The Wunderlich family has now been r
eunited after an armed raid by German authorities following their decision to homeschool.
Last month we reported on the tragic series of events, which resulted in the four Wunderlich children, ages 7-14, being separated from their parents and taken to various unknown locations.
The German government has promised to return the children on one condition: that the parents send their children to state school. (In the German state schools, children are routinely exposed to graphic sex education, violence, witchcraft and atheism.)
Michael Farris of the Homeschool Legal Defense Association, commented,
“It’s a small victory, but it’s still a victory,” said Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) Chairman Michael Farris. “When the parents told the authorities that they would send their kids back to school during the raid, they were told it was too late. What we’ve seen today is a reversal in the German courts caused by the mounting international pressure from human rights advocates. This is a promising start to what will hopefully be a reversal on Germany’s stance on homeschooling altogether.”
“The German government loves compromises as long as they ultimately get their way. They were fine with a Muslim teenager wearing a swimsuit with a head covering as long as she took part in co-ed pool activities despite her objections. And now they’re fine that the Wunderlich family gets their children back as long as they attend a state school. The attitude of ‘Our way or else…’ is still very much alive in a supposedly tolerant society.”
Further Reading
- Homeschooled German Children Returned to Family; on Condition They Return to State School
- German SS Snatch Homeschool Children in Morning Raid
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It seems that Nazism still prevails in Germany.
Wasn’t nazism the one that involved killing millions of Jews and invading most of Europe ?
This is compulsory state education, as practised in France and many other democratic countries. At least, in France as here, approved alternatives are allowed, notably acceptable private Roman Catholic schools in France.
We don’t know that the Wunderlich family could supply all the educational needs of their children at home, for example did they have a chemistry laboratory ? As the 14 year old got older, he was very likely going to be disadvantaged if his parents were not capable of giving specialised teaching in all normal school subjects. If you think honestly of your own education, you probably passed the standard five O levels (or high grade GCSEs), but would you NOW be able to TEACH them ,all of them ? I can’t remember a qualified teacher at my own school who could manage both to teach O level French and O level Maths for example. Let alone A level.
Hi Roger,
Since you are interacting with Rob rather than any claims made in the above article, I will not spend too much time debating the definition of Nazism. However, I would refer you to my earlier comments about Nazism and education here.
It may certainly be true that the Wunderlich family was unable to meet all of their children’s educational needs. However, it is equally probable that the German state schools would be even more unqualified to meet the children’s educational needs, especially if ‘educational needs’ is understood in the broader sense to include spiritual educational needs. Also, children have a range of other psychological and spiritual needs beyond simply the educational, so these would also need to be factored into the equation.
I think we all know well enough what Nazism was without consulting Robin for a definition of it.
In France, religious education is banned in schools, but many children get it from their local priest. In Britain, non-denominational religious education is compulsory on the school timetable, but children can be opted out of it (when I was at school it was mainly Roman Catholics who took advantage of this). In Britain, children can also go to Sunday Schools run by churches if they wish, and this used to be very popular.
I don’t know exactly what happens in Germany, but presumably nobody stops the churches providing education appropriate for each denomination (and in some areas, protestants and catholics are both well represented, so this might be the best way of arranging it). You can hardly say that Germany is oppose to the churches, because it is the only country (as far as I know) where a special slice of income tax is passed on to the church of the taxpayer.
“Rox” said:
Who exactly determines what an “educational need” is? The state? And whence comes the right of the state to seize the children of parents who do not wish to put their children in state schools? You don’t appear to understand the principles at stake here.
Wrong. The statistics clearly demonstrate that on average, being taught at home by an uncertified parent actually gives a child an academic advantage, compared to being taught by ‘specialists’ in a state school.
You really need to acquaint yourself with the research on this. Go and check out the statistics on homeschooling vs. state schooling: homeschooled kids consistently thrash state-schooled kids in standardized tests, and continue to outperform them even when they go on to college. Why no-one here has pointed this out is beyond me.
The more fundamental issue, however, is the question: to whom do the children belong? To their parents? Or to the state?
One might hope that in Germany, with its disgraceful Nazi past, the second answer would be unthinkable. Sadly, it appears not.
[…] children on the sole grounds that the parents were exercising their right to home-school. In October we reported on how the German government promised to return the children on the condition that the […]