Anti-Homeschool Germany

[Meriadoc Brandybuck]

Has anyone one heard about the incident where a perfectly sane and normal homeschooled girl in Germany that was taken away from her parents? I think that its terrible, especially since I too am homeschooled.

Details:

The situation for homeschoolers in Germany is getting worse each week.
Just last Thursday, a 17-year-old homeschooled girl was forcibly
removed from her parent's custody by over 15 police officers. The
homeschooled girl has been placed in the child psychiatry unit of the
Nuremberg clinic.

Homeschooling is not legal in Germany. There are over 40 cases
currently in court or being appealed. Christian families are fleeing
Germany for safety in nearby countries. The unconscionable treatment
of sincere and faithful Christian homeschool families is a sad legacy
from Germany's past. Homeschooling was first banned under Adolf
Hitler, and that ban is still enforced today.

Many families who have had their children forcibly taken from their
home each day and taken to government school have since fled Germany,
but there are still some homeschoolers. The latest incident involves
17-year-old Melissa Busekros, the girl sent to the Nuremberg
psychiatry unit. What is being done to this sensitive girl--just to
set an example of enforcing the compulsory schooling at all costs--is
reprehensible and causing trauma to unassuming and lovable Melissa.

In the summer of 2005, when Melissa was 15, she was told she would
have to repeat the seventh grade at the government school because she
was failing math and Latin. She had good grades in the rest of her
classes, so her parents tutored her at home for those two subjects.
When the school officials found out they were angry and then expelled
Melissa, so the family began to homeschool full time.

However, the Youth Welfare office then took the family to court
because they were homeschooling. Then, on Tuesday, January 30, 2007,
social workers and police officers came to the Busekros home and
forcibly took Melissa to the child psychiatric unit where she was
questioned for four hours before she was returned home. Then two days
later, 15 police officers and social workers came to the Busekros home
and took Melissa away from her parents by force and placed her in the
child psychiatric unit.

According to Melissa's father, Hubert Busekros, this treatment was
justified by the psychiatrist's finding two days previously that
Melissa was supposedly developmentally delayed by one year and that
she suffered from school phobia.

Nevertheless, one organization concerned with education expressed
outrage at the treatment of Melissa Busekros.

"The Netzwerk Bildungsfreiheit [the Network for Freedom of Education]
condemns this inconsiderate and totally incommensurate behavior on the
part of the officials involved and demands that they give Melissa her
freedom and return her to her family immediately," the group was
quoted in an article on its website. To view the site, as well as more
information and a photograph of the Busekros family, go to
http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=3697 .

ACTION

We ask you to take a moment and do [this]: First, call or email
the German Embassy and give them this message:

"We are shocked to hear of the Busekros' homeschooled daughter Melissa
being removed from the custody of her parents and being placed in a
child psychiatric unit. This is an outrage that hearkens back to the
Nazi era. We cannot believe a free nation would put a homeschooled
child in a psychiatric ward for 'school phobia.' The attack on the
homeschool families throughout Germany must stop."

The German Embassy can be contacted at:

Dr. Klaus Scharioth
Ambassador
German Embassy
4645 Reservoir Road NW
Washington, DC, 20007-1998
(202) 298-4000

The embassy can be emailed from its website:
http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=3696 .

BACKGROUND

German parents have been fighting for the right to homeschool for the
last seven or more years. However, all efforts have failed in the face
of the stubborn German government and their official response that
they cannot "allow a counterculture to exist."

We believe the hope for Germany will be via the international pressure
bearing down so that they abandon their witch-hunt after homeschoolers
and their terrible treatment of these innocent families.

Homeschoolers remaining in Germany are hoping to legalize
homeschooling in one state and thereby make a safe-haven for
homeschoolers. However, the German homeschoolers are so few and the
attacks so intense that it is hard to make any progress in this area.

What are your guy's thoughts on this?

[rohirrim TR]

Well I heard about this story, I think they may have reacted a little harshly. But it is clearly noted that they were breaking the law. In principle I don't think the government should dictate education (as I've said before almost everything the govt. touches, turns not to gold but to crap). I'm a fan of free choice adn former homeschooler myself, that notwithstanding its against the law of that land so those people don't have a whole lot to go on with the exception that the Govt's response was rather disproportionate to the severity of the crime.

[Tessar]

I think the way that it was done was very odd and overblown.

