Nazis versus libertarians

There's an interesting post and a good comments thread over at Letters from a Tory. It will be of interest to my home educating readers.

Comments

[RenegadeParent]

It has indeed been of interest.

Succinct comment from Mark Wadworth: http://markwadsworth.blogspot.com/2009/04/nazis-versus-libertarians-pragmatarian.html

Although I do wonder whether some people might actually be happier with the prospect of 24 hour surveillance in homes; an option that Mark doesn't put forward!

[harold]

I found it strange that everyone accepted the "facts". But that being said, this was the only April Fool joke I fell for this year.

[elizabeth]

Renegade parent

Some are clearly asking for what you suggest.

My Local Education Authority, Hampshire, for instance in their response to the Review on Home Education..

"24. Do you think there should be any changes made to the current system for monitoring home educating families and ensuring that home educated children are able to achieve the five outcomes?

Yes What should they be?


1. Improved safeguarding, LA given _statutory power to enter the home of home educated children periodically to ensure the child is safe_.

2. _Statutory power for the LA to enter the environment to determine the suitability of the education (evaluate against five outcomes of every child matters)_.

3. More positive/supportive approach to home educating families will result in improved communications and dialogue and few families going under the radar.

4. Improved protocols nationally and locally to ensure that children do not slip through the net. For example those who have never been educated in the state system and are therefore not known to the LA.

5. Improved protocols to ensure cross-LA cooperation in terms of tracking children and young people."

Hampshire LA also seem to think that parents who do not wish to accept LA services, but use other services or provide their own, make it impossible for their children to be healthy, Stay Safe, Enjoy and Achieve, Make a positive Contribution, or Achieve Economic Well-being.


"We believe that the outcomes are not achievable for a significant minority of families within the LA.

Be healthy – Only through school nurse information.
Stay safe – Resistant parents make this impossible.
Enjoy and achieve – Resistant parents make this impossible.
Make a positive contribution – Resistant parents make this impossible.
Achieve economic well-being – Resistant parents make this impossible."


They clearly feel that their educational and monitoring services should be compulsory for all families regardless of whether they are good or bad.

The whole response is here,
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=45453211491&topic=8772#topic_top
it is correct I checked it with my friendly LA contact, at first I thought some one must have made it up as it was so close to the 1st of april.

This indoctrination question blows my mind.

Elizabeth

[Mark Wadsworth]

Elizabeth, agreed, terrifying.

"ContactPoint". Need I say more?

[Jack Hughes]

It's a clever hoax: the first clue is the German called "who'd'a thought" - then the world cup coming up in 2006 is a very big clue.

The fun starts when you re-arrange a small number of words:

"Extremist groups in Dewsbury are teaching children as young as 6 to hate infidels and Jews... mosques .... madrassas .... "

It's actually a good way to test if your own views are rational and based on principle - or are they just based on personal prejudices. Or even worse: just downloaded from PC-HQ.

Switch round some of the irrelevant details and see if your views change. The defendant becomes a friend from the cricket club. The woman suing her husband becomes a man suing his wife. Or just imagine for a few minutes that you yourself are a busy labour peer with a boring drive up the M1 ahead of you - why not TXT a few mates to pass the time...

[elizabeth]

Well a hoax that gets us in interesting dialogue about the importance of freedom of speech and the dangers of the state imposing views is a ok by me