This Elite Institution Thinks It’s Dangerous for Parents to Educate Their Own Children

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

 

While many families have been recently thrust into homeschooling due to a global health crisis, others have known the joys of homeschooling for years.

While the preservation of traditional family values is a major factor in the decision to homeschool, it is far from the only one, and it has become a popular alternative for families from all walks of life.

The progressive left is adamantly opposed to parents having the final authority over their children, and one elite institution is voicing their biased thoughts on the matter.

Harvard University is often regarded as the most respected and prestigious institute of higher education in the nation.

But just like many other colleges and universities, it has overwhelmingly adopted the progressive agenda in its teachings and outreach programs.

The bias is undeniable.  Harvard wants to put the best of the best into society – so they can further root the far-left’s agenda in the next generation of adults.

To this end, Harvard University Law School will host a conference in June for people who are opposed to giving parents the right to teach their own children.

The conference — “Homeschooling Summit: Problems, Politics, and Prospects for Reform” — is obviously a propaganda mouthpiece for left-wing organizations.

Just a glance at the organizations who are supporting the conference says it all – The Academy on Violence and Abuse, American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, and the Zero Abuse Project to name a few.

It is obvious that the Harvard-sponsored conference is meant to label homeschooling families as “abusive” for daring to opt-out of the progressive propaganda that far outweighs academics in today’s public schools.

It’s hard to believe that anyone thinks parents should have to ask for government permission to educate their own children in this day and age.

Historically, home education was conducted by parents long before the advent of public schools.  Now, governments – and their departments of child “welfare,” child “advocacy,” and child “protection” are all about stripping parents of their rights.

And that’s not all.

A statement on the purpose of the Harvard conference says it will focus on the “educational deprivation and child maltreatment” that they believe occur in every homeschooling family’s home.

They believe that homeschooling is dangerous because of lack of government oversight… that reforms must be made so that American parents end up with no choice but to have the government educate their children.

The left-wing attacks and blatant disregard for the truth and the rights of parents are sickening – and their Utopian dream to control the family unit is unconstitutional.

In conjunction with the Harvard conference, Elizabeth Bartholet, of the Harvard Law School Child Advocacy Program, gave an interview to an author writing on “the risks of homeschooling,” as reported by LifeSite News.

Bartholet believes parents have no right to homeschool their children because they are brainwashing them with conservative Christian values and keeping them from being part of “mainstream culture.”

As if not wanting our children exposed to the influences of the left’s agenda in our mainstream culture is a bad thing.

She calls homeschooling parents “extreme religious ideologues,” and even dared to say that homeschool families “promote female subservience and white supremacy.”

Bartholet could not be more offensive to homeschooling families and has made no secret of the fact that she believes our children should be controlled by the state.

She uses extreme examples in which children were abused by mentally-ill parents who “homeschooled” in order to declare the entire practice is “evil.”

In addition to her belief that children cannot be well-rounded individuals who are tolerant of others and their beliefs, Bartholet says homeschooling is a threat to democracy.

She also believes that parents must be required to ask for permission to teach their own children – that they must “prove” they are qualified and be monitored by government bureaucrats if “allowed” to homeschool.

Sadly, in many ways, this is already the case.

Several states require that parents who wish to homeschool provide their “qualifications” (many require proof of parents’ education level), curriculum choices, mandatory standardized test scores, and updates that are sent annually to the state.

Some states are far more overreaching than others when it comes to homeschooling, but the fact of the matter is, we almost always have to receive “permission” in one form or another by filing paperwork with local districts.

Although homeschooling has become more widespread and accepted in recent decades, families are still on their guard for simply believing they understand their own child better than anyone else.

Elizabeth Bartholet is just one symptom of a growing disease — rampant disregard for the rights of parents in modern society.

Homeschool advocates point to the irony – and hypocrisy — of the attacks from progressives who can’t stand the fact that parents want nothing to do with their agenda.

They claim homeschooling parents are “indoctrinating” children with traditional values and Biblical teachings, and think their left-wing beliefs are the only ones that should be accepted today.

The real truth is, homeschooled children are typically performing far above grade level.  They learn for the love of learning.  They are independent and well-socialized with peers and people of all ages.  They take the lead and lend a helping hand.

With so many families now experiencing the joys of homeschooling until schools reopen again, it may be a wake-up call for many.

And it wouldn’t be surprising if more families make the decision to continue this amazing experience, showing progressive, anti-family elites exactly who knows best when it comes to our children – their parents.