In George Orwell’s novel 1984, Winston and his fellows were subjected to a regular ritual called the “Two-Minute Hate,” a brief video montage of horrible images — crimes, murders, calamities, and such — at which the viewers were expected to boo and hiss. Then an image of the designated enemy would appear, so that the irate audience could channel their rage at this personification of evil, even though he was little more than a made-up scapegoat.
Nick Winkler, a reporter at KWTV News 9 television station, has almost doubled the Orwellian standard. Instead of a mere two minutes, he treated Oklahoma City to a full Three-Minutes-and-Forty-Seconds Hate, complete with cruel child abuse, beating, and murder! His designated villain was homeschooling parents, every one of whom, he implies, should at least be presumed a potential child batterer.
This hatchet piece against homeschooling was aired during the 10:00 news Thursday night. You can view the segment online yourself. What follows is a complete verbatim transcript of the libelous hatefest, along with still images from the show, and my own insights.
KELLY OGLE: As many as 20,000 children in Oklahoma are homeschooled, and many study harder and learn more than kids in public schools. But, as Nick Winkler found out, sometimes homeschool can be used as a cover for parents who neglect or abuse children, and there’s no law against it.
No law against what, Kelly? What can you mean? No law against neglecting or abusing children? Because if so, I’m certain you’re mistaken. Or do you just mean there’s no law against homeschooling? But let’s see what Nick Winkler “found out”:
NICK WINKLER: State law does not force parents to send their kids away to school. So some parents just write a letter to the school and keep their kids at home. It’s that easy.
Actually, it’s even easier than that, Nick. There’s no need to “write a letter to the school.” Unless you’ve already enrolled your children in a school, then you’ll need to withdraw them, and I suppose that should be done in writing. But no matter, it’s pretty easy either way.
What I’m really wondering at this point is, why is this man standing in front of the State Capitol Building at 10:00 at night? Didn’t he know they were closed? Nick and his cameraman drove the News 9 van all the way from the Griffin Communications offices at 74th and Kelley to 23rd and Lincoln, just so he could report Live from the Capitol, to say those three sentences! The dome behind Nick is to let you, the viewer, know that this is a Serious, Important Story about Government. Sometimes I find the conventions of television news unbearably silly.
The rest of Nick’s story is “canned.” (In other words, it’s not Live from the Capitol; it was taped and edited earlier.)
WINKLER (VOICE-OVER): We’ll never know her name. But she tells police her only friends… are cartoon characters.
WINKLER (VOICE-OVER): An eleven-year-old-girl was found sitting on a dirty mattress in a dark room, humming, and rocking herself. The little girl cannot read, does not know her last name… and has never been to school. Mom told police she was homeschooling the girl.
The incident to which Nick is alluding happened in southwest Oklahoma City (link to news article). Police have taken the poor neglected girl into protective custody, and they say her mother is mentally ill.
But where is Nick going with this? I thought the News 9 story would show how “there’s no law against” claiming to be homeschooling while actually neglecting or abusing children? But the mother’s false claim of homeschooling didn’t seem to deter the police one bit in this case. Maybe Nick will explain how the Oklahoma City police can enforce laws which he and Kelly Ogle claim don’t exist.
WOMAN IN A YELLOW SUIT: That’s an unfortunate, terrible incident.
WINKLER (VOICE-OVER): Teachers say many homeschooled children get an exceptional education, but police and lawmakers say some parents use homeschooling as an excuse to keep kids home, to hide neglect or abuse.
You are forgiven for not knowing the identity of the woman in the yellow suit at this point. You might assume she’s a teacher, since right after she speaks, Nick says, “Teachers say… [etc.]” Generally in television news, the name of the talking head is superimposed over the image, at least the first time she is shown, but that was not done in this hastily thrown-together hatchet piece. The woman is not a teacher; rather, she is Republican State Senator Kathleen Wilcoxson, of Oklahoma City. (Why Nick needed Sen. Wilcoxson’s testimony to confirm that the cruel neglect of a young girl is “an unfortunate, terrible incident” is a mystery to me.)
