Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Mike Farris:
The Badman Report, a recent review of the home education law in England, cites Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: that “in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child must be given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.”

Badman then says, “Yet under the current legislation and guidance, local authorities have no right of access to the child to determine or ascertain such views.”

Badman recommends that local authorities be given the power to

• Compel entry into the homes of families engaged in home education.
• Separate the child from his or her parents.
• Interrogate the child both concerning his or her wishes and to satisfy the interrogator that the child’s education is “suitable.”

This approach flies in the face of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees everyone “the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.”

Badman believes that unless officials can enter a home, no one can know for sure what is happening with the child. But unless the government is willing to install surveillance cameras in the home of every family, there is no way to absolutely guarantee that officials truly know what is happening in each home. Freedom comes with some risks—but the totalitarian alternative is far worse in the long-run.

I’m Mike Farris.