However I'm not a huge fan of home schooling, having been taught that way my entire life till I started university.

[Meriadoc Brandybuck]

Originally Posted by rohirrim TR

Well I heard about this story, I think they may have reacted a little harshly. But it is clearly noted that they were breaking the law. In principle I don't think the government should dictate education (as I've said before almost everything the govt. touches, turns not to gold but to crap). I'm a fan of free choice adn former homeschooler myself, that notwithstanding its against the law of that land so those people don't have a whole lot to go on with the exception that the Govt's response was rather disproportionate to the severity of the crime.

I think the point was to prove the absurdity of the actions taken and they want the German government to remove the ban.

Yay! 900th post! I didn't even realize it.)

[Thain Peregrin Took I]

I think that that law is discriminating. Why did they keep it as a law even after Hitler? It's not like the parents are torturing their kids or something; they're just teaching them at home! There's nothing wrong with that (unless they somehow do it in a way that's against the law besides that it's illegal there.)

[Earniel]

The article is somewhat slanted, and I feel like I'm missing some information to form a decent opinion on this. However, while I'm no big fan of homeschooling, it does sound like the system over-reacted big time. On the other hand, if they sent her to a psychiatry unit, I can't help but thinking some trauma must already have been present.

[Butterbeer]

I am much more worried by your posting this zealotry and militant fundamendalist army activism here on a tolkien board.

To say it is slanted is beyond recognition - and that is me being traditionally understated.

What i hated was the 'WHAT YOU SHOULD DO NOW' part and the radical fundamentalist rally crys to defend and enlist what is effectively a dangerious splinter group, every bit as fundamental and dangerious to society as the Muslim fundamentalists that are causing havoc in the world.

An actively enlisting and increasingly separatist christian movement looking to withdraw from the modern world and any form of state education and who utlimately wish to see the destruction of the west as we know it.

(btw read what i actually say before replying - i shall say this only once - and that in a french accent! )

[rohirrim TR]

Originally Posted by Butterbeer

I am much more worried by your posting this zealotry and militant fundamendalist army activism here on a tolkien board.

To say it is slanted is beyond recognition - and that is me being traditionally understated.

What i hated was the 'WHAT YOU SHOULD DO NOW' part and the radical fundamentalist rally crys to defend and enlist what is effectively a dangerious splinter group, every bit as fundamental and dangerious to society as the Muslim fundamentalists that are causing havoc in the world.

An actively enlisting and increasingly separatist christian movement looking to withdraw from the modern world and any form of state education and who utlimately wish to see the destruction of the west as we know it.

(btw read what i actually say before replying - i shall say this only once - and that in a french accent! )

I can see your point, and I agree the story was written to get people angry but I don't know that I'd go so far as to call them militants thats pretty harsh considering all their doing is asking for a petition (a meaningless petition to boot). But I think the point everyone is missing is they were breaking the law and should have known better, they can disagree with the law and work to change it but till then this is the way things work.

I disagree that there is a parallel to Islamic fundamentalist if it were islamofascists writing that it would say kill all German psychiatrists or something.

Personally I don't like this idea of a bunch of americans petitioning a foreign country about a case that is fairly cut and dried, the idea that Germany would care about such a petition is ludicrous, and kind of stupid for a bunch of random people to get involved in, its up to Germany's legal system.

[durinsbane2244]

that is RIDICULOUS

i am not homeschooled, but some of my good friends are, and they are not in need of mental aid...that makes me angry...if i wasn't so apathetically inclined, i'd write a letter...

[BeardofPants]

Expert child-psychiatric opinion for the execution of

SGB VIII as per § 35 a, section 1, Sentence 2, No. 1 for

Busekros Melissa. *23.04.1991, Schallershofer Str. 72a, 91056 Erlangen, who

had been presented at our clinic on 2007-01-30.

I. FINDINGS: (according to the international classification system ICD 10 of the WHO)

Cause for presentation:
Melissa B. had been officially deregistered by the school administration of Christian-Ernst Gymnasium in Erlangen on 2005-02-28 because she attended school only very selectively since September 2004 (J), after she had failed class 7 in the school year 2003-2004 and had been set back to class 7. Even after the Bavarian VGH's affirmation of the lawfulness of the deregistration on 2005-12-18 and after having been designated to the school of her school district, M. refused to attend school. Melissa's father and Melissa herself viewed themselves as victims of misunderstandings and slanders from the school and the Youth Welfare Office. M. reported that she "had a very bad time" at school and couldn't bear up against the school situation. She reported further that she had organized a large number of school activities but didn't wish to give any details away. The mother reported in a telephone conversation that she had been discontented with the school situation. She had indeed tried to reinforce the lessons in class 7 but was overwhelmed with the amount of content.

