I have a bit of personal history on this subject. I heard a similar case in 1994 when I was a member of the Texas Supreme Court. In that case, bureaucrats interpreted the state’s compulsory attendance law to exclude home school instruction as an acceptable substitute for public school attendance. Based on the state agency’s policy statements, school districts and their attendance officers actually began prosecuting parents for the “crime” of teaching their children at home!
The Home School Legal Defense Association was one of the plaintiffs in that case. And I was pleased that we issued a unanimous ruling affirming the rights of parents to teach their children at home, something that parents have done since the beginning of time.
Whether for religious reasons, or just a preference for the parents to be directly in charge of their child's education, the choice to home school must be respected in America as a basic freedom of the family.
While our government should of course endeavor to ensure every child has access to education, we must be careful not to carry that obligation so far as to begin prescribing exactly what that education must be. Independence and flexibility have always been essential aspects of American education, and we must protect parents’ right to decide what type of education is best for their own children.
Above all, we must remember that it is at home, not in the classroom, where education begins. Students whose parents are actively involved in their education have a leg up on others, whether their learning takes place at a school, or in their living room.
- Senator John Cornyn, R TX
Viva la Homeschooling!
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4 comments:
Hi, Sprittibee here. One more time, I'm posting the UN Convention of the Rights of a Child... in case anyone missed it. I believe that Obama's pro-UN stance (he sponsored the Global Poverty Act), that he will ratify this treaty. This treaty is detrimental to the rights we have as free Americans, parents, and homeschoolers. Please read the text and my notes below:
QUOTES FROM THE CONVENTION OF THE RIGHTS OF A CHILD - BY THE UNITED NATIONS... (My notes in italics)...
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the child is protected against
all forms of discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status, activities, expressed
opinions, or beliefs of the child's parents, legal guardians, or family members.
Article 2, section 2
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In the case of the German homeschooling family, the UN Treaty was used to say that the family was not allowed to homeschool the children because they were instilling religious values on their children. As a Christian, you should take this threat very seriously. It may be coming to a court room near you... and a homeschool near you - if Obama has his way.
Read this quote from the German consul general, Wolfgang Drautz:
"the German government has a legitimate interest in countering the rise of parallel societies that are based on religion."
And from a WorldnetDaily Article (click here for the article German Homeschooling Cases Updated)
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States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right
to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given
due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.
Article 12, section 1
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So it is the states' job to make sure your child can practice and form their views (regardless of yours as their parent). Sounds a lot like Hitler to me!
Here's a quote for you from the Hitler Era:
In 1937, the dictator said, "The Youth of today is ever the people of tomorrow. For this reason we have set before ourselves the task of inoculating our youth with the spirit of this community of the people at a very early age, at an age when human beings are still unperverted and therefore unspoiled. This Reich stands, and it is building itself up for the future, upon its youth. And this new Reich will give its youth to no one, but will itself take youth and give to youth its own education and its own upbringing."
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To this end, States Parties shall:
(a) Encourage the mass media to disseminate information and material of social and cultural
benefit to the child and in accordance with the spirit of article 29;
Article 17, (a)
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Again, indoctrination. I don't let my kids watch TV for that very same reason. They have never seen Lost, American Idol, House, and whatever else trash that the networks dish out. They only watch movies that we pre-screen, comics that we pre-screen when they are at relatives houses, and we play pre-screened video games. Some would argue at the UN that I'm in breach with the Convention of the Rights of a Child by not allowing the MASS MEDIA to help educate and indoctrinate my kid. What do you think? Who's right is it to educate your child?
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States Parties recognize the right of the child to education, and with a view to achieving this
right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity, they shall, in particular:
(a) Make primary education compulsory and available free to all;
Article 28, section 1, (a)
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They aren't talking about homeschooling here. Trust me.
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States Parties shall promote and encourage international cooperation in matters relating to
education, in particular with a view to contributing to the elimination of ignorance and illiteracy
throughout the world and facilitating access to scientific and technical knowledge and modern
teaching methods. In this regard, particular account shall be taken of the needs of developing
countries.
