by Rusty Pugh
An attorney who specializes in home-schooling issues says parents should be prepared in the event they are visited by social workers investigating a complaint.
More and more frequently, home schoolers are turned in on child-abuse hotlines to social service agencies. Families who do not like home schoolers or who may be unfamiliar with home schooling can make an anonymous call to the hotline and fabricate abuse stories. This will result in a visit from a social worker — and according to Mike Smith with the Home School Legal Defense Association, social workers will attempt to enter the home and talk to the child or children separately.
Smith says parents just need to be prepared because the prospect of being intimidated by a social worker is very real.
“There have been situations where social workers have abused their rights to separate children and interview them and ask questions about things that are inappropriate — and children [and families] are traumatized as a result of this,” Smith says. “So we advise parents of their rights. [Just] because we have a right in this country doesn't mean that a social worker or a police officer is going to recognize that right.”
According to Smith, the reasons home schoolers are frequent targets of abuse allegations range from jealousy to ignorance. He points out that while there are occasions where a social worker actually has a court order to enter a home, parents should ask questions and be prepared to seek help.
Smith's advice to any home-school parent is to seek out the advice of an attorney. He says Home School Legal Defense Association is an excellent place to find help.
(This article courtesy of Agape Press.)