Is Homeschooling the Problem?

     In 2019, Elizabeth Bartholet wrote an article explaining how homeschooling is a threat to children and to society. This article is riddled with fear mongering and fallacy. Bartholet Article

    The article states, "homeschooling is a realm of near-absolute parental power. This power is inconsistent with important rights supposedly guaranteed to children under state constitutions and state legislation throughout the land. " (Bartholet). This fallacy is an example of hasty generalization; she stereotypes homeschooling parents as some sort of power-hungry dictators denying children of their rights. 

    In another section she writes, referring to homeschooled children, that, "They are also at serious risk for ongoing abuse and neglect in the isolated families that constitute a significant part of the homeschooling world" (Bartholet). Although there is more hasty generalization in this comment, where the entirety of the "homeschooling world" is being stereotyped as isolated, this can also be used as an example of false cause. It is written to make one feel that allowing parents to homeschool is the cause of ongoing abuse and neglect towards children. However, a study published in 2022 indicated that there are other factors that play in a role in this abuse, and that it is not based on what type of school they attend (Ray & Shakeel).

    A third fallacy found in the Bartholet article is in the idea that, with homeschooling, "society loses out as well. Homeschooling presents both academic concerns and democratic concerns" (Bartholet) This can be viewed as a slippery slope. It is to say that choosing to homeschool your child will lead to future individuals that can't function effectively in a democratic society. But according to the same study mentioned previously, results point towards demographics, not what type of schooling, as a factor in abuse or neglect (Ray & Shakeel). 

    As someone who has been homeschooling for 15 years, the article written by Bartholet feels insulting. Although I understand there are far too many cases of parents homeschooling for the wrong reasons, or children being hurt by the hands of their parents or someone at home, there is not enough evidence to blame is on homeschooling. It was due to the lack of evidence that the Ray & Shakeel study was even done. 

    We can trust individuals with the responsibility of choosing to have children and raising them, but then turn around and insinuate that those children should be sent to public school to avoid abuse at home? Where do we draw that line between allowing parents to raise their children how they choose, or to not? At what age does this begin? At what age does it end? How many hours are needed to ensure the abuse doesn't happen? There are too many variables at play to be able to confidently say homeschooling is the culprit and should be banned.

Bartholet, Elizabeth. Homeschooling: Parent Rights Absolutism vs. Child Rights to Education & Protection, 62 Ariz. L. Rev. 1 (2020). 62arizlrev1.pdf

Ray, B. D., & Shakeel, M. D. (2022). Demographics are Predictive of Child Abuse and Neglect but Homeschool Versus Conventional School is a Non-issue: Evidence from a Nationally Representative Survey. Journal of School Choice, 17(2), 176-213. https://doi.org/10.1080/15582159.2022.2108879