WILCOXSON: We do not require students to pass state tests in homeschool.
Ah, there’s the superimposed name! Nick was saving her identity as a surprise.
WINKLER (VOICE-OVER): In fact, Oklahoma does not regulate homeschooling at all. There are no requirements. Teachers do not have to be certified, and no one keeps track of attendance. The state education department does not even keep track of homeschool graduation rates.
WINKLER (VOICE-OVER): State Superintendent Sandy Garrett, referring to homeschooling, says, “What is graduation? The state cannot keep track because there is no way to measure it.”
Homeschooled kids study at home, until they go to college or start a career. They all graduate! Or none of them do. Kind of depends on what you think ‘graduation’ is. Sandy Garrett shows a much greater grasp of the subject than poor Nick. (I guess that’s why they made her “superintendant,” and why the News 9 team can’t spell superintendent.)
RICK WILLIAMSON: Again, I’ve mentioned that regulation really doesn’t improve homeschooling.
WINKLER (VOICE-OVER): Rick Williamson teaches his kids at home. Regulation, he says, would limit parents’ freedom.
More slipshod reporting. Notice the superimposed type over Rick Williamson. It says he’s with the “OK HOMESCHOOL EDUCATORS’ ASSOCIATION.” That’s nice, except, there is no such organization. Mr. Williamson is the director of the Oklahoma Christian Home Educators Consociation (OCHEC). Nick could have looked this information up on the OCHEC website, or, failing that, he could have read the huge banner behind Rick Williamson’s head! The one that says “Oklahoma Christian Home Educators Consociation,” I mean! (Are you starting to wonder if the state should track literacy among News 9 employees? That’s a most uncharitable thought, you should be ashamed.)
WINKLER (VOICE-OVER): So lawmakers rarely try to pass homeschool laws.
Yep, there they are, the lawmakers. And this amazing footage actually shows them rarely trying to pass homeschool laws! What a scoop! Gads, did I mention that I find television news utterly vapid? (Sigh.) Let’s continue, shall we?
WILCOXSON: They don’t want our help, and they don’t want our regulations.
WINKLER (VOICE-OVER): So why not have minimum standards like public schools? The District Attorney’s office says homeschoolers have powerful lobbyists, with money to influence lawmakers.
Whoa! All this time I thought the legislature was powerless to regulate homeschools because of Article XIII, Section 4 of the Oklahoma Constitution (which exempts children from compulsory school attendance if “other means of education are provided”). It would take a Constitutional amendment to regulate homeschools, not mere legislation. Or, so I thought.
But Nick Winkler’s got the real story. It’s those rich, powerful homeschool lobbyists who — come on, stop laughing, let the man finish his crackpot theory — the rich, powerful homeschool lobbyists who have bought the entire Oklahoma Legislature with their great big bags of ill-gotten, homeschool money! And Nick knows this because he heard it from someone over at the county District Attorney’s office!
Bribery is a serious crime, and I’m sure Ace Reporter Nick Winkler wouldn’t just air libelous allegations without some solid sources and specific evidence. Any second now (and there are only 93 seconds left in this report), Nick is going to name his sources, and name these powerful lobbyists, and name the bribe-taking lawmakers, right? I can’t wait.
WILCOXSON: They’re very active, very powerful, very outspoken. But as long as we don’t impact them legislatively, we don’t hear from them.
Well, she did say “powerful.” But Sen. Wilcoxson forgot to say who “they” are. She didn’t say “lobbyist,” and she didn’t say “money.” She said that “they” (Probably her constituents who homeschool? I’ll call her on Monday and ask her.) are “active” and “outspoken,” which doesn’t add up to much of a bribery scandal, if you ask me. But surely Nick is going somewhere with this? Maybe he should interview one of those powerful homeschool lobbyists! I’d love watching one of those guys squirm before Nick’s cold light of truth!
WILLIAMSON: Well, first off there are no lobbyists.
WINKLER (off screen): There aren’t.
