Why government monitoring is a bad thing
With the current concerns about the latest consultation on Children Missing Education I thought I’d explain to anyone who’s interested why I think giving local authorities an excuse to monitor and judge home education is a bad thing.
Every now and then someone will come out with the old chestnut, “Why are you so against monitoring? What have you got to hide?” How about we turn that around? What exactly have I got to gain?
I’m responsible for my child’s education, the law is clear on that. I pay for it, not one penny of government funding to justify their interest. My LA wants me to give up my valuable time (they’re certainly not considering paying for it) and they’d really love me to surrender my privacy too letting them into my home, and for what? Does my child benefit? Do I benefit? Can the LA actually DO anything for us? No, no and again, no. Just like SATs this isn’t about the child, about the quality of their education, this is about box ticking and control and the illusion of caring. So, I say again. What have I got to gain? Why on earth would I welcome or even tolerate all this extra aggravation when I’m under no legal obligation to and get nothing at all out of it?
Carlotta Said on September 9th, 2008 at 7:22 pm quote
Well said!
sam Said on January 14th, 2009 at 12:59 am quote
yes well said. I wish i had read your post before today. Its our first year in homeschool after many horrendous years in the education system.I had the invite to visit my home which whilst not required thought had better show willing especially with the baby p stories recently .Only to be left feeling terrible for although he appeared to be saying in one hand that they were there to offer their support which appeared to consist of giving me some web sites and saying he wasnt worried as to my capabilities and on the otherhand concentrating on what am i going to do about exams and how bleak our chances are if we continue to take this route and wouldnt it be better to send at least one of them back to school. Suggesting it was my daughter that should go back. Why her oh shes the quiet model that reads well not my dyslexic son or my other younger son. We ve only just started healing from the bullying my son went through for years and that wasnt just his peers. So we are still fragile and this sort of covert manipulation is not on . Thank goodness for finding your site tonight thank you.