The father reported in a telephone conversation on the afternoon of 2005-01-30 that he was sure M. would begin her university education in summer 2008, because she had caught up on all of the subject matter. He himself keeps on rejecting normal schooling. The father reports further that he would demand that M. be re-admitted to her old class at the CEG. The father sees himself as a victim of state high-handedness and he will resist standard schooling of M. He could only with difficulty imagine schooling of M. in the school for the sick, which is affiliated to KJP Erlangen. The father can't comment the emotional situation of M. and sees absolutely no endangerment of her emotional development.

Psychopathological findings:
At first contact, M. was alert, oriented, calm, somewhat browbeaten. M. presents herself as being affectively noninvolved, her drive and psychomotor movements seemed to be normal, thinking and perception are not greatly disturbed. M. appears incommunicative, appeasing, her willingness to cooperate did not seem genuine. Her mood tended toward depression, the affective ability was markedly reduced. Overall, M. appeared very unhappy, as if at a dead end.

1. CLINICAL PSYCHIATRIC SYNDROME:

In summary, the current clinical-psychiatric findings show that an emotional disturbance of childhood or adolescence exists in M.. It is linked with a severe school phobia and a massive self-esteem problem. (ICD-10: F92.0)

2. SPECIFIC DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS OF SCHOLASTIC SKILLS:

No test conducted.
3. DATA ON INTELLECTUAL LEVEL:

No test conducted, at first estimate: Norm-variant of average intelli-
gence.

4. PHYSICAL SYMPTOMATOLOGY:

None.
5. CURRENT ABNORMAL PSYCHOSOCIAL SITUATIONS:

Abnormal educational conditions

6. GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF PSYCHOSOCIAL ADJUSTMENT:

Serious and general social impairment in the area of school adjustment and school related interests, of leisure activities and coping with social situations.

II. OPINION:

During the conversation it had been accomplished to confront Melissa with her situation. By reason of the severe school refusal, the emotional disturbance and the parents' hitherto insufficient willingness to cooperate, a basic reorientation in a special education facility / group home is urgently required in order to avoid danger to the further development.

Through assistance and rehabilitation measures (small group size and intensive school support), M. might accomplish to finish school in this setting, since she would quickly be excluded due to the severity of the disturbance and the described self-esteem problem. A favourable development is possible.

Melissa Busekros was examined by us. She has a childhood emotional disorder, severe school phobia and an oppositional denial-syndrome. Melissa lacks insight into her illness and the need for treatment, and considers herself healthy and her behaviour fully normal. M. needs urgent help in a closed setting if need be, and subsequent special education treatment to ensure schooling.

As it isn't furthermore not possible for the parents to judge the danger to their daughter correctly, and make the necessary decisions about the daughter's further development or the type and length of the treatment and the schooling, the responsibility for her residence, healthcare and representation before officials and authorities should rest with the youth welfare office in Erlangen.

By reason of the ascertained findings, at the present moment, we must proceed from the assumption that the child's welfare is endangered and also the conditions for inpatient placement a therapeutic special education facility are met. By reason of the severity of the symptomatology, the provision of stable and dependable contacts with peers and adult caretakers as well as the development of Melissa's very limited mental ability to cope with pressure can only be assured in such facilities.
M. is incapable of leading the self-determined and self-structured life she wishes. The necessary measure is necessary for avoiding a considerable endangerment to her further physical and emotional development, and it can only be implemented in a special education setting, as previous experience shows that she whould avoid other measures.
In addition, M. needs professional child and adolescent psychiatric treatment and care, that can be implemented in an outpatient setting. By reason of the detected clinical-psychiatric disorders, Melissa Busekros' psychological health has already deviated from the condition which is typical for the respective age for at least one year. M. has met the requirements for granting integration assistance as per (SGB VIII) §35a, section 1, sentence 2, No. 1, because without future professional therapeutic help there is the danger that her participation in the life of society is restricted.

Link

[Jonathan]

Thanks for posting that BoP. The psychiatrist's opninion was just what I was interested in.

