US Evangelicals Demand German Home Schooling

US Evangelicals are furious at the authorities in Erlangen for preventing the parents of Melissa Busekros from home-schooling the girl.  They have created this Web site asking for everyone to boycott all German goods. Home-schooling is not allowed in Germany, while in the US it is a growning phenomenon, especially among Christian fundamentalists. This is driving some evangelicals into a frenzy.  The right-wing daily Washington Times - owned by cult-leader Reverend Sun Myung Moon - accuses the German government of "fascist behavior":

"Every person in the civilized world should be shocked and appalled about these events in Germany. If the German government is not held accountable for these actions, then it is likely the problem will spread. If Germany does not recognize the fundamental right of parents to direct the education and upbringing of their children, then it can no longer be considered a free country. In this case, Germany could learn a lesson from the United States."

In the US, Christian home-schooled children learn that the earth is six thousand years old, that dinosaurs joined humans on Noah's Ark, that global warming is a communist myth and climate change is the result of "dinosaur flatulence", that America has a special covenant with God. The best home-schooled kids go on to study at private colleges such as Patrick Henry College, where they worship Jesus and Ronald Reagan. The most talented then end up at the right-wing think tanks such as the American Enterprise Institute, where they plan the next pre-emptive wars against countries they've never visited.

Comments

[erphschwester]

nun, was mich angeht, ist dies einer der wenigen punkte, an denen ich mit der meinung meiner regierenden übereinstimme. ich wage mir nicht vorzustellen, welche blüten die "hauserziehung" in deutschland treiben würde. die ersten ableger davon hatten wir schon in staatlichen schulen, die sich sehr schwer damit taten, dagegen tätig zu werden. auf initiative der medien machten sie´s dann doch: tätig werden. es hätte auch ganz anders ausgehen können ...

[littleandy]

Ob die Herren Kritiker auch so aufschreien würden, wenn es um die Erziehung von muslimischen Kindern durch ihre islamistischen Eltern ginge?

[Potsdam Amerikanerin]

Some gifted homeschoolers seem to defy the negative stereotypes in your last paragraph.

http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pwb/02/0603/6a.shtml
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2003/macarthur.html

It's also worth noting that most western European countries are more tolerant than Germany of home education. According to this 2005 article:

http://www.springerlink.com/content/q8665kh8n047168h/

"There are countries which:
- accomodate home educators and have always done so (Belgium, Denmark, Eire, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, most of Switzerland, UK);
- have not permitted home education sometime in the past, but now do so (Austria);
- now no longer permit home education in the word of law, but would appear to permit individual instances (Spain, Greece, two Swiss cantons, Netherlands);
- have compulsory schooling (Germany)."

[2020]

What a trashy website. The parents want to home school their children, but they can't even write the word 'family' [fam liy] without typos? And look at that terrible little banner they put on their website. By the way: Maybe the family should move to China, famous for its religious freedoms and home of ESPRIT, the fashion label on one of the kid's sweat shirt.