WILLIAMSON: No. Um…
WINKLER (off screen): The D.A.’s office and the legislators tell us there are.
WILLIAMSON: Ah, I can tell you that we certainly just do not have any lobbyists. Now we do have a Capitol Day…
Dang the luck, wouldn’t you know, Nick just can’t find a homeschool lobbyist to corroborate his theory that homeschool lobbyists exist. Are those guys slippery, or what?
You’ve got to admire the Dan Rather technique on display here. We’re supposed to get the impression that Rick Williamson is lying, see? Because “the D.A.’s office and the legislators tell us” that Rick Williamson has lobbyists. Well… they didn’t tell us, as such, because the only legislator we’ve seen in this report is Sen. Wilcoxson, and she said no such thing. And Nick has not even given us a name, much less a quote, from anyone at the D.A.’s office. Or even specified which D.A.’s office, come to think of it. Would that be the Oklahoma County D.A.? (Maybe I’ll call Wes Lane on Monday, too.)
But, O!, Rick Williamson will rue the day he dared to prevaricate to Nick Winkler! Because Nick knows, surely, that all lobbyists in the state are registered with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, and a complete list of every lobbyist in Oklahoma is available online, along with the identities of their clients! All Nick has to do to trap Williamson in his own web of deception is download the list, look for the OCHEC lobbyist, and… um…
It turns out there is no OCHEC lobbyist. Just like Williamson said.
In fact, um, there are no homeschool lobbyists in Oklahoma at all.
Thank you for your time, Mr. Williamson, you’re free to go. But don’t leave town. Ahem.
(Hey, Nick, the Oklahoma Education Association has seven lobbyists. Maybe that’s what you were thinking of.)
With fifty seconds left, Nick suddenly drops the whole “powerful lobbyist” story line.
WINKLER (VOICE-OVER): Like that eleven-year-old and her cartoon friends, other children have been hurt, protected by the cover of homeschool.
I’m sorry, I can sympathize with the eleven-year-old girl, but I cannot sympathize with the pain felt by “her cartoon friends.” Is that wrong?
WINKLER (VOICE-OVER): Nine years ago, an eight-year-old boy was beaten, killed, and stuffed inside a freezer in Cleveland County. Investigators say Mom told them she was homeschooling the boy. Still, homeschoolers want no regulation.
Still! Can you believe it? Those homeschoolers still want no regulation, even nine years after a little boy who wasn’t being homeschooled got beaten and killed in Cleveland County? (Incidentally, “Mom” and her boyfriend both got death sentences in that case. So much for being “protected by the cover of homeschool.”)
Now, my hatchet piece radar tells me, it’s time to cut immediately to another gratuitous image of our villain Rick Williamson, so as to create a visual association between him and the grisly murder.
WILLIAMSON: That freedom is important to a homeschool parent, because there are a lot of different ways to teach…
WILCOXSON: And you’ll find that in most homeschools, their curriculum and their objectives exceed the minimum standards.
Sounds good, huh? But wait. Wait for the irony. Here it comes…
WINKLER (VOICE-OVER): This is where that eleven-year-old girl could have been learning about the world. Again, teachers say homeschoolers usually do their best. At times, though, it’s the worst. And there’s no law to stop it.
So now we know what Nick “found out.” Sure, there are laws against neglect, and abuse, and murder, and those laws are being enforced. But there is no law to stop homeschooling, and that’s really what’s hurting these kids.
WINKLER: And the District Attorney’s office says it has had 15 to 20 cases so far this year in which it has prosecuted parents for keeping their kids at home… but not teaching them anything. Kelly.
Now wait a second, Nick. Two minutes ago, you said, and I quote, “In fact, Oklahoma does not regulate homeschooling at all. There are no requirements.” You said that. But now your anonymous D.A.’s office is assessing the educational achievements of homeschooled children, and prosecuting the ones who don’t pass muster? How can this be? And are these the same guys who told you about the lobbyists?
Not to put too fine a point on it, but Nick Winkler is just plain lying here.