[The Telcontarion]

Homeschooling Statistics
Home / Legislative / News

Academic Statistics
A Class of Their Own
Spelling Bee
Home Education - A Bright Start
Homeschooling Excels


Academic Statistics
The average homeschool 8th grade student performs four grade levels above the national average (Rudner study). One in four homeschool students (24.5%) are enrolled one or more grades above age level. Students who have been home schooled their entire lives have the highest scholastic achievement. In every subject and at every grade level of the ITBS and TAP batteries, homeschool students scored significantly higher than their counterparts in public and private schools.


Homeschool profile

Median amount spent on home schooling per child in the US - $450


Household incomes

18% of home school families earn less than $25,000, 44% of households between $25,000 and $49,000.


Religion

Over 75% attend religious services


Television

65.3% of 4th grade homeschoolers spend one hour or less per day watching television


Regulation

States with High government regulation of home schools - homeschool battery score - 86

States with Moderate government regulation of home schools - homeschool battery score - 85

States with Low government regulation of home schools - homeschool battery score - 86

Certification

Performance of 4th grade home schoolers where at least one parent was certified - Composite Percentage Score 82

Performance of 4th grade home schoolers where neither parent was certified - Composite Percentage Score 82


Minority Performance

Home school - average reading score (white) - 87 percentile; Public school - average reading score (white) - 61 percentile

Home school - average reading score (minority) - 87 percentile; Public school - average reading score (minority) -49 percent

Home school - average math score (white) - 82 percentile; Public school - average math score (white) - 60 percentile

Home school - average math score (minority) - 77 percentile; Public school - average math score (minority) - 50 percentile


For data above reference Brian D. Ray, PhD, Home Schooling on the Threshold (NHERI Publications, PO Box 13939, Salem, OR 97309), and HSLDA, Home Education Across the USA (HSLDA, 17333 Pickwick Dr., Purcellville, VA 20132), and HSLDA, Home Schooling Works, Pass it on! Rudner Report, (HSLDA, 17333 Pickwick Dr., Purcellville, VA 20132).
Back to Top

A Class of Their Own
Home-Schooled Kids Defy Stereotypes, Ace SAT Test

By DANIEL GOLDEN, Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ATLANTA Published in Wall Street Journal (Front Page) 2/11/00

Jason Scoggins will never graduate from high school, have a class rank or be recommended by his guidance counselor. But Oglethorpe University wants him anyway.

Jason, who is 17 years old, was home-schooled by his mother. After he scored 1,570 out of a possible 1,600 on his SAT college-admissions test -- with a perfect 800 in math -- Oglethorpe invited him to compete with other top applicants for five scholarships valued at about $100,000 apiece. Of the 94 prospects in the Jan. 22 contest, eight were home-schoolers, each with SATs above 1,300.

The high scores are no fluke. As the movement grows larger and more diverse, evidence is mounting that home-schooling, once confined to the political and religious fringe, has achieved results not only on par with public education, but in some ways surpassing it. Though home-schooling may never be feasible for most families, the data offer little comfort to those who advocate a standardized curriculum as the best hope for improving American education. After all, each home-based pupil follows a unique lesson plan.

Jason's twin brother, Jeremy, also home-schooled, scored 1,480 on his SAT. "I was afraid we were the rogues of the education community," says Jeremy, who plans to attend the University of Georgia or the Georgia Institute of Technology. "It isn't that way anymore. People know that if we've been home-schooled, we'll do a little better than everyone else."

Though it is hard to track a movement that remains partly underground, advocates say that 1.5 million children nationwide are being taught at home; independent researchers put the figure closer to one million. The federal Education Department estimated the total in 1996 at 700,000 to 750,000; it expects to issue a revised count soon. In any case, home-schoolers far outnumber the 400,000 students attending charter schools, a more mainstream alternative. Total public- and private-school enrollment in the U.S. is about 50 million.

The growth in home-schooling reflects not only religious or educational concerns, but also alarm over school violence. Soon after last spring's Columbine High School murders, one home-schooling magazine ran the headline: "Tragedy in Colorado: Isn't It Time Your Kids Were Safe at Home?" This past September, the start of the first new school year since the slayings, the number of registered home-schoolers in Colorado surged 10.1%.

