The idea that you're never supposed to criticize someone's parenting

Bee · 2013-03-05 15:09:56

It started mostly as a pragmatic consequence of being sparse rural area. I mean, there's not much alternative when the nearest school is miles away. In some areas of the country (anywhere in the Midwest that isn't a city) this is still more true than one might expect. It's been compounded since then by a preponderance of fundies in a highly specific region and our school system overall being one of the worst in the first world even from a secular standpoint.

Fuschlatz · 2013-03-09 00:10:41

@Octo: Come to think of it, isn't homeschooling illegal in Germany? Wouldn't that make it highly impractical, given that homeschooled children can't then get the necessary certification for employment without admitting to being homeschooled and thereby getting their parents arrested (or whatever the punishment is)?

Ironweaver · 2013-03-09 03:44:01

In Germany, education in public (or state-approved private) schools until the age of 16 is compulsory by law, so the parents are obliged to sent their children to schools in the first place, and such situations can't happen.

Fuschlatz · 2013-03-09 03:55:39

From Wikipedia (emphasis my own):

Homeschooling is still illegal in Germany with rare exceptions. The requirement to attend school has been upheld, on challenge from parents, by the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany. Parents violating the laws have primarily or most prominently been Christians seeking a more religious education than that offered by the schools. Sanctions against these parents have included fines of thousands of euros, successful legal actions to remove children from the parents' custody, and prison sentences. It has been estimated that 600 to 1,000 German children are homeschooled, despite its illegality.

Making something illegal doesn't cause it to just go away, Milos.

Ironweaver · 2013-03-09 04:05:58

In that case, yeah, I think that they would have lots of problems with employment. Which is really unfortunate, you'd hope that the parents would be more prudent.

Octo · 2013-03-09 07:21:19

I thought there were some minor exceptions to compulsory schooling... Anyway, that just further proves my point. Only really dedicated people would do this despite the illegality. So, of those 600 to 1000 children, I'd assume nearly all belong to some kinds of fundies or ideological extremists.