OGLE: All right, Nick Winkler for us tonight. State School Superintendent Sandy Garrett says Oklahoma is one of five states that does not regulate homeschooling. States that do, often make homeschoolers pass tests and meet other standards.
Thanks, Kelly. And blogger Sean Gleeson says that KWTV News 9, a CBS network affiliate, is owned by Griffin Communications, located at 7401 N Kelley Ave, Oklahoma City, OK 73111. They have a contact form, but they also welcome phone calls from their viewers. Their phone number is (405) 843-6641. You can e-mail Nick Winkler at nick.winkler@news9.net, Kelly Ogle at kelly.ogle@news9.net, KWTV General Manager Rob Krier at rob.krier@news9.net, and Griffin Communications President David Griffin at david.griffin@griffincommunications.net.
Great post darlin!
I’m thinking that the “15 to 20 cases” (could you be more exact, Nick? Does the D.A.’s office know how many cases it has or not?) are truancy law cases - laws from which homeschoolers are exempt under Oklahoma Statute 70-10-109.
More information on Oklahoma homeschooling and the law can be found here.
Maybe Nick should read it.
Careful with that hatchet, Griffin
Thursday night KWTV in Oklahoma City ran a piece about homeschooled children in Oklahoma, which Sean Gleeson compares unfavorably to Orwell’s “Two-Minute Hate”. After looking at the transcript, I suspect…
Sean, You missed the ironic part of the story. While touting the great good that is Oklahoma public education, the State Superintendant made a pretty basic error in grammar. She said “What is graduation.” That’s a period at the end of a question. Neither Ms Garrett, nor this star Oklahoma reporter, nor his news director caught this. Is this an example of the great benefit of public education? Sr. Agnes Marie taught us all about punctuation in the 2nd grade. Perhaps some kindly homeschooler could offer Ms. Garrett and this reporter a brush-up course. They could obviously use it.
[…] I know this is kind of “local,” but it is very interesting. This week, a news station aired something about homeschoolers. I won’t really get into it, because I can’t explain it as well as “Holy Family School” can in “News 9 hates homeschoolers.” Check it out. This hatchet piece against homeschooling was aired during the 10:00 news Thursday night. You can view the segment online yourself. What follows is a complete verbatim transcript of the libelous hatefest, along with still images from the show, and my own insights. […]
My first thought was this: public schools are quick to jump on the number of abused children that are supposed to be homeschooling YET - they forget that thousands of children go to public school every day and are being abused at home. The teacher either doesn’t know or chooses not to know. Either way, the children are right their in front of their face and are still not protected. I say concentrate on the children in front of you. True homeschoolers take care of their children and the “fake” homeschoolers will be found out.
[…] Holy Family School: News 9 hates homeschoolers (this is bad… my faith in tv journalism keeps on shrinking and shrinking) — Thanks to Dustbury for alerting me to this post) […]
Rebecca: You’re right that Sandy Garrett’s question should have been punctuated with a question mark. But I suspect the error (like the many other errors in this piece) is entirely the fault of Nick Winkler and News 9, not Sandy Garrett. Obviously, if she spoke the question, then she didn’t punctuate it at all. It is the reporter’s responsibility to punctuate the spoken statements of his citations.
Sean - Thanks for brightening my day!!!
Rick Williamson
Great dissection of this news story! Have you sent this to the people at Channel 9? I sure hope that they will see the need to recant some of the inaccuracies they have stated!
Sean - What a great review. I’m astounded at the ignorance and inaccuracies of this report.
Our oldest daughter, who was homeschooled for the 1st 12 years of her education, is a freshman in college this year on a $27,000 academic scholarship.
For the last 2 years, she taught religious education to 7th graders. One of her students came to her and confided that she had been physically and sexually abused at the hands of other public school male class mates. How come her public school teachers didn’t know this? Is Nick trying to say that if all kids were in public school, there would be no abuse, or that all abuse would be found out by the teachers? They didn’t know about this little girl.