The SAT and the ACT, the nation's other major college-entrance test, have begun asking exam takers whether they were home-schooled. The 3,257 ACT takers and 2,219 SAT takers who last year identified themselves as home-schoolers are fewer than might be expected if a million or more students are being educated at home. But researchers say such students often are reluctant to declare themselves for privacy reasons or for fear of discrimination. Moreover, many taught at home in lower grades later attend high school.

Nonetheless, self-identified home-schoolers have bettered the national averages on the ACT for the past three years running, scoring an average 22.7 last year, compared with 21 for their more traditional peers, on a scale of one to 36. Home-schoolers scored 23.4 in English, well above the 20.5 national average; and 24.4 in reading, compared with a mean of 21.4. The gap was closer in science (21.9 vs. 21.0), and home-schoolers scored below the national average in math, 20.4 to 20.7.

On the SAT, which began its tracking last year, home-schoolers scored an average 1,083 (verbal 548, math 535), 67 points above the national average of 1,016. Similarly, on the 10 SAT2 achievement tests most frequently taken by home-schoolers, they surpassed the national average on nine, including writing, physics and French.


Income and Achievement

With average family incomes of $40,000 to $50,000, lower than the $50,000-to-$60,000 median rung, the home-schoolers defied the demographic correlation between high incomes and high SAT scores. They also contradict the stereotype that they are strictly rural white fundamentalists. Nearly 4% are black. Another 4% are Hispanic. And their parents have more education than the national norm. Join the Discussion: What will the trend towards home-schooling mean for the U.S. education system? Can home-schooling techniques be used in public education?

Maralee Mayberry, chairwoman of the sociology department at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and author of a book on home-schooling, warns that the data only document the existence of a top tier of home-school whiz kids; there also may be an unstudied bottom layer of failures. Still, she says, research has shown that the key elements in effective education are small class size, individualized instruction, and a disciplined, nurturing environment -- all characteristics of home-schooling.

Sandra Feldman, president of the American Federation of Teachers, says the test data don't cast doubt on the value of teachers. "Why draw any grand conclusions?" she asks, since so few home-schoolers take the SAT and ACT. "I just say I'm happy for them. These are parents who are very highly motivated, teaching their kids at home and doing a very good job," she says. She adds, however, that public schools need to do more to challenge gifted students if they are to avoid losing some of them to home-schooling.

Once in college, home-schoolers appear to be living up to their test scores. Those enrolled at Boston University in the past four years have a 3.3 grade-point average, out of a perfect four. Similarly, Georgia's Kennesaw State University found that its home-schooled students had higher-than-average GPAs as college freshmen.

At Kennesaw State, both the president and the vice president of the student government were educated at home. The president, John M. Fuchko III, whose mother began teaching him after he was labeled hyperactive in kindergarten, says home-schoolers will change college as much as college changes them. He predicts that they will pressure colleges to individualize instruction and stop insisting on survey courses as prerequisites for more advanced studies.

"In home-schooling, you don't have to sit for half a year studying something you already know," says the 22-year-old senior. "If you're prepared to go to the next level, you take it to the next level. Home-schooling breeds enterprising people."

That enterprise has impressed many secular colleges, and most havemodified their admissions policies to accommodatehome-schoolers. A recent survey by the National Center for HomeEducation, a Virginia-based advocacy group, found that 68% ofcolleges now accept parent-prepared transcripts or portfolios inplace of an accredited diploma. That includes Stanford University,which last fall accepted 27% of home-schooled applicants -- nearlydouble its overall acceptance rate.

here is the rest of the link:
http://www.chec.org/Legislative/News...#1091224571440

Here are 2 more great links:
http://
www.reason.com/news/show/36566.html

http://whyhomeschool.blogspot.com/20...rs-digest.html

It's all about controlling the minds of the people, it's the thought police ok, that's all it is. That's why it was first introduced by hitler, social engineering; they want mindless uninformed none critical thinking sheep, so they can control them, that's it.

[brownjenkins]

I've never been a big fan of home schooling, or private schooling for that matter. I don't think it's so much a matter of grades as a matter of experience. The greatest thing we all learn from those twelve years of our lives isn't reading, writing or mathematics, it's learning to deal and live with peers in an environment outside of parental involvement.

I think public school is the best forum for this, because it lets you experience the widest base of peers. From smart kids, to dumb kids, from nice kids to mean kids, from good teachers to bad teachers. If you grow up in an atmosphere that is too "perfect", you simply aren't going to be ready for the real world when you get older.

