Today is the first annual #DayoftheHomeschooledChild, which is started by @ResponsibleHS to memorialize those who have been harmed or killed because of homeschool deregulation and parental rights extremism.
I was a homeschooled child who experienced educational neglect.
In 48 states it is legal for a documented, confirmed child abuser to homeschool their children.
So many of the deaths we document at hsinvisiblechildren.org occurred when a CPS case was opened and children were withdrawn from school to evade oversight and accountability.
My education was neglected because it was more important to my father that I help with the younger kids and relieve him of labor he should have been doing as a coparent.
My childhood was stolen from me by parental rights extremism and homeschool deregulation. #DayOfTheHomeschooledChild is a day to speak out against these kinds of abuses and to remind each other that parents have responsibilities. Children have rights.
This is like… still the most bizarre thing about public education. I was homeschooled and then volunteered in a high school classroom for a bit before peace corps and the pledge was SO INTENSELY WEIRD.