So now I guess one of the job descriptions for all teachers and administrators is to find and report all domestic abuse cases.
Has Nick looked into the the statistics of abuse cases reported amoung public school students? I would be willing to bet a lot of money that there are thousands of such cases.
Now, we know there are about 20,000 children being home educated in Oklahoma now, and we all know about the poor little soul who was killed by his mother 9 years ago. It is very sad.
What we heard about the eleven year old girl is that she couldn’t read, didn’t know her last name, and watches a lot of cartoons. ( glad to know that public school children don’t waste their time in front of the t.v. ) But was there any proof, or even anything reported that indicated she had been beaten, or mis-treated? That’s what he is indicating.
I would highly encourage you to send your expose on this shoddy reporting to Nick AND to Kelly Ogle. ( doesn’t he and his wife own the salon and spa in Edmond where I get my hair cut? ) I have actually had mothers I’ve met there ask me to help them get started with homeschooling!
Congratulations and I thank you for your excellent review. I especially loved your pointing out the poor grammar, spelling, and the inaccurate reporting of the facts.
Cathy Costello
proud homeschool mother of 5
This is FABULOUS. You made fantastic points and even had me LOL a number of times. I was annoyed with News 9, but after reading this, I’m really in awe of their ignorance and blatant arrogance.
Never before have I been enlightened to such stupidity all while laughing at the same time.
I wonder when News 9 will do a follow-up report on all the children who come home from their schools every day and are then abused. This report makes it obvious that if the children are out of the home during the day, they simply can’t be abused. News 9 will also need to do a segment on those who go to school and are physically/sexually/emotionally abused by the staff and/or other students in their schools. Fair is fair. Statistically, given the number of children in OK who are homeschooled vs. those who attend schools outside the home, I assume the number of children abused in and around the school setting would be FAR higher than any incident involving homeschooling.
Attention: must-read post!
Sean Gleeson’s ruthless vivisection of a clueless television news segment is mandatory reading this weekend.
Makes me very glad I only watch the news for weather.
Sean, we’ve been watching this on the HSWatch list and I have a question about the lobbyist assertion. And let me make it clear I’m not saying that the reporter couldn’t be making it all up.
I know that in TN for years the homeschoolers were represented by a well known conservative lobbyist and legislators knew it.
I know that for at least one year a large state group employed what they called a ‘reporter’ that was basically a lobbyist but it wasn’t until the next year he actually registered as a lobbyist.
Is it possible that something similar is occurring at your capitol? Is there no one in OK that keeps an eye on the legislation in your state on behalf of homeschool interests?
Thanks for your help.
What you’ve written here Sean is nothing short of awesome. And I don’t, very often anyway, agree with you LOL. Great job!
THE DISCONNECTICUT SCHOOL OF BROADCASTING
Oklahoma blogger Sean Gleeson delivers an absolutely devastating takedown of a local “if it bleeds, it leads”-style news report on HE: In George Orwells novel 1984, Winston and his fellows were subjected to a regular ritual called the Two-Minute …
Kay Brooks:
The way I parse it, Nick Winkler’s lobbyist gripe is really a two-part accusation:
1. There are lobbyists for homeschooling in Oklahoma.
2. These lobbyists influence lawmakers with money.
As for the first accusation, none of this speculation would be necessary if Nick Winkler had simply named one single homeschool lobbyist. Since he did not (or could not), we are left trying to determine if such a creature as a “homeschool lobbyist” even exists. I can find no registered lobbyists for homeschooling interests in the state.
Certainly there are no lobbyists with clients whose names reveal them to be homeschooling organizations. No principals with the word ‘homeschool,’ or ‘home educators’ or anything of the sort.
It is possible that a homeschooling organization is registered with a misleading or ambiguous name (a good deal of the principals have rather ambiguous names, like “Center for Legislative Excellence”) but this seems unlikely to me, since homeschoolers have no motive to conceal their cause (it’s not as if they grow tobacco, after all).