I know a lot of adults who grew up in such a controlled environment and simply can't deal with the stress when things go wrong, and can't deal with people they don't get along with in a productive way. Many of them are very intelligent, due to being very well-taught while growing up, but they lack that experience with the darker side of life.

I can understand how parents think they are doing their kids a favor by making their childhood as productive and protective as possible, but I think that their actions ultimately produce adults that aren't as adaptable to the real world as they could be.

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

Grade standards are averages. So if this child indeed is (as I don't see proved here) a year off a standard, that's statistically likely. The Economist just discussed a study done on medical statistics showing that poorly run statistics "proved" Scorpio's were more likely to break a wrist, and suchlike. If this psychiatrist tested (and tested doubleblind, as opposed to having an unwilling patient delivered by the state) all the children in the school, they wouldn't all be "grade level".

The essential issue with compulsory schooling, to me, is that it's compulsory. We've determined that the state has a right to incarcerate people, due to their birth year. Why people who are otherwise all about human rights consider that normal is a mystery to me.

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

That you seem to be accepting 'age peer' and "peer' as identity. Here on the Entmoot, for example, other things than birthdays define who is a peer. It's only in the context of first accepting the separation of children by age from larger society that it's possible to view public school as the great leveler.

Originally Posted by brownjenkins

I think public school is the best forum for this, because it lets you experience the widest base of peers.

I can understand how parents think they are doing their kids a favor by making their childhood as productive and protective as possible, but I think that their actions ultimately produce adults that aren't as adaptable to the real world as they could be.

One of the arguments put forward by homeschool advocates is that removing kids from school actually has the potential to be more broadening with real world experience than the artificial social construct of schools.

[Rían]

I'd be interested in the psychiatric evaluation of some of those white supremecist kids in Germany - seems to me that they're more of a problem than a young girl who's a bit behind the curve scholastically and nervous of going to a public school (a pretty normal thing, IMO).

And why would this psychiatric evluation be available on the Internet? That seems kinda weird.

[The last sane person]

Too much of a slant on this article for me to tell. What site did you get it from?

[Butterbeer]

I am not per se against homeschooling - but rohirrim TR calls it straight and true when he says there are laws and rules in any country.


These may be just or not - but i do not see any case on that argument.


This is not America. This is Germany.

Nor do i care much either for the German authoritarian approach in this case. Full stop.

I take that Expert child-psychiatric opinion quoted, very lightly indeed -


but, frankly - what was posted here, on a tolkien board - THAT i take with utter disgust and quite frankly rather some hostility.

it is the exact equivalent from the honest mirror of what the radicalised christians are as to the fundamentalist Muslims.

...and we see this hate mongering propaganda posted here?

Right or left, liberal or Conservative ... who cares -

but say NO to Armegedonists from BOTH sides! ... and do not good christian, nor good atheist, alike, let them play on your fears or diasagreement to turn this world into a living Hell, or fulfill their extremist 'Armegeddon' wishes.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Originally Posted by brownjenkins

I've never been a big fan of home schooling, or private schooling for that matter. I don't think it's so much a matter of grades as a matter of experience. The greatest thing we all learn from those twelve years of our lives isn't reading, writing or mathematics, it's learning to deal and live with peers in an environment outside of parental involvement.

Private schools are often very nearly as free of parental involvement as public schools.

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

Originally Posted by Butterbeer

but, frankly - what was posted here, on a tolkien board - THAT i take with utter disgust and quite frankly rather some hostility.

it is the exact equivalent from the honest mirror of what the radicalised christians are as to the fundamentalist Muslims.

...and we see this hate mongering propaganda posted here?

Right or left, liberal or Conservative ... who cares -

but say NO to Armegedonists from BOTH sides! ... and do not good christian, nor good atheist, alike, let them play on your fears or diasagreement to turn this world into a living Hell, or fulfill their extremist 'Armegeddon' wishes.

as the begining of a debate thread. Do you think I was mistaken to do so?

It's clearly a biased account, straight from email, I'd assume. But one of the difficulties with the homeschool debate in NA is that so much of it is left to the fundamentalists. Yet, fundamentalists are far from the only homeschoolers. I don't know about Germany in general, but I do know that a lot of American service people there homeschool for reasons other than religious fundamentalism. Where are secular homeschoolers to build support, if everyone's notion is that it's a fundamentalist rejection of Western Civilization and open dialog?