The Dark Side Of Homeschool

Although most parents want to protect their children, child abuse is an irrefutable fact in our society today. Sometimes the abuse goes unnoticed by those who can help whether the child is schooled in the public system or at home.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, "in 2007, the number of homeschooled students was about 1.5 million, an increase from 850,000 in 1999 and 1.1 million in 2003.”

Rachel Coleman, a PhD student who studies the role of children in the Christian right, “does not believe that homeschooling parents are more abusive than others.” However, Coleman “argues that because the practice is almost entirely unregulated in much of the country, it can make abusive situations worse, allowing parents to hide their crimes and denying kids access to outside authority.”

Erica Lynn Parsons, a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina who was being homeschooled by her adoptive parents, was reported missing by her stepbrother, according to The Daily Beast. Then it came to light that she hadn't been seen since 2011!

Hence, it may seem that it is easier for the world to forget that these children exist when they are homeschooled. That is why Erica's birth mother wants to change all this by enacting "Erica’s Law, which would provide greater oversight over homeschooling."

According to The Daily Beast, homeschooling is completely unregulated in 10 states, and in 15 others, all parents have to do is inform the school district that they are teaching their kids at home. Even in states where regulation exists, "the law gives its officials no right to enter homes or to inspect any records besides test scores," says a state legal summary distributed by the Home School Legal Defense Association.

[National Center For Education Statistics / The Daily Beast]