It is also possible that a lobbyist for a client that is not a homeschooling organization has at one time or another lobbied for a position favorable to homeschoolers. Some of the organizations with registered lobbyists, such as the ACLU, or the Christian Scientists, may certainly hold convictions that converge with those of homeschoolers at some nodes. But even if so, these could not truly be called “homeschool lobbyists.”
And I want to note, that even though Winkler seems to be wrong about part one of his accusation, I rather wish he were right. Having a lobbyist is not a bad thing. Homeschoolers have lobbyists in other states, and in Washington, and they are doing valuable work.
No, it is Winkler’s second allegation that is the really slanderous one. If there are homeschool lobbyists (and he never found even one, but I’d like to see a few), are they “powerful,” and do they use their “money to influence lawmakers”?
Even though lobbyists enjoy a bad reputation, they generally don’t go around bribing legislators with money. Their job is to present their clients’ arguments to the lawmakers. The more convincing their arguments are, the more “powerful” they are. Doing this work does cost money, for postage, and salaries, and overhead, but it’s generally not the money that does the influencing. When it does, it’s called bribery, and it’s a felony.
The very notion that a “homeschool lobbyist” would even have extra money to buy up senators is risible, and to make the accusation with no evidence is criminal.
Forget the hatchet, hand me the chain saw!!!
Sean Gleeson takes Channel 9 (KWTV) to task for a recent segment on home-schooling. As a parent of two kids that received home-schooling (and also won a Robert C. Byrd scholarship, a National Merit Scholarship & a Baccalaureate Scholarship)
Brunch: 8/28/2005
Try one of these specials with your brunch: Fistful Of Fortnights has the photgraphic evidence. Holy Family School fisks a news report. Atlas Shrugs asks about the money for Palestinians. Ogre looks at money for criminals. Beth hurricane blogs. It
i LOVED IT. THANK YOU. HE MUST HAVE BEEN HELPING CHILDRENS PROTECTIVE SERVICES TO GET FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS TO RAT OUT FAMILIES WHO ARE ACTUALLY INNOCENT SO THAT THE PROTECTIVE SERVICE CAN TAKE KIDS. IT’S RECRUTING TIME. THEY MUST BE RUNNING OUT OF CHILDREN. I AM IN OREGON AN AM GOING TO START HOMESCHOOLING MY DISABLED CHILD BECAUSE THE SCHOOL HAS FAILED FOR 6 YEARS. THANK YOU. KEEP IT UP
thumbs up, Sean.
Great piece! Thanks so much for such a wonderful read into this ridiculous story!!
:)
I love you, Sean. When Jesse said she’d neve laughed so hard while being so irked, I thought I was clicking on a republican type post. (Eek!
)
You so totally rock dude.
Outstanding post! Hilarious how the establishment gets upset when people don’t let them indoctrinate their children. Where are the media’s stories about the massive failures of public schools or how home schoolers, despite their small percentage, dominate the national spelling/geography/etc. bees and do disproportionately better on standardized tests? The best quote of all time that I’ve heard from a teacher’s union representative is that home schoolers inappropriately focus on academics! Ummm, isn’t that the point?
[…] Holy Family School » News 9 hates homeschoolers […]
Just a quick note to let you know that I’m spreading word about your excellent analysis and commentary to the mainstream media networks I have access to (card carryin’ member and all that rot). I think there are important lessons for some of them in this and I wouldn’t want anyone missing out.
Thank you for a wonderful post - now, how will all of us “HomeSchool Lobbyists” make ourselves known to the powers at News9. Of course, if we parents are lobbyists, doesn’t that mean anyone who has an opinion about anything, anytime, anywhere would have to be a lobbyist, too? Wouldn’t that make Mr. Winkler an anti-homeschooling lobbyist? Perhaps I am so bothered by this because I naively assumed journalistic integrity had not competely disappeared - alas, I fear I am wrong… my kids ‘graduated’ in 2002 & 2004 and are thriving in college - even though they never saw the inside of a public or private school…
Thanks for clarifying, Sean. I agree it would have been better if the reporter had responded with the name of the alleged homeschool lobbyist. That way that ‘lobbyists’ status with the homeschooling community could have been clarified. For years the local Eagle Forum lobbyist carried the water for homeschoolers in our state but she wasn’t registered to do so. There is, apparently, still the possibility that this is what happens in OK.
