I’ve been following a debate in the Swedish media that concerns homeschooling (in Swedish), or more precisely the reinforcement of the law that
regards homeschooling in Sweden.
Last year, a bill was passed that practically banned
homeschooling in Sweden, forcing the 100 or so families that were homeschooling
to apply for a special permission to homeschool. Because of the strict
application of the law, all but one family were denied, and the homeschooling families
either moved to neighboring, more free countries, gave in and sent their kids
to school, or ignored the state’s notice and kept homeschooling their children.
The ones that stayed have now been sentenced to pay a fine of $50/child per
week or day that they keep their children home from school. I know. It’s
insane. But just wait, it gets worse.
The current debate that I have been following was started by
a couple of representatives for the Swedish liberal party – yes, this gets more
and more bizarre. They are asking that not only should families that keep their
kids home from public school (because they want to homeschool) have to pay a
fine, but social services should also come and take their children away from
them should they continue to disobey the law.
These women – these are people with real political power in
Sweden - want to ruin a group of children’s lives by snatching them away from
their loving family, and place them in foster care in a system that is harsh
and nothing anyone should have to go through, JUST TO MAKE A POINT, and receive
political attention.
"Ohhh, but these parents are brainwashing their kids.
They might be teaching them that evolution is false, or that – gasp – they should
worship God in a certain way. These
kids might be taught to relate to society in an *inappropriate* way!" It is our duty as righteous Swedes – because we always know what is
objectively best for everyone – to make sure all children are given the right
world view and values. And if they don’t like these values that we in Sweden
maintain, then they shouldn’t live here in the first place. If they want to
live here, it should be by our laws and ideas."
This is not an actual quote (you figured that), but - I kid you not – the content
of the argument. Especially that last part is so disturbing, my cheeks turn red
when I think about it. I always thought of Sweden as an open, liberal,
tolerant, and open-minded country, but now, my view unfortunately has had to change. In general, the entire Swedish debate on homeschooling is so filled
with prejudices and misconceptions that I wouldn’t even know where to start.
Did you know that Sweden and Germany are the only democratic countries in the
world that don’t allow homeschooling? (Making them Class B democracies.)
There are many reactions to the Swedish law from all over
the world. Here is one in English, with links to other sites and articles.
What do I think? I agree with the Human Rights Act 1998,
Article 2 of the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights – by
which, technically, Sweden should be abiding, since when they became a member of
the European Union in 1995, the convention was added to the Swedish law - that
it ultimately is the parent’s call to decide which educational system is best
for their children, "the State shall respect the right of parents to
ensure such education and teaching in conformity with their own religious and
philosophical convictions." Maybe we need to suggest a law where social
services remove politicians from their position of power if they can’t suggest
regulations that follow the law.
No comments:
Post a Comment