On a different, but somewhat related topic, whether someone gets their education in public school, private school, homeschooling, or unsachooling - wouldn’t you think that an employer could tell something about the prospective employee’s competence on basic educational skills by how they fill out an employment application?
On the other hand, it seems as though many employers don’t do handwritten applications anymore, but are done “online” - which seems to be something that could easily be faked by having someone else fill out the online form. With a hand-written form you can see if the prospective employee can: read and understand questions, spell, express themselves competently, etc.
It used to be the day you filled out the form, in person, that you were often interviewed right then and there. Of course, I realize I am speaking of entry level type jobs, but my point is, it would seem to me that where you got your education to read, write, do math, etc., is irrelevant as long as you can do it competently.
The argument by the state is that if a child is not “properly educated” they are more likely to become a burden to the community. But, as many have already pointed out, statistics show that more than half of public educated kids can’t do basic reading, writing, or math. So who is “abusing” who?
Now, if real neglect can be demonstrated, that’s a different issue.
Contrary to what has been erroneously posted here, unschooling is a approach to homeschooling. It’s not homeschooling OR unschooling.