And around here, I’m sad to report, lobbyists do go around handing money to legislators. In once case $200 for nickel slot machines. The FBI just finished a sting regarding this called “Tennessee Waltz”.
Thanks again.
Wow! Thanks for posting this load of news 9 nonsense! I wonder if there is a way to get our side of the story out? What channel is Brad Edwards on? Channel 4? I wonder if he’d be interested in our corner? I am amazed that this newscaster would abuse the freedom of speech so blatently by throwing this yellow journalism to the public. Maybe HE should be more regulated. Then to turn around and say we Homeschoolers are bad. And for what? For using our freedoms? Freedom to give our children the attention and education that every child should have. Oh! I can’t believe it!
I was very interested in this story, as well as what it implied. Approximately 10% of kids will be sexually abused by a g-school employee before they graduate, [says (Posted by:) Daryl at HE&OS on August 28, 2005 05:26 PM, {a link to the site exists on the 16th blog} ] Personally, I don’t think there exists enough manpower in the public school (or even private school) system to try to put a little ding into the amount of child abuse that is truly going on. The homeshooled kids that I know are all very smart and excel in what ever they choose to do, including but not limited to college, due to the fact that they have been taught not only that 2 + 2 = 4, but how to apply their knowledge, among other things. As to the regulation….hmm, how do homeschooled children get into college? What about the job force, how many employers will hire a person who has little to no education? Banks ceratinly won’t, my sister (step technically) was homeschooled, graduated and recieved her G.E.D., just recently exposed a customer at her bank trying to deposit $1000+ of counterfit money into the account. The machine read that the money was real, however her manager confirmed the truth, that the money was counterfit. I definatly agree that homeschooling is better than the public school system, not only for the higher standard of care or the better level of education, but also for the preparation of a child’s mind to think on their own and the simple fact that the distractions of a public school system do not interfere with a child while at home. A T.V. can always be turned off, unplugged, and even locked away if neccessary. The subject of social interaction, or lack of, I have brought up before and have been informed that 150 million ways exist to give children interaction. Parents simply need to take action, more often than not, homeschooling parent do make use of clubs, teams, organization and other opportunities to socialize their child(ren). Most homeschooled children exercise more often than those enrolled in public schools. They have the opportunity to get up and do things more often, they aren’t just stuck sitting down all day. A homeschooler’s day is more personalized, and I believe, altogether better for children, so long as ways to socialize are provided.
It sounds a lot like when I was in public school as a kid. If one person got in trouble for something it made the entire class get into trouble. I never really understood that stand on punishment. Does that mean since there are murderers, rapists and such that we all have to be punished for what they do as well? It really doesn’t make since. It is obvious when a homeschooled child is learning and when parents are taking care of their children if people would take the time to just see that. I don’t mean we need nosey neighbors but it does kind of take a village to raise a child at least to to some point. I mean I’m not going to ignore the facts if something looks suspecious to me in my neighborhood and neither should anyone else. That doesn’t mean that we can catch all the abuse but much more than passing legislation to further infringe on other homeschoolers rights. Don’t turn a blind eye in other words. I have homeschooled for 3 years now and my kids learn and go to playdates and field trips. It is obvious they are fine and so why should I suffer for what bad parents do? I feel bad for the kids that have those type of things happen to them but no matter what laws are passed and no matter how much people are supervised it will still happen. We can’t save everyone.
A school superintendent actually recommended that I continue homeschooling my seven-year-old son. My son went into kindergarten at age 5 already reading well but at the end of the year the kindergarten teacher recommended T-1 (a year in between kindergarten and first) because he wouldn’t color in the lines and handwriting was sloppy. Instead of letting him go to T-1 to learn to color better, I homeschooled for one year and then had him tested by an Oklahoma SDE certified school psychologist . After one year of homeschooling, my son is two grade levels advanced in math. He is able to read at a very high level and comprehension is at 5th grade level.
