This story continues to break my heart. It’s clear that there are still remnants of Hitler’s oppressive regime lingering in German government. World Net Daily has an update on the Melissa Busekros saga. One of the first things that Hitler did upon achieving political supremacy was create the Ministry of Education.
In 1937, the dictator said, “The Youth of today is ever the people of tomorrow. For this reason we have set before ourselves the task of inoculating our youth with the spirit of this community of the people at a very early age, at an age when human beings are still unperverted and therefore unspoiled. This Reich stands, and it is building itself up for the future, upon its youth. And this new Reich will give its youth to no one, but will itself take youth and give to youth its own education and its own upbringing.”
As a compromise, the German government has offered to take the Busekros family’s other five children to child psychiatry wards to treat their “school phobia”.
The German Embassy has indicated they cannot allow ‘parallel cultures.’ Christian homeschooling is a ‘parallel culture’ that Germany does not want.”
Perhaps the most unsettling thought to come out of this event is that America is only one step away from this. The verbiage used in Hitler’s speech above is not too far away from things I’ve heard from even from homeschool-friendly Bush. If it weren’t for the vigilant efforts of activist groups like the HSLDA and grassroots regional support groups, Christian homeschooling would be similarly illegal.
CEO of Apple, Inc. Steve Jobs took an opportunity to take a swing at the real problem facing K-12 schools. No, it’s not lagging technology or lack of funds; it’s the simple fact that teachers unions encourage mediocrity.
“What kind of person could you get to run a small business if you told them that when they came in they couldn’t get rid of people that they thought weren’t any good?” he asked to loud applause during an education reform conference.
This is an important statement for a few different reasons. Steve Jobs has an unassailable reputation. He has been an innovator for decades, especially in the education world. Apple has provided Macs to thousands of schools across the country. For him to take such a bold stance against teachers unions should be a huge deal.
When you provide school administrators with the ability to retain good teachers and get rid of bad ones, the quality of teaching will skyrocket. He goes on to illustrate his vision for the future of education:
Earlier in the panel discussion, Jobs told the crowd about his vision for textbook-free schools in the future. Textbooks would be replaced with a free, online information source that was constantly updated by experts, much like the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.
One of The Grace Academy students sent us a link to a site that enables families to “adopt” a soldier that is currently defending our freedom in Iraq. You can send them cards and letters expressing your appreciation as well as care packages full of goodies that will surely warm the hearts of our men and women serving abroad. The Grace Academy has decided to adopt a soldier and we can’t wait to send him some treats from home.
Even if you don’t support the war, it’s important that we show our soldiers that we value their contributions to spreading freedom and maintaining the security of our nation. Wouldn’t it be amazing if all homeschooling families adopted a soldier? Just think of how much more supported they would feel.
One more thing, we have just recently turned on comments for this blog. If you have a thought or opinion to add to the discussion, please feel free to add your two cents! If you see a story that you’d like us to cover, just send us a link at blog@learningbygrace.org.
Last Thursday, a 17-year old German homeschooler was ripped from her family’s arms in Nuremburg, Germany. Melissa Busekros was forcibly removed by fifteen police officers from her home. She was struggling in math and Latin, so her parents decided to tutor her at home. She is currently being held in a child psychiatry unit in order to treat her “school phobia”.
American organizations such as the Home School Legal Defense Association are calling on American homeschoolers to speak out against this restriction of freedoms that sounds like it should have been banned along with the rest of Nazi-era freedom restrictions. In truth, the illegality of homeschooling was put into place by Hitler himself.
Please pray for our homeschooling brothers and sisters in Germany, that they might achieve the same level of freedom in education that we currently enjoy here in the states. Remember to keep Melissa Busekros and her family in your prayers as well.
You can send the German Embassy a message of your protest here.
Read more about this harrowing turn of events at Lifesite.net.
Brandy Carrelli lays it down for all the mothers out there who either couldn’t imagine themselves staying at home or scoff at the idea of giving up their second income.
“One day, we came up with two simple, non-glorious reasons to have children. Mine: they change every day; never a dull moment. His: it would be nice to have someone to teach. Not a lot, but there they were.”
The stay-at-home mom is having a renaissance. Back when society expected mothers to stay home with their children, feminist groups were determined to break free of these societal strictures. Now that society is telling moms that they must enter the workforce, many well-educated, capable workers are heading back home to take care of their children.
To say that parenting is not a full time job is insulting to the millions of women who do it. Homeschoolers especially deserve to be recognized not only as parents but as teachers.
