Nebraska
Prepared Mother Draws the Line
Recently, a social worker contacted a Home School Legal Defense Association member family with allegations that the children were being left unattended in their own yard, that the family’s diet and medical care were deficient, that the family’s methods of discipline were questionable, and that the parents had failed to send their one school-aged child to school.
The mother firmly but politely indicated that her children were not left in situations which could be potentially dangerous. She allowed the social worker to see the children, but not talk to them, and she provided the name of the family physician to verify the children’s good health. The mother further assured the social worker that she used reasonable methods of discipline with her children and that her child was home schooled in accordance with Rule 13 of the Nebraska law.
However, the social worker still wanted to see the child’s schoolbooks and to know why the family was home schooling. The mother refused to provide this information. With a parting comment that home schooling does not work for every family and a promise to return in two weeks to test the child, the social worker left.
HSLDA commends this mom for courteously, yet firmly standing on her Fourth Amendment constitutional rights and protecting her children from an unwarranted interview as part of an investigation based on false information.
Since the social worker merely had a report that the child was not in school and had no information that the child’s education was being neglected, she had no basis for requiring that the child be tested. The law places the burden on social services to prove—with facts—that the child’s education is being neglected. HSLDA informed the social worker that there would not be any testing of the children. Neither HSLDA nor the mother have heard from the social worker since then.
This scenario illustrates how important it is for our member families to understand their rights and to be prepared to think quickly on their feet if a social worker arrives unannounced at the front door.
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Nebraska
Admitted to statehood:
March 1, 1867
Origin of name:
From Omaha or Otos Indian word meaning “broad water” or “flat river,” describing the Platte River.
Motto:
Equality before the law.
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