If I had left him in public school he might have learned to color better.
I believe children who are ready, willing and able to learn should be allowed to learn as much as they want. This doesn’t happen in public school. I think bright children are left behind in public school. I won’t let that happen to my child.
this was one of the best and funniest things I’ve been linked to all year. GREAT job. Well said and done.
I am a homeschooling mom. We have tried public school and private school. We are happiest at home and my daughter is flourishing intellectually, physically and spiritually.
I was a publicly schooled child. I was also sexually and emotionally abused. My teachers never commented on that fact until much later when I was an adult. I hear things like, “Oh, I am so glad that you have turned out okay. I was so worried about your home life.” Really. And you didn’t say anything because….
Public school failed me. I made good grades, but if public school is supposed to protect children from home abuse as Winkler implies, then it is doing a poor job.Our public education system now is a failure due to poor legislation by people who have not spent any time in a classroom and by too much busy work put on our teachers. There are always children who will fall through the cracks, whether homeschooled or not. It is so unfortunate. And I believe there is a place in hell for those that do abuse children. But by and large, homeschool children excel in their studies, in their extra curricular activities, in volunteer services and in their ethics. I think perhaps Mr. Winkler could use a bit of homeschooling himself.
Most child abuse ocurrs BEFORE children reach compulsory attendance age. The home school-public school issue is irrelevant for those children.
Scott Woodruff
Home School Legal Defense Association
[…] Holy Family School » News 9 hates homeschoolers […]
I’D LIKE TO SAY THAT I AM A CHRISTIAN AND I FIND SEVERAL OF THE REMARKS THAT WERE MADE WRONG, NOT BECAUSE OF HOW YOU BELIEVE BUT HOW YOU STATED IT BY TAKING STABS AT THOSE YOU THINK DON’T AGREE WITH YOU. I WILL NOT HOMESCHOOL MY CHILD, NOT BECAUSE I THINK IT IS WRONG BUT BECAUSE I DON’T FEEL LIKE GOD IS CALLING ME TO THAT. I SAW THE STORY THAT NICK DID AND I DID NOT GET THE IMPRESSION YOU APPARENTLY DID. DO YOU THINK THAT MAYBE YOU SAW IT THAT WAY BECAUSE YOU FEEL THAT YOU HAVE TO DEFEND YOUR BELIEFS ABOUT THE SUBJECT? I’VE KNOWN SEVERAL HOMESCHOOLED CHILDREN AND I HAVE TO SAY THAT SOME PEOPLE, NOT THE MAJORITY, DO HIDE BEHIND IT AND IN THAT CASE IT IS A DISSERVICE TO THE CHILD. I THINK THAT YOU SHOULD SERIOUSLY THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK AND IF YOU ARE GOING TO SPEAK, DON’T RIDICULE , SPEAK IN LOVE AS CHRIST WOULD!
Did you let the AVM loose again Sean?
No, that was a human. Not sure what it was all about, though. Mrs. Anderson says some of my remarks were “WRONG,” even though she allows that they were right, because I should never take “STABS” at people with whom I disagree? I should think it was obvious that my gentle correction of Mr. Winkler’s errors was done out of love, just as our Lord chastised the Pharisees out of love.
Mrs. Anderson: when I point out errors of fact in a shoddy piece of reporting, these are not subjective “impressions” which may be attributed to “feelings” or “beliefs” of mine, or yours. In his story, Nick Winkler said that homeschooling is legal only because powerful homeschool lobbyists have bribed the legislature. This assertion is quite simply either true or false, regardless of how you feel about whether God called you to homeschool your daughter. My own calling is to tell the truth, and to correct falsehood, sometimes to ridicule it.
Good for you Sean! Of course what can you expect from a small market TV weasel? I’m just surprised those guys can actually remember to breathe.
Great reading, keep up the great posts.
Peace, JiggaDigga