Friday 6 November 2009

War, I cry war!

Home education has been issued a death threat. Or a death promise.

A lot of people have been trying to interest journalists in the civil rights side of it. Very few have responded. Most have not.

More people have attempted to speak to their MPs. Again, some have listened and understood and acted. A lot have listened and dismissed us.

So what is there to do in a war when the enemy has an overwhelming advantage in arms? Keep talking, keep explaining, keep heartened, keep up the pressure, keep screaming "NO!"

Here is something practical I can suggest: you might write to a Lord or Lady.

If the legislation to put shackles on home education gets through Parliament - which is possible since Labour are a majority there - then it goes to the Lords. The Lords have struck down, or watered down, many an insane, immoral proposal of the government's before. However, if they don't know about it, they may not understand the underlying thrust of the recommendations which are specifically designed to rid this country of home education.

One way or another, the government will stop people home educating. A clue to this was the mention of Germany, in the beginning of the Badman Review. The laws there are from 1938 when Hitler was in power. Now that we are - happily or not - going to be dragged into Europe, having donated our sovereign power to the other countries of the EU, we will likely have to come into line with policies operating in other EU countries. Home education is illegal in Germany. A home educating family fled to France to find that German police came to their door in France. Another home educating child was removed from her family and put in a detention unit simply because she was home educated.

This, put quite starkly, is our future.

It is not a question of whether or not we are registered and a few lovely LA people approve of us and give us (what we should have already) exam centres and other sweeties. This is the outright survival of home education or not. This is war. THIS IS WAR.

Badman said we had to come out of the trenches. He recognised that this is war. He stated that it is war.

It is reinforced by the fact that, although the Badman review was completely and fatally flawed, it has not been shoved in the nearest incinerator. It has been taken up by an odious Secretary of State. It has been followed by a 'consultation' - yet another misuse of a word -since they consult ONLY to say they have consulted but THEY DO NOT LISTEN and they do not change their pettifogging minds.

I am not trying to offend anyone or place blame, but we really must open our eyes. We need to wonder why a PUBLIC authority -bought and paid for by US - needs to inspect us. We need to think about why the government is so keen to impose more restrictions on home education when the existing laws are more than adequate to deal with ANY problem in home education should it arise.

We need to ask ourselves why a group of people in charge of a country seem to be so deaf, so intolerant, so incapable of listening, so intransigent, so prejudiced, so convinced that they are right that they are determined to enter our homes - our private places - and interrogate our children ALONE.

Is that the action of a benign group of people?

Is this what we want for our children? To be under the jackboot of people like these who DO NOT CARE ONE STUFF for our children/any children unless those children are being perfectly groomed to produce money for the economy (meaning themselves) as proper economic units should be.

If they cared for children, NO CHILD in their care would suffer. No child would have a poor outcome. No child would leave their care lost and lonely and labelled as human refuse.

No child in a dangerous situation would be left to die or to be grievously wounded - no matter what time of year it was or how many parties were planned. If they cared, they would protect. But they don't care. They just do not. Only enough to manacle home educators who are producing children with inquiring minds and questioning but loving hearts.

They care about putting your home educated child in prison.

They care about that.

3 comments:

  1. Yes it is war. We really do have a massive fight on our hands. There are more troops out there who have yet to get involved. Lets get as many more people with us as possible.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!

    ReplyDelete