| Sunday, April 01, 2007 |
| German Homeschooler Accused of 'School Phobia,' Removed From Family |
by Eva Cahen
CNSNews.com Correspondent
March 30, 2007
Paris, France (CNSNews.com) - Homeschooling advocates and religious freedom campaigners are outraged over a decision by German officials to force a teenager into a foster home after taking her from her family because she was being homeschooled.
Fifteen police officers took 16-year-old Melissa Busekros from her family home in the Bavarian city of Erlangen last month and placed her in a psychiatric ward for evaluation.
According to published reports, she was diagnosed with "school phobia" and described as having too much devotion to her father and his beliefs. She was also criticized for showing unconditional solidarity with her family.
Youth welfare officials have now placed the teenager in a foster home in a secret location, and she is only allowed supervised visits with her family for one hour a week.
Germany has a compulsory education law, and school attendance is mandatory.
German homeschooling advocates report that parents who teach their children at home have had to pay fines and in some cases have lost custody of their children.
Joerg Grosseluemern of the Network for Freedom in Education in Germany said Melissa's case is the worst he has ever seen. Officials probably resorted to the psychiatric ward to take her away from her parents, he alleged, because at 16, she is no longer obliged to attend school.
Grosseluemern said Germany's mandatory schooling law dates from the Third Reich when Adolf Hitler wanted the state to indoctrinate children in the Nazi philosophy.
"Today, politicians say homeschooling creates parallel societies,' he told Cybercast News Service . "They are afraid that parents who have their own views will isolate their children from the rest of the world and will live their lives isolated from society.
"But that is not happening in countries where many children are being homeschooled, like in the United States or Great Britain," Grosseluemern argued.
The Busekros family has five other children, but Melissa was the only one being homeschooled. Her parents decided to teach her at home in 2004, when her school wanted her to repeat seventh grade after getting poor grades.
Youth welfare authorities were unable to take action until recently, because she spent the following year studying in Australia.
Although in Melissa's case, the family's motivation for homeschooling was based on disagreement with the school system, Joel Thornton, president of the International Human Rights Group, said that faith might also be a factor in German authorities' opposition to homeschooling.
"The primary movement in Germany that is homeschooling right now is religious-based and that may be part of the reason for the hostility," Thornton said.
Authorities may also have been confused, he said, because there is a Baptist church located on the bottom floor of the building where the family lives - though they do not belong to it.
Homeschooling is allowed throughout most of Europe, even if it is heavily regulated, but there is quite a bit of hostility against Evangelical churches, which are often viewed as sects, Thornton said.
In Melissa's case, most of the support for the family has come from German homeschooling advocates or international religious groups. German religious groups have mostly stayed out of the case, he said.
"There is fear in Germany when you challenge the government," explained Thornton.
He noted, however, that the most important task was to reunite Melissa with her family.
"The long term fight is to legalize homeschooling in Germany - regulate it if you want but decriminalize it. The short term [fight], in this instance, is to get Melissa back to her family," Thornton said.
Other than the weekly visits, the family is not allowed to communicate with Melissa. According to the family, authorities refused to allow her to see letters of support sent to her from around the world, claiming they might be "dangerous.
"The family is fighting to regain custody of their daughter and have filed a civil action against the government officials who took Melissa from her home - illegally, they claim.
from http://www.cnsnews.com |
posted by All About Home @ 5:16 PM   |
|
|
|
