our rights to belong to ourselves or our families.

YES! the leftists in germany BELIEVE in the state.

[floridarolf]

Now the first link works: http://www.spiegel.de/unispiegel/studium/0,1518,324298,00.html

[SAMS]

As long as you bring wonderful American dollars with you to spend they could care less where you taught your children. I have been living in Germany for almost 4 years, they hate us, but they love the way Americans spend money!

[floridarolf]

Their is no fundamental right to educational freedom in Germany. All schools are supervised by the state. You can send your kids to a private school but these are also supervised.

[coydog]

The right exists as a human birthright, whether the state chooses to recognize it or not. Sometimes, these arrogant prigs need a little (rhetorical) clobberin'

[baseballfanjm]

I'm almost tempted to send them back to school to cut down on their socializing and exposure to the outside world...

I'd love to present a line like that to the anti-homeschool crowd. With their myths about the sanity of homeschooled kids, they'd flip.

[floridarolf]

The Hippies



Their compound


Conflict managers

[An.American.Expatriate]

While I wholeheartedly agree that this action is deplorable - unfortunately, that is the law in Germany (and almost everywhere else in Europe!!). There are private schools available to which these people could send thier children (alot of them are run by the Church). What they are doing is in open defiance of the the laws and, unfortunately, they will have to bear the consequences if they do not comply.

It is socialist and wrong, but no amount of protest letters from us to the German Embassy will ever change this.

[An.American.Expatriate]

Your "hippies" are actually quite mainstream for Germany!!

In other words - these people are dressed in a manner which is not untypical of others in thier age group!