Article 28, section 3
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So what if you teach your kid in a way that they deem unfit? What if you teach contrary to a modern method? What if you teach them an opposing viewpoint about a certain subject? Seems like all they have to do is step in now - and take your kids away for their own safety. Since you won't have a gun (Obama is against you owning small arms and so is the UN), what are you doing to do when they come? Go to jail? Run for the border? By then, it may be too late.
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2. States Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons who have not attained
the age of 15 years do not take a direct part in hostilities.
3. States Parties shall refrain from recruiting any person who has not attained the age of 15 years
into their armed forces. In recruiting among those persons who have attained the age of 15
years but who have not attained the age of 18 years, States Parties shall endeavor to give
priority to those who are oldest.
Article 38, sections 2 & 3
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By ratifying this treaty, if they enforce a draft in the USA, we will be obliged to recruit kids who are 15 and up. By the time this happens, it may not be just boys, either. Are you willing to be party to the adoption of this document by the USofA? By voting for Obama, you're making your voice heard loud and clear that you approve of international law in America.
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States Parties undertake to submit to the Committee, through the Secretary-General of the
United Nations, reports on the measures they have adopted which give effect to the rights
recognized herein and on the progress made on the enjoyment of those rights
Article 44, section 1
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State Parties are OUR states. The ones that used to be FREE STATES. Now they are in submission to the UN on parental rights. And not only that, but our kids belong to the UN because they can come in and subjectively read these rules how they see fit and use international force to take our kids from us and place them wherever they will be more indoctrinated. That is the truth. Read what is happening to German homeschoolers and see for yourself. I'm not making this stuff up - as much as I wish I were. These are cold hard facts from 2008. Not science fiction.
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An amendment adopted in accordance with paragraph 1 of the present article shall enter into
force when it has been approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations and accepted
by a two-thirds majority of States Parties.
3. When an amendment enters into force, it shall be binding on those States Parties which have
accepted it, other States Parties still being bound by the provisions of the present Convention
and any earlier amendments which they have accepted.
Article 50, section 2 & 3
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Now, to make amendments to this document since it is already in force, 2/3 of the states (not just American states but international ones, too - all around the globe) have to ratify it. If it is an anti-Christian amendment - it won't take much to get 2/3 if you include all of the Middle East and Africa in the vote count. So this document is a living one - that can change upon the whim of the UN. It is a beast that can't be tamed by reason. It is the end of our parental rights and American sovereignty. Hitler was right. The youth of our nation are its greatest treasure. They are freedom's only chance. If we adopt this measure, we are enslaving them to international law before many are even born.
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I clicked on comment to say RIGHT ON about the homeschooling post -- I like how he emphasizes that parents are their children's first teachers -- this always mystifies me when people say "Oh, I could never teach him to read!" Well, you taught him to talk, didn't you? Heh.
But since I see you've posted again about how awful the UN is for trying to protect children from their parents, let me ask you this:
Is there anything that you feel can fairly be done about teenaged girls whose faces are slashed from mouth to ear on both sides to make them unattractive to other men besides their husbands? Who are forced into marriage with old men when they're 12? Children who are handed guns and expected to fight in wars or sweep for mines? Who have their genitals mutilated? Is there any way to make those children safe?
I urge you to think about these words, instead of the context of a safe, loving, nurturing American home like yours, in the context of the whole world. Can you think of any children whose lives and spirits might be saved by this convention, or should *all* parents be allowed to to just what they please with their kids?
Oops - I was logged in as my son! :) I'm sure he would be a stronger proponent of children's rights even than I am. :D
Lostcheerio - Sweetie, I am totally with you on taking care of children. I donate to charities that save Indian prostitutes and children who are on the street. I donate to charities that house orphans and help children who are running for their lives from Muslim extremists doing the very things you spoke of. I think countries (sovereign countries) should make their own rules about what constitutes child abuse and then GO AFTER those creeps who torture and rape and abuse kids! It is not the UN's place to come in to "loving" and "nurturing" and "safe" America and tell me how to raise my kids. We don't have to sign this treaty. Plenty of nations already have. If they want to bow to international law, let them. We already have laws on the books